Free transit is coming to Whitehorse, courtesy of the territorial government.

The city’s mayor, however, wonders why council wasn’t consulted before last Tuesday’s announcement – or whether there are better ways to increase ridership.

As part of the new Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) between the Liberals and the NDP, the government has committed to fully subsidizing bus fares in Whitehorse. 

Mayor Laura Cabott said in an interview last Thursday she was happy to hear of that, but doesn’t know why city council hadn’t been consulted – or at least informed – earlier.

“I had a brief conversation with the minister of Community Services (Richard Mostyn) and a brief conversation with the leader of the third party, Kate White,” Cabott told the Star.

“But that was after the announcement was made. There was no consultation, no discussion beforehand.”

She said she’s excited the government is interested in improving Whitehorse’s transit service, but providing those services is the city’s jurisdiction.

“The City of Whitehorse needs to be part of that conversation,” she said.

“So we’re happy to share some information, have some discussions, but just sort of landing on free transit may not necessarily be the solution to the City of Whitehorse’s goal, which is to increase ridership.”

In the past two years, the city has completed studies on transit service and demand in an effort to bolster ridership, relieve traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Cabott said the results of those studies and a public survey in light of route changes found people want better service, not free service.

“So more frequency,” she said. “Or increase the number of bus stops, or put in some bus shelters.

“Or if I want to get from A to B, don’t make me go in a different direction, and then have to transfer over …. That’s what we heard from people.”

She said the new transit routes and scheduling council approved in December 2022 were the result of that feedback and research. (Those changes will start in the summer).

The city has also already committed money in its capital budget for a study of free and subsidized transit fares.

“​​So this is a surprise,” Cabott said. “It was sort of a unilateral decision without the City of Whitehorse being involved.”

Cabott said the transit system costs about $6 million a year to run, and is already heavily subsidized. The city’s operations budget for transit is about $1.5 million.

She’s worried that if free transit funding from the territory is introduced through a CASA, which expires in 2025, the program could be short-lived, and the city would have to raise taxes substantially if it wanted to continue a free service.

Cabott said she hasn’t heard any timeline for implementing a free service.

She hopes to talk with the government about its plans, and whether the money can be used to enhance services rather than cover the costs for riders.

Whitehorse Transit resumed fare collection on Canada Day 2022, after fares had been suspended the previous May 18 to encourage ridership and reduce peak-time traffic congestion during the Robert Service Way closure after the April mudslide.

In December 2022, the city celebrated one-time funding of $754,000 from the Yukon and federal governments to help offset some of the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the transit service’s revenue streams.

The total contribution was $377,000 from each government.

“We know that residents in our community rely heavily on transit to get to work, run errands, or meet friends,” Cabott said at the time.

“We also know that a modern transit system reduces our impact on the environment, connects our communities, and helps us grow an accessible city for all.”

Whitehorse Transit’s investments have included improved routes and service on statutory holidays and Sundays.

The system has its roots in a series of pale green-and-white mini-buses that began circulating through the city in the mid-1970s, with the Yukon Status of Women Council as a key catalyst in creating the service.