Fredericton Transit will run every 30 minutes on most routes

Aidan Cox · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 2:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Some transit users successful Fredericton volition find it takes little clip to drawback a autobus arsenic of Monday.

The metropolis is rolling retired a planned summation to the level of frequence for astir Fredericton Transit routes in effect to grounds increases successful the fig of radical taking the autobus successful caller years.

"Transit has been a precedence for this council as you tin spot by this further service, and I tin accidental that it has decidedly paid off," said Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers, astatine an lawsuit to denote the changes.

"The occurrence of our improvements that we person made are reflected successful our accrued idiosyncratic base."

Most of the city's buses operate connected an hourly schedule, but during highest commute times. Between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. — Monday to Friday — they tally each fractional hour.

But arsenic of Monday, routes 12, 13, 14 and 15 volition besides tally each fractional hour between the unreserved hr windows of 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

The alteration volition besides beryllium applied to routes 16 and 17, but lone connected the southbound side.

"That'd beryllium great. Really great," said Sherry Brewer-Long. "Yeah, it would beryllium awesome."

Brewer-Long takes the autobus astir each time from her location connected the northbound side. Some days she needs it to get groceries, portion different days she needs to get to appointments successful the city's uptown area.

She said having to hold an hr successful immoderate cases to drawback the adjacent autobus hasn't been ideal.

"When you spell up to the doctor's bureau and you hold for the autobus and stuff, it's benignant of hard erstwhile there's nary structure and stuff."

Up until a fewer months ago, Tabatha Christie took the autobus to get to her occupation astatine Walmart at Two Nations Crossing.

While she present uses a car, she said the much predominant autobus work volition marque different people's lives easier.

"I deliberation it'll assistance rather a spot due to the fact that ... I ever got disconnected astatine 2:30 successful the afternoon. I'd person to hold until 3:00, if not 3:30, earlier I could spell home," Christie said.

"And I worked truly agelong hours. It was similar eight-and-a-half, nine-hour shifts, and I was perpetually moving, truthful erstwhile I finished my shift, I conscionable wanted to get home. I didn't privation to person to hold an hour in the store earlier a autobus came."

Increasing the frequence of autobus routes is the latest successful a circular of improvements made to Fredericton's transit service, galore of which person been ushered successful by transit manager Charlene Sharpe.

Hired successful 2022, her archetypal extremity was to instal exertion that intimately tracks ridership patterns.

Using information from that tech, she led the propulsion to implement Sunday autobus service last twelvemonth for the archetypal clip successful the city's history.

Standing country only, radical being near behind

It's unclear if the changes are liable but implicit that play Fredericton Transit has besides seen increases successful its ridership, which climbed 19 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

Rogers said that dense usage was becoming evident successful the mediate of the day, with buses moving conscionable erstwhile an hour.

"Most of the routes that we're increasing, they are astatine afloat capacity, and that's lasting capableness wherever we've seen peaks of much than 55 radical connected a autobus wherever those buses tin lone clasp 36, 37 seated," she said.

Rogers said determination were besides instances erstwhile autobus drivers had to thrust past radical lasting astatine the autobus halt due to the fact that determination was nary much country connected board.

"So we've been capable to pinpoint with the information wherever this was happening, and truthful that's wherefore we've chosen the areas to summation the service — to enactment that demand."

The increases successful transit frequence volition outgo the metropolis $624,000 this year, an magnitude that was already agreed to by councillors arsenic portion of past fall's fund process for 2025.

The alteration besides progressive promoting 5 autobus drivers from part-time to full-time employment, successful summation to hiring a caller part-time operator to assistance screen scheduling gaps.

Two different routes — the 116 and 216 — volition besides spot their highest half-hour work commencement an hr earlier as of Monday.

Buses connected routes 10 and 11 are already moving astatine half-hour intervals, said Rogers.