There’s been a bit of a muted response to a really exciting new initiative in Jasper, and I’m trying to figure out why that is.

It doesn’t take a major study to figure out that many Jasperites could benefit greatly from the establishment of a public transportation system which services town, the Jasper Park Lodge and surrounding national park amenities—although if you had any doubts, there is a study on the books which concludes that very thing.

“Introduction of transit (local or regional) was the second highest priority for the community,” surveyors found out when putting together the MOJ’s 2018 Transportation Master Plan.

But it seemed like as soon as council started discussing the implementation of a bus service, some residents wanted to hit the brakes. More recently, Jasper’s bid to create public transportation was very nearly derailed by a minority of municipal councillors—who, unless they’re forgetting, have helped advance this idea by commissioning reports and studies on how to better move people around our community. Why?

Is it the cost? Perhaps. And that’s a fair enough reason to scrutinize the concept. However, a fairly tidy solution to fund a significant portion of a transportation system has been guaranteed (the school board is footing 20 per cent of the bill), and chances are good that more funding can be obtained through federal grant money which rewards communities that prioritize public transit. The feds recognize public transit equals less congestion, faster commutes, more convenience, higher productivity and lower emissions and they want to incentivize communities—particularly rural, isolated ones—to invest.

“Public transit builds better lives,” the Federation of Canadian Municipalities states. Jasper councillors were at the last FCM conference. Maybe some of them slept through that presentation?

Magnus von-Motorhome

If you’ve ever been snarled in Lake Annette picnic hour traffic, you have to think that Parks Canada is going to come to the table with some capital. They are grappling with ever-congested day-use areas and they have signed a MOU with the town to show they’re (theoretically, at least) willing to invest in solutions which would help get visitors’ vehicles off the road. There are also not-insignificant advertising opportunities with such an initiative. I would hope the higher-ups at Tourism Jasper are already envisioning their “Venture Beyond” campaign plastered on the sides of the busses, and I would also hope the higher-ups at the MOJ would be putting a pretty price tag on those premium placements. Add all those revenues up and the financial hit becomes a lot less acute.

Lake Edith/Annette Day Use Area is never not busy in the summer. Parks Canada has installed attendants to control traffic. Surely a public transit system’s ability to alleviate this congestion is one reason to get behind the concept. // Bob Covey

Not that it’s all about the dollars and cents. Public transit, like any municipal service, should be viewed through the lens of a “triple bottom line,” as it’s called by sustainable business leaders: giving equal weight not only to economic outcomes, but social and environmental ones, too. A summary of best practices when it comes to developing sustainable transit options for small communities, put out by the Northern Alberta Development Council, impels town decision makers to “weigh the municipal savings and expenses against the benefits and costs to individuals, families, neighbourhoods, businesses and the ecosystem.”

I’ll be honest, I’m looking at it from a less-scientific perspective. I’m thinking about how great it will be to board the bus with the kids for a beach day at Lake Edith and not have to fight Johnny Jacked-Truck and Magnus von-Motorhome for a parking spot.

Stay in school, kids

A big one for many parents, of course, is getting the kids safely to school. Yes, if it’s 20-below, along with almost every other mom or dad on my block, I can choose to drive them. But not every family has that option. Some don’t drive. Some live too far away to safely walk. Before GYPSD’s 2022/23 school bus pilot project, JPL families were given about $7 per day as a “sorry we can’t get your kids to town, here’s some gas money” stipend. That’s fine for those families with a car and the time off to do the twice-daily school run, but try telling your taxi driver you only have seven bucks to get from “New Staff” to town. Your kids would get left at the Moberly Bridge.

Those are two scenarios. There are hundreds more. Getting your stand-up bass down to the Legion for jam night…getting your AirB&B guests from the train station to their suite…getting campers who want to have a drink with dinner to the restaurant and back…getting your kids to the pool when it’s cold or rainy or you just can’t leave the house…just getting cars off the road! If you can’t get on board with the idea of public transit in a car-clogged-community, you should probably get…a clue!

Bid adieu

The elephant in the room, of course, is the uncomfortable (to some) fact of which company got the bid. If you suffered through, like I did, the interminable conversations around the municipal council table in recent months, you’ll have seen that one of Jasper’s best-known and most well-respected businesses was not awarded the tender for the public transit job. That was unfortunate, in some ways, because there’s no question that the company in question, SunDog Tour and Transportation Co., has been a groundbreaker in Jasper—not just in the award-winning business they’ve developed over the last 25 years, but in their consistent corporate philanthropy and community support. It’s good to see local stakeholders who have local experience get local contracts, and many Jasperites close to the company were rooting for SunDog’s success, but is it shocking that the other bidder, a company which specializes in municipal transit solutions in communities all over Canada, won the contract?

I wish the best for all of our Jasper entrepreneurs, but in this case the important thing is not the local business’ success but the public transportation system’s success. PWT Transit was given the contract because their proposal was deemed to be the superior one. Disappointment from SunDog supporters aside (including myself!), it is what it is.

SunDog Tours is one of Jasper’s best-regarded businesses. They didn’t get the contract for Jasper’s public transit system, to the disappointment of many. // File photo

Except some councillors didn’t want to let it go. First, on July 11, councillor Helen Kelleher-Empey suggested that the public transit idea came out of nowhere (“It’s like we’re jumping into transportation with two feet”) and made the bad-faith argument (for reasons outlined above) that it was going to cost the taxpayers too much money. Then, on July 18, councillor Rico Damota tried to suggest that the mayor’s motion a week previous, to direct administration to engage in contract talks with PWT, was out of order. Presented as a gesture to stand up for the democratic process, in this viewer’s opinion, the motion (which was just barely defeated) was in fact a veiled attempt to put a wrench in the momentum the MOJ has built up to make headway on public transit…because that momentum wasn’t pointing to the contractor he favoured. Councillor Damota admitted, during these back-and-forth talks, that his position “reeks of protectionism.” On that much, I would agree.

Soft serve

This whole episode has had a very small-town vibe to it—and not in the “friendly banter on the steps of the post office” way. The close relationships enjoyed and multiple hats worn by the elected officials in this community have become readily apparent. It’s obviously very hard to put aside those associations when making decisions on behalf of the community. But that’s part of the job.

The good news, to those that are looking forward to the possibilities and potential of a customized public transit solution in and around Jasper, is that the service is going ahead. Starting September 6, students will jump onboard a bus that’s just for them, residents can start keeping their car keys at home and visitors can stop choking up Connaught Drive just to go window shopping or buy an ice cream cone.

Ice cream is so much better by bike or, come September 6, by bus!

That’s one problem licked. The next will be to see if Jasper municipal councillors, who have become divided over this issue, can get past the hard feelings generated from these discussions and make a sincere effort to work together for the rest of their mandate. Because if we’re not all aboard as a community, it won’t just be public transit that gets derailed.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com