Group wants to save STC with federal transit funds
The Stop the Cuts lobby group is urging the provincial government to strike a deal to use federal transit funding to rescue the defunct Saskatchewan Transportation Company.
Two Stop the Cuts spokesmen suggested Wednesday that Saskatchewan’s share of federal transit money could be used to cover the $85 million the Saskatchewan Party government says it will save over the next five years by shutting down the bus company.
The province announced the STC closure in its March 22 budget and the Crown corporation ceased operations on May 31.
Stop the Cuts spokesman Peter Garden acknowledged federal transit funding is directed at repairing and building municipal infrastructure, but he thinks a deal could be struck between the province and the federal government.
“You could argue that the STC is transportation infrastructure for rural Saskatchewan,” Garden told reporters at a news conference in Saskatoon.
The group estimated Saskatchewan could receive between $320 million and $640 million in federal money. The Trudeau government has announced $20.1 billion in transit infrastructure funding over the next 11 years.
Regina NDP MP Erin Weir suggested this approach to Premier Brad Wall and was rebuffed, according
to Stop the Cuts. Group spokesman Robert Clipperton said he doesn’t know how the province determined it would save $85 million over five years by closing the STC. He said no public transit operation turns a profit.
Garden said the cost of running STC could be reduced by finding cost savings and increasing ridership through better promotion.
The province paid $13.25 million of STC’s $35.2-million operating budget in 2015-16, according to the most recent annual report.
Ridership fell over the same period from 261,531 to 244,785, but revenues rose from $16.6 million to $18.5 million.