It's another five years of Greyhound Canada running the show for the City of Thompson transit system.
City council quickly and unanimously accepted on Sept. 13 Greyhound's bid issued in response to the city's request for proposals for operation of the transit system. Greyhound was the only company to make a bid, although a second company did request a submission package which in the end went unreturned.
Under the terms of the agreement, the direct cost of the service will be reduced to $261,146 for the first year - a marked decrease from the $297,503 cost incurred last year, and $283,030 in 2008. Additionally, the city will now receive direct revenues from passenger fares, which amounted to $54,464 in 2009. In total, that's just over $90,000 less going to Greyhound.
According to city manager Randy Patrick, the savings can be attributed to the city's purchase of two buses earlier in the year. "We own the buses now and we never did in the past," he said, explaining that this makes it difficult to compare the new contract to the existing one.
The cost will rise by a total of 8.8 per cent over the course of the five-year contract, finishing at $285,058 in the fifth year. The total cost to the city will be $1,364,393 over five years. However, there is a funding arrangement in place between the city and the province which see the province support approximately half the operational costs of the transit system. Patrick said that the agreement with the province should not be impacted by the new contract with Greyhound.
The city also considered the idea of running the transit service themselves, but ultimately went with Greyhound. "It would be the city's best interest to award the contract to Greyhound Canada," wrote city purchasing agent Joyce Kopp in her report. "If the city were to operate this transit system, they would be looking at storage facilities, a minimum of four full time drivers, mechanical support and additional equipment (i.e. bus hoist) for the maintenance of these buses."
Greyhound will be responsible for operating the buses purchased by the city in March, as well as storage and required maintenance of the buses. Patrick says that the cost of maintenance "appears reasonable," and that Greyhound has recently hired a new mechanic.
Thompson's bus service had been provided by Grey Goose Bus Lines since the inception of local transit in the early 1970s. Grey Goose was purchased by Greyhound Canada in 1998, and Thompson is now the only city in North America for which Greyhound provides municipal bussing service.
On March 19, council approved the spending of $845,136 on two new, handicap accessible D35LFR buses from New Flyer Industries. The buses were purchased in part with money received through the Gas Tax Fund, money set aside for municipalities to use on capital purchases such as new buses.
Patrick said that the city is still looking into the current transit routes with an eye towards overhauling the exiting maps. At a July 6 open house, plans on display showed the two current routes, which each wind through half of the city's residential areas, replaced by larger loops around the city with fewer trips through residential subdivisions.
