Iqaluit Transit launches services with month of free rides
Privately run bus service adapting to passenger volume, community input
Iqaluit Transit is now in service, and riders can ride for free until April 27. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
The wheels on the bus are finally going round and round for Iqaluit Transit.
The privately operated shuttle bus is in service for what its operator describes as a month-long trial period that started March 25.
“It’s been [an] overwhelming and humbling experience with the community,” Jacinto Marques, owner of Iqaluit Transit, said in an interview.
“The feedback from the people, it’s a signal that Iqaluit was ready for the transit.”
Since first announcing his proposed transit service in early 2024, Marques has been working with the City of Iqaluit to get his bus moving.
He’s still waiting for the city’s permission to install bus-stop signs along the route. But with his licence approved, Marques’s business can transport passengers.
Iqaluit Transit’s 14-stop route covers the area from the airport to Abe Okpik Community Hall in Apex. Along the way are stops at Black Heart Café, Nunavut Arctic College, the Arctic Winter Games Arena, and several of the city’s grocery and convenience stores and hotels.
As part of the soft launch, the bus is only operating mornings Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to around 11:25 a.m., and afternoons from 3:30 p.m. to 7:10 p.m.
A fixed schedule and a live tracker showing where the bus is are available at bus.iqaluittransit.ca.
Iqaluit Transit does not have bus-stop signs installed yet, so the company has posted “virtual stop” locations on its Facebook page. (Photo courtesy of Iqaluit Transit/Facebook)
So far, people seem to be learning how it works, are finding the stops and are ready to board.
“They know exactly when to leave their house, exactly where to be at, and they didn’t have any questions,” Marques said.
Rides are free until full service launches on April 27.
At that point, the bus will operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week. That schedule hasn’t been announced yet.
Single rides will cost $5 for passengers ages 11 to 54 and $4 for elders 55 and older. Unlimited monthly passes will also be available for $189 and $129 for those age groups, respectively.
Children 10 and under will ride for free.
Iqaluit Transit still plans to implement more features, including a mobile app and ensuring all the route and schedule information is available in Inuktitut.
Currently, Marques is tracking ridership numbers to see if he might need to put two buses in operation.
He’s also welcoming feedback from community members on what they want to see in the service, including possibly adding more stops.
Iqaluit has been without public transit since 2005 when the last system shut down after two years due to low ridership.
“We’ve been prepared for three years, and if something does happen we’re prepared to adapt and change,” Marques said.
“As long as we are on time, we are reliable, it’s safe, it’s affordable, I think it should do well.”
Love this! Happy to see free ridership for a month and I hope it encourages people to try it out.
Beer run !!!!
I really hope this does well. Iqaluit needs more transportation options. I personally foresee there being many challenges. Obviously they’re just starting, so improvements can happen later, but unless you live near one of these stops, using it to commute to work might currently be impossible. Other obstacles include price and number of buses. In Asia, there’s so many buses and subways running all the time all over the place, with rides costing around $1 (or unlimited monthly pass for $60), which makes it a no brainer compared to a taxi or owning a car. If you miss the ride, not problem, another one is coming 10 minutes later. Here, you’ll have to be very careful with your timing to ensure you don’t miss the bus, otherwise you’re just going to have to call a taxi anyway. The more buses you add though, the more your expenses go up. And since this is a private company, operations can’t be at a loss. Would be nice if the city could perhaps subsidize this if it proves to be useful but expensive, because even at these prices, after accounting for all your expenses, I think making a healthy profit will be difficult. I guess what remains to be seen is how willing people will be to adjust their routines to being more scheduled to ensure they make the bus to save money vs continuing to take taxis/own a car. I wish them all the best, and hope it serves Iqaluit for a long time!
“The big problem with having a bus is, that you have to catch the bus… and we will need many busses to accommodate those who cannot catch the bus. This will be very expensive”
In short, yeah. Although the need for more buses isn’t just for convenience for if you miss it. If there’s only one or two buses, your entire schedule is restricted to when buses will be in your area. If a bus comes only once a hour, you only have a few slots for when you can go to the store. Then you have to spend a hour at the store before you can get a ride home. Plus if everyone is restricted to going about their routines at those set times, it’ll be packed with potentially not enough room if you don’t have many buses. More buses on the same route, while having multiple routes, solves that. But again, that increases the cost.
A bus stop in Plateau?
The route makes sense for the roads we have in town, but the needs are still there for residents in the upper and lower Plateau/Happy Valley/Tundra Valley neighborhoods, not to mention stops to the Downtown Core (Iqaluit dental/Downtown Post office/RBC) and Sylvia Grinnell in the summer.
The only thing I have to say is I hope Raffi Boudjikanian takes up the story for CBC and says, “the wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and rounnnnd. Raffi Boudjikanian. CBC Nyooze, Iqaluit.”
What may also be helpful, is if theres an app/website where you can see the location of the bus on its route. This way don’t have to wait outside guessing when it will arrive