Transit planning for fewer students
While transit providers already struggle with reduced service and revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the return of classes at Niagara’s postsecondary institutions might not offer much relief.
There will almost certainly be far fewer students riding Niagara’s buses when classes resume at Brock University and Niagara College this fall.
“Students represent a significant portion of transit ridership,” said Niagara Region’s GO implementation office director Matt Robinson. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty, but what is certain for us is the 2020 return to post-secondary will be very different than a year ago, and that’s going to be for students and staff and buses and transit operators in particular.”
Brock University recently announced that most of its courses will be provided online in September which could mean far fewer students returning to their residences to attend class in person, while Niagara College is waiting until the first week of June to make a decision about how classes will be offered in the coming term.
Despite the uncertainty, Robinson said transit operators throughout Niagara have been meeting on a weekly basis developing contingency plans.
“We’re preparing as a unified team, every transit provider in Niagara, big, small or otherwise, we’re preparing for different scenarios depending on what portion of programs are delivered on campus versus online. We need to be ready for whatever choices those post-secondary institutions make, because the demand will be there or not and we’re going to have to respond accordingly.”
At the same time, he said transit operators have collective agreements with workers they need to respect, while ensuring riders get the service they need at a price that taxpayers can afford.
“It sounds like we’re not looking at a full return to normal, but maybe a hybrid scenario,” he said. And since some programs will likely need to be held in person, Robinson said it could result in differing demands “based on the institution, not just on provincial direction. That’s an impact to us as well in terms of the level of transit service that we end up providing.”
While student ridership also contributes millions of dollars to transit services, Robinson said the potential loss of some of that revenue is just part of the “enormous financial impact” created by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic for all municipal services.