Intercity Express (ICE) riders will soon be less crowded.
On June 18, Airdrie City council unanimously approved the addition of a fourth bus to accommodate the growth of the regional ICE service, which transports riders between Airdrie and downtown Calgary.
The non-articulated bus, already owned as a mechanical backup, will provide capacity for an additional 64 passengers during peak ridership times. The move is expected to cost the City about $6,510 per month, the bulk of which will be paid for by user fees.
“We are a victim of our own success,” said Alderman Ron Chapman.
“A year-and-a-half ago, I heard there was no one on the bus, now I hear from the same people there are too many people on the bus.”
Airdrie’s ICE service was first launched in October 2009 with about 433 trips taken that month. Last month, ridership had increased to 7,490 trips, an average of 340 passenger trips per day.
The success of the service has provided challenges for City staff. Currently, the ICE service operates at an occupancy rate of between 85 to 95 per cent for the one-way heavy trips, which include morning trips destined for Calgary and afternoon trips destined for Airdrie.
Airdrie’s articulated buses have the capacity for 62 seated passengers and 38 standees.
According to City staff, the capacity issues had a significant impact on passenger satisfaction, which has decreased over the past six months.
“You are packed in quite tight aboard that bus,” said Chris MacIsaac, Airdrie’s transit coordinator.
MacIsaac added the numbers indicate ridership has reached a plateau, signalling a new bus may be needed to cause numbers to increase.
According to the staff report, some riders have found finding other means of transportation due to the rapid growth of ridership and crowding issues.
“Administration estimates between 40 to 50 complaints received regarding the current level of service since April 2012,” stated the staff report. “The majority of complaints focused on the safety and convenience of the service due to the high number of standees…”
The City estimates ridership will reach 80,000 passenger trips in 2012, up from 48,166 in 2011.
Although several aldermen expressed reservation over adding a fourth trip, they all voted in favour of putting the mechanical spare to use every day.
“I am going to support this because I think it is necessary, but I think in the future people are going to have to stand up,” said Mayor Peter Brown.
“I am very much in support of adding that fourth peak service,” said Alderman Glenda Alexander. “I am so pleased about this. If we don’t add a fourth bus, people might get frustrated and stop riding the ICE bus and we don’t want that, we want the service to grow.”
City staff will look into acquiring another mechanical spare bus to ensure the transit service is reliable.
