News Releases

City Council will soon have the opportunity to consider detailed information about what routes a rapid bus service and active transportation network could look like for Nutana and the city centre.

Following more than three years of technical work and public engagement, Saskatoon City Council will receive reports with recommendations on possible routes for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the Downtown Active Transportation (AT) Network.

“The BRT system and Downtown AT Network are about more than transit, cycling and walking,” says Jay Magus, Director of Transportation. “They are about making a transportation system that works for everybody as the city grows and more people need to safely and efficiently move around the same amount of space.”

The BRT system and Downtown AT Network are key components of the City’s Plan for Growth, supporting corridor growth and economic development by improving the mobility of current and future residents. They enable viable options to automobile travel, helping the City with sustainability, climate and population growth challenges that are becoming increasingly important to address.

A number of network options have been evaluated in both the Downtown and Nutana areas for the BRT, and Downtown for the AT Network. The City Administration has considered the implications for each of the options and has made its recommendations. While there are recommended and preferred options based on the technical criteria for each system (BRT and AT), it must be stressed that any of the routing options evaluated will work and are supported by the Administration.

Magus says an intensive public engagement campaign was conducted that covered all areas of the city and offered many opportunities for input. “As our neighbourhoods and population continue to grow, by undertaking such a concerted engagement effort – for both the BRT and Downtown AT Network – we were able to look at how our technical recommendations can best work with what the citizens of Saskatoon see as important for the future of moving around our city.”

Report information, including technical recommendations and engagement results, are available on the City of Saskatoon website at saskatoon.ca/transit-plan (for BRT) and saskatoon.ca/moving-around/cycling/cycling-plans-projects (for Downtown AT Network). The official Agenda for the April 29^th City Council meeting will be available April 24^th at 4:00 p.m. at saskatoon.ca/city-hall.

With warming temperatures, median and street sweeping shifts into full gear this week. Simultaneously, pothole patching crews get started with hot mix asphalt for permanent repairs.

“We’re officially in spring cleaning mode with sweepers moving through high-traffic priority streets and crews filling broken pavement with hot-mix asphalt,” says Brodie Thompson, Acting Director of Roadways, Fleet & Support.

Over the next four weeks, citizens will notice sweeping on the driving lanes along priority streets, business improvement districts, and on medians and boulevards. The goal of this phase is to pick-up debris collected through winter and reduce dust. Curb-to-curb cleaning will occur as part of residential street sweeping beginning May 6.

“Thinking about potholes, the great news this spring is that roads are overall pretty smooth thanks to all the road rehabilitation the City’s been investing in,” says Thompson. “This summer, we will focus more of our energy on proactive treatments such as crack sealing to prevent potholes and deterioration of our roads.”

Sweeping
To allow for sweeping the entire road, a few neighbourhoods will see the yellow “No Parking” signs pop up in April. These roads will be swept ahead so they are available for parking when the residential street sweeping starts in those areas.

City-wide residential street sweeping will begin May 6, weather permitting. Bright yellow “No Parking” signs will be posted in neighbourhoods 36-48 hours in advance of street sweeping, followed up with ticketing and relocation towing. City crews will follow a similar schedule for permanently repairing potholes with a hot mix asphalt through neighbourhoods.  

Utility Cut Repairs
In addition to sweeping and pothole repairs, the City is maintaining more than 1,000 road cuts due to underground utility work. Permanent repairs of these road cuts will start next week.

Citizens can report dangerous locations to our Customer Care Centre, and continue to report pesky potholes on our Report-a-Pothole app to help the City prioritize repairs.

Visit saskatoon.ca/betterroads to report a pothole and for street sweeping schedules and information on spring road maintenance programs.

The future is bright in Saskatoon! As part of the Student Action for a Sustainable Future (SASF) Student Showcase, held on April 9 at the Western Development Museum, 320 grade 4-8 students from across the city displayed their environmental initiative results from work conducted over the past 6 months. The topics they explored ranged from water and energy conservation; waste reduction; active transportation; local food production; biodiversity protection; and reductions to greenhouse-gas emissions. Some of these innovative projects included:

• Initiatives to decrease the use of single-use plastics, such as garbage-free lunches and finding alternatives to single-serving yogurt containers.
• Waste audits and education to reduce garbage production. In one school, this reduced garbage by 18%.
• An assessment of the food-production potential for aquaponics (plants and fish sharing a common, pumped water supply and exchanging nutrients).
• Reduction of vehicle idling through education and presentations to school board members.
• Saving energy by switching out old light bulbs with energy-efficient LED’s.

“With the support and success of the SASF program, teachers and students are undertaking projects with real results that show what we can do to make our communities more sustainable now and for the future”, said Amber Weckworth, Manager of Education and Environmental Performance.

