New bus rules pitched after Saskatoon ridership plummets
By Phil Tank of CBC News Saskatoon
Saskatoon city hall is proposing major changes to the bylaws governing transit after bus use dropped by more than one million rides last year.
Saskatoon Transit's annual report shows electronic fares dropped drastically last year, to 7.2 million from 8.5 million in 2024. That's a decrease of nearly 15 per cent.
A city report blames the drop on "evolving travel patterns," concerns about safety on buses and people refusing to pay. Fare revenue also dropped by more than $1 million last year compared to 2024, to $13.9 million from $15.1 million.
Bus Riders of Saskatoon spokesman Robert Clipperton said in an interview Friday that safety concerns seem to be increasing, based on what he sees on his group's 5,000-member Facebook page.
"How much of it is perception of danger and how much of it is danger is, you know, open to a lot of discussion, but there are things that happen on the bus in greater quantity than they used to," Clipperton said.
On Monday, police reported an incident where bear spray was discharged on a bus near Diefenbaker Drive and Vanier Crescent. Riders had to be treated by paramedics and firefighters on the sidewalk.
A separate report from the city that will be considered by city council's transportation committee Tuesday says the rate of fare evasion has risen from just above zero in 2021 to 1.8 per cent last year.
Recorded instances of fare evasion have more than tripled in three years, from 41,923 in 2023 to 131,532 last year. And the amount of lost revenue linked directly to riders evading fares has exploded to $394,596 last year from $24,500 five years ago.
Clipperton linked the higher number of riders evading fares to the rise in the number of homeless people in Saskatoon.
"But they didn't do any analysis as to time of year and I wonder how many people on the bus are there because the shelter closed at 8 o'clock and they got kicked out in the cold," he said.
Bylaw changes proposed
More than two-thirds of recorded fare evasions have happened on 10 bus routes. Route 2, which travels from downtown to the Confederation Mall, accounted for 21 per cent in 2025, the most of any route.
Bus drivers have been instructed to refrain from demanding fare payment to reduce confrontations.
But under a suite of proposed changes to the bylaw governing buses, riders would be required to pay the fare. The altered bylaw would allow $50 fines to be imposed, but also permit the banning of people from transit, including for indefinite periods.
The changes would also introduce several rules based on behaviour on buses and at bus shelters, including requiring footwear, prohibiting sleeping on a bus and refraining from swearing. The city bylaw banning spitting, urinating and defecating in public would also be extended to apply to buses.
The Saskatoon Police Service is also adding nine new officers over two years to be dedicated specifically to issues on buses.
"It's nice to see some action going forward as opposed to pretending it's not there," Clipperton said.
If approved by council, the revised bylaw would come into effect in September.
The drop in bus ridership comes as city hall is preparing to launch its $262-million Link transit upgrade, which will include new bus stations throughout the city and dedicated bus lanes on College Drive.
A proposal for bus-only lanes on First Avenue downtown stalled at council in April.
Electronically recorded bus ridership rebounded from a low of 4.3 million in 2021 as fear of infection amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic affected transit worldwide.
But rides never reached the 9.6 million recorded prior to the pandemic in 2019, even as Saskatoon's population has grown to more than 318,000.
Saskatoon Transit prefers to report ridership in so-called calculated numbers, using an "historical formula" to estimate the number of rides. Using those numbers, ridership dropped to 12.3 million last year from 13.2 million in 2024.