Will the bus stop here?

KIRSTEN MURPHY

Kanie Atagooyuk walks up the steep hill out of Apex when a passing car stops. Atagooyuk happily accepts the ride. Not many people stop, he says, and slams the door shut.

In its 2002 budget, the City of Iqaluit committed $50,000 to a bus service feasibility study. Atagooyuk responds with a shrug to news that the city may one day have public transit.

“That would be good. I can’t afford a car,” the part-time carver says.

Atagooyuk doesn’t mind the three kilometre trek each day. However, he knows people on fixed incomes who do.

The city has toyed with idea of public transit for years. A growing population, among other things, has once again pushed buses back on the city’s agenda. The study will look at possible hours of operation, pick-up frequency and the big one — cost. A request for proposals is tentatively scheduled for March.

Matthew Hough, the city’s engineering director, said the study’s findings could go either way.

“We want to know what are the best ways to implement a transit system. What will it cost? What is the projected ridership? Are we the best to do it? Maybe it would be better run by another group,” he said.

The city is not the first group to consider bus service in Iqaluit. Twenty years ago, brothers Paul and Louis Barrieau ran a two-bus service. Few people owned their own vehicles back then, making buses an affordable transportation system between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. But the 50� to $1 fees weren’t enough to keep the operation afloat. The Barrieaus shut their bus doors after two years in business.

Since then, people have relied heavily on taxis. So much so that when Iqaluit cab drivers staged a four-day strike last year, council decided the inconvenience warranted revisiting the bus question.

Hough said the study will look to similarly sized towns with transit systems. It will also examine what worked and what didn’t work for the Barrieaus 20 years ago.

“We also have to take climate into account. With a transit system in Toronto you can stand at a bus stop for more than five minutes. Here, you might be an ice block,” Hough said.

Cab driver Jean Laliberte admits the city’s six taxi companies stand to lose out if the buses roll in. However, he said, the public must be consulted. If public transit is what people want, fine. But Laliberte suspects people would rather pay $4.50 for quick, convenient cab ride.

“I know from experience that people do not like to wait,” Laliberte said.