The SASF program was developed in 2013 as a partnership between the City, Saskatoon Public Schools, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Sustainability Education Research Institute, and community organizations. Since its inception, the program has involved 72 teachers, 49 schools, and approximately 2,000 students.

To learn more about the SASF project, visit: saskatoon.ca/studentaction.

Today, Saskatoon Transit marks a milestone on their journey to provide a fully-accessible public transit system.

Thanks to recent investments, the City’s fleet of various types of buses are now 100% accessible, allowing those with reduced mobility the freedom and independence of using conventional transit.

Starting in 2018 under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) program, the Government of Canada and the City of Saskatoon each invested $12 million for a total of $24 million toward the purchase of 41 accessible low-floor conventional buses that can either kneel and/or have a ramp, along with nine specialized buses with wheelchair lifts for Access Transit. Within the same time frame, the Government of Saskatchewan’s Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities (TAPD) program also contributed $220,000 toward four additional specialized buses for Access Transit. A total of 54 new buses have been purchased for the City’s fleet, making it completely accessible.

This milestone allows Saskatoon Transit to connect more people to their destinations than ever by using a “Family of Services” approach. This means, Access Transit customers now have more transportation flexibility and spontaneity using conventional transit. The City encourages Access customers to use Transit’s conventional service for all or part of their trips. Transit Travel Training is available for those who may be new or unsure about taking conventional transit.

“Our investments in public transit are allowing people to spend less time commuting and more precious time with their families,” said the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. “I’m proud to see that Saskatoon has transitioned to a fleet of 100% accessible buses, providing barrier-free transit services to ensure that everyone can get where they need to go safely and comfortably.”

“The Government of Saskatchewan commends the City of Saskatoon for reaching this destination. Our government is proud to have played a supportive role on this journey. That was done by contributing $220,000 in provincial funding between 2018 and 2019 toward four additional specialized buses for Access Transit under our Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities program,” said Government Relations Minister Warren Kaeding. “In our new provincial budget, we also increased capital funding for Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities by $250,000. This is a 45% increase from last years’ budget, bringing the program total for 2019-20 to $3.8 million to support eligible applicants across Saskatchewan.”

“We are continually working to improve our service and are extremely proud of reaching this milestone as we work towards a fully accessible transit service. We want all of our customers to have safe, convenient, and affordable transit options,” said Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit.

“The Commission commends the City of Saskatoon on the leadership it has provided in making this initiative possible. We will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure the people of Saskatoon have effective and accessible transit,” said David Arnot, Commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. “Accessible transportation is a building block for a fair, inclusive, and equitable society. By removing barriers to transportation, we enable access to education and employment, as well as, to the services, opportunities, and benefits of living in a thriving multicultural and pluralistic city like Saskatoon.”

Experience Transit, Saskatoon Transit’s travel training program began as a pilot in mid-2017. The program is personalized, 60-minute training to introduce people to transit and teach them how to use conventional transit services independently. Training is customized to fit an individual’s lifestyle, travel needs and abilities. The program includes:

• Trip planning
• Wayfinding and navigation
• Fares
• Boarding and exiting
• Requesting accessible features
• Problem solving tips for when unexpected challenges occur

Over the past several years, Saskatoon Transit has implemented internal and external stop announcements as part of their commitment to providing accessible service. A complete bus stop audit will be conducted this summer to review all locations and their accessibility. 

The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo (Zoo) is working with the Australian Dingo Foundation and the Oakvale Wildlife Park in Australia to bring two dingo pups to the Zoo this spring.

“We are just making the final arrangements before these pups start their journey to Canada,” says Tim Sinclair-Smith, Zoo Manager. “This is a great opportunity for us to bring some exciting new animals to Saskatoon, allowing visitors of all ages to meet dingoes, most likely for the first time.  It is also a great way to enhance our conservation, research, and education opportunities at the Zoo.”

Known as Australia’s wild dog, dingoes roam great distances and communicate with wolf-like howls.  They can live a solitary life or be part of a pack.  Truly pure dingoes are extremely rare due to interbreeding with domestic and feral dogs that were brought to Australia by European settlers.  The majority of their diet is wallaby and kangaroo, but they will also pursue small game such as rabbits and rodents and eat fruits and plants. Dingoes are naturally lean animals weighing approximately 14 kg and their coats are commonly a golden yellow with white markings on their chest, feet and tail tip.

The dingoes will be taking over the previous wolf enclosure across from the Meerkat House at the Zoo. Renovations for the new Dingo Habitat are expected to start in April with new habitat opening this spring.

The Zoo is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the end of April, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. starting in May.  Additional information regarding the Zoo can be found at saskatoon.ca/zoo.