Transit now free for youths 13 and under; No. 50 route expanded

Public transit in Regina is now free for youths under the age of 13 or those in Grade 8.

The decision to make transit free for that age group was suggested to city council in the Transit Master Plan that was presented to council earlier this year. Council approved the change in July.

The city says the move is expected to impact between 2,000 and 4,000 youths.

Brad Bells, the city’s director of transit and fleet, suggested the move by council will get more kids riding the bus.

“We feel that if we can give opportunities to our youth, they’ll have more opportunities to use transit and they’ll become lifelong users of transit,” Bells said. “That’s a really good opportunity for us and again it’s good for families and makes it more affordable.”

Bells thinks the change will help a lot of families who are currently battling inflation on top of already trying to make ends meet.

“That was some of the deterrents that we heard from families. You’d have a family with four kids and all of you had to pay. Now if you can take your (kids) for free, it’s a lot more affordable for them,” he explained. “So we expect ridership to increase for those 13 and under rather than we were charging a fee.”

Previously, youths were charged $2.75 per ride.

Bells mentioned this is something that other municipalities have adopted.

“A lot of other municipalities in the Canadian market are starting to move to that,” he stated. “We’re following suit and are excited the Master Plan recommended it and council approved it.”

Route changes

On top of transit becoming free for those under 13, the city also announced that starting Monday the No. 50 Victoria Avenue bus route will now be expanded to include four new stops.

Those stops will include Landmark Cinemas and Costco.

Bells noted it’s a route people on the east side have been asking for.

“Both the workers and residents wanted us out here and they’re very excited to have service and we’ve already seen some ridership already effective (Monday),” he said.

Bells hopes the route will be successful as it becomes more known to the public.