“Very misleading” Councillor criticizes how transit finances presented; other councillors clap back

Jasper Municipal Councillor Laurie Rodger argued that the true municipal contribution to transit was made unclear in an annual transit update on Tuesday (Jan. 27).

Town administration’s report stated that the Municipality of Jasper provided a property tax subsidy of roughly $59,000 to the transit program in 2025, but Rodger asserted that the municipal subsidy came closer to $300,000 when also including visitor paid parking revenue.

“It’s very misleading,” Rodger said. “It’s just not something that the public should be hearing from us, because it’s not the truth.”

Launched in 2023, Jasper’s transit system provides transportation to locations within and outside of the townsite; a partnership with the Grand Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) facilitates a school bus service.

A regional service between Jasper and Hinton launched last summer, with the assistance of provincial capital funding as part of Jasper’s wildfire recovery.

Fares generated just 7.3 per cent of revenue for transit in 2025. Paid parking provided the bulk of the revenue at 28.5 per cent, with other sources including Parks Canada, GYPSD and a corporate pass program.

CAO Bill Given noted the previous council had approved using visitor paid parking to fund transit and that this money did not come from taxpayers.

Rodger, who has previously questioned the long-term viability of transit, replied that this fact wasn’t made clear to the public, and while it wasn’t a tax subsidy, it was still revenue that could be used elsewhere.

“What I’m hearing on the street is the amount we are subsidizing is not tolerable, and people are not happy about it,” he said.

Coun. Wendy Hall countered that the funding model was very clear to her but that council could have a future conversation about whether to continue putting parking revenue into transit. She noted that the only negative comments about Jasper Transit were from residents who had never used it.

“I support it,” she added. “It’s a growing service, and it’s an important service.”

Coun. Danny Frechette acknowledged there could be some confusion with how the accounting was presented but also noted the necessity of transit.

“You have to support people who are least able to look after themselves,” Frechette said. “We’re here to supply services, not to make money all the time.”

Electric buses

The Municipality may abandon plans to procure three electric buses due to a lack of suppliers.

With the help of a $5-million federal grant, the Municipality built a transit fleet facility and had issued a request for proposal for the electric buses. Because only one submission was received and the window was during the 2024 wildfire, the procurement was cancelled.

CAO Given said administration had asked the federal government if the grant could instead be used to purchase conventional fuel buses and was waiting for a reply.

Should the Municipality be unable to purchase its own fleet, it could continue to use a contractor.

Transit stats

In 2025, the local service delivered 52,523 rides compared to 15,363 rides in 2023 and 35,764 rides in 2024. The 2025 statistic exceeded the Municipality’s forecast of 42,000 rides and would total to 59,909 rides if regional transit was included.

Jasper Transit manager Erin Toop said the increase in ridership reflected how 2025 was the first full year of transit, since the wildfire interrupted the service in 2024.

Fare revenue increased by 33 per cent to $101,226 last year due to the increased ridership, while the operating cost increased by 14 per cent to $610,000. Fares are expected to increase in May with the launch of the summer service.

As for on-time performance, local transit fell within the target policy of 85 per cent, while regional transit was 79.6 per cent with administration saying it was on “a trajectory of improvement.”

The first transit survey, which ran from Aug. 18 to Sept. 19, received 170 responses that included 112 transit riders. Eleven were from non-transit users who opposed the service.

Respondents were most satisfied with the fares, accessibility, cleanliness and safety. They were least satisfied with the timeliness and adherence to the schedule, the ease of purchasing a fare as well as the availability of information on the bus routes, schedules and fares.

Shopping was the most common reason given for using transit, as indicated by half of respondents, followed by social or community connection as well as commuting. Only a quarter or less of respondents used transit for medical appointments, personal business or services.

Peter Shokeir // info@thejasperlocal.com