INNISFAIL – With the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #104 in Innisfail soon getting out of the local transit business, the Town of Innisfail will soon make a formal decision whether it wants to assume administration of the local PACE operations or retain the services of a private contractor.
The issue was discussed by town council members on Dec. 5 at its Agenda & Priorities meeting following a report by Meghan Jenkins, the community services director for the Town of Innisfail.
“As we move ahead in January, we'll be coming back to you with more detailed analysis of whether we want to look at a contracted service, or figure out how that would work as an internal operation,” Jenkins told council.
The aim of the town’s two-vehicle PACE (promoting accessibility for the community everywhere) transportation service is to provide affordable, accessible, local and non-local, on-demand transportation for Innisfail and area citizens.
The town is currently giving the local Legion an $88,000 annual operating grant to administer the service, which includes dispatching and providing drivers.
While the priority for the service is for medical and doctors’ appointments the town has been trying to educate the general public the service is for all citizens, including single mothers and those who can not drive.
The Legion recently served the town notice it wants to terminate its transportation agreement with the town in April of next year to focus on the welfare of veterans.
The council discussion on Dec. 5 began with mayor Jean Barclay declaring she did not want the administration of local transit service to go to a private contractor.
“I'm very much for keeping it internal. It worries me going to a contracted service that we lose control,” said Barclay. “In my opinion, the PACE bus is an essential service and therefor I feel the Town of Innisfail should operate that service as opposed to a private contractor.”
Coun. Don Harrison agreed with the mayor, noting the existing group of drivers and dispatchers do their own bookings and reservations.
“I don’t see a big onus other than just quality control on the town,” said Harrison. “I don’t think we need to hire any additional people. I think the drivers now can certainly handle that.”
Coun. Gavin Bates weighed in to say that at “some point” the issue comes back to cost and council has to decide how much is “subsidized” by local taxpayers.
There was also a discussion on rates, including whether the current ones are based on ones offered by the government of Alberta.
Harrison noted rates have evolved over the years and are based on fuel prices and wages with them ultimately reviewed by the local Transportation Committee.
He told council there have been some one-off requests for specialized appointments to Edmonton and a return-trip rate of $350 was advanced. Harrison said the town should look into a regular rate for such requests.
In Jenkins report to council, it was stated rates can go low as $10 for a local return trip to a $250 fee for a Calgary return trip. Some rates for trips are at the discretion of the operator.
As for usage for the PACE transit service, Jenkins’ report stated there has been a total of 843 trips in Innisfail and to other points in the region, including Bowden, Penhold and Red Deer, for the first nine months of 2022.
Todd Becker, the town’s chief administrative officer, ended the discussion by telling council members the next step is for administration to develop a detailed “business case” compared to what similar services provide.
Council approved Jenkins’ report as information. Administration is expected to bring back a full report with recommendations early in the new year.
