City of Saskatoon looking forward to upgrading bus fleet with significant numbers in poor or very poor condition
By Vanese M. Ferguson of CJWW Radio
Aging buses
In a report to the Saskatoon Transit Committee administration says its 40-foot buses have an average age of 11.2 years, and they rate more than a third of them (33 per cent) as very poor condition. The target for the average age of 40 foot buses is 7.5 years. 30.5 per cent of them are considered in fair condition while 27 per cent are in very good or good condition.
Meanwhile 55 per cent of the 60 foot buses, with an average age of 10.4 years, are rated as poor while 12 per cent is very poor and the rest are very good. The report also states that ten 40-foot buses are expected to be delivered in late August or early September followed shortly by ten 60-foot buses.
The City of Saskatoon expects five new para-transit buses for Access Transit in December or January.
Update on Fire Community Support program
After a year of the Fire Community Support program being implemented there has been a drop in the number of incidents in Saskatoon’s Business Improvement Districts and on Saskatoon buses that are referred to the police.
That is the information presented in a report to the City of Saskatoon Transit Committee this week. For instance, in July 2024 when the program began there were 284 total incidents and 37 were referred to police. And in June 2025 of 264 incidents overall, 28 were referred to police.
The report says in 2025 the Fire Community Support program experienced a 51 per cent increase in incidents compared to 2024 peaking at a 74 per cent increase in May. The report suggests that while expanding the program to support Transit contributed to the growth, it didn’t fully account for the overall increase.
Since implementation, the program has been adapted with staffing levels doubled as compared to the former Community Support officer program and with extended operating hours.
In 2024 the total number of FCS incidents referred to police was 13 per cent. In 2025, after the role of FCS expanded to provide support to Transit, 11 per cent of Transit calls and 10 per cent of BIDS calls were referred to police.