BOW VALLEY – Additional service hours for expanded service and new staff are among the asks for Roam transit’s budget as the regional transit service continues to grow.
The Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission got a first look at the draft budget, which is forecasting $14.14 million in operating expenses and $14.97 million in anticipated income for 2025.
Additional hours for Banff Routes 1 (Sulphur Mountain), 2 (Tunnel Mountain), 3 (Banff-Canmore) are proposed, while extended winter service for Route 12 (Grassi Lakes) and an automatic passenger counter upgrade are new asks.
A staff report noted Banff local routes are at capacity throughout the summer, with more service hours needed to reduce overloads. From May 17 to July 29, there were 594 overloads on the two routes, meaning riders had to be turned away.
If approved by the transit commission, it would add five extra hours per day and cost an anticipated $81,165.
“With Routes 1 and 2, we just have a few areas where there’s less service than desired, and we’re seeing more overloads at certain times of day. We’re asking for a few additional hours using existing equipment, so no capital ask,” Martin Bean, Roam’s CEO, said. “We feel this will help reduce the number of overloads in the summer months.”
The Banff-Canmore regional service has three buses each day throughout the year, with one running a split shift of 6:30-11 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. The additional service hours, if approved, would fill some of the gap with an extra two hours per day. It’s projected to cost an extra $156,497 in 2025.
The winter service on the new Grassi Lakes route would add to the three-year pilot project being done by Alberta Parks and the Town of Canmore, which is operated by Roam. The service links Bow Valley Trail, Spring Creek Mountain Village, Palliser Trail, downtown to Quarry Lake, Canmore Nordic Centre and Grassi Lakes.
If approved, it would begin in either late 2025 or early 2026 and initially start at nine hours per day. If it were to start in 2025, the cost would be $140,377, while an increase for all of 2026 is projected at $347,592.
“With the Canmore route 12 winter service, we have the bus purchased that we’ll be doing the Grassi Lakes service in the summer months, but we’re looking to utilize that bus in the winter months to better connect parts of Canmore that are underserved or not served right now, potential areas like Palliser or Bow Valley Trail,” Bean said.
Roam has 32 buses in its fleet, but three new highway coaches will arrive in the coming weeks. In 2025, six new buses – three electric and three hybrid – are anticipated early in the year.
The diesel highway coaches are scheduled to arrive before the end of September, with one being a spare, another for Route 3 and the third for Route 8x (Lake Louise-Banff). Three Nova electric buses – one for Canmore and two for Banff – are expected in spring 2025, while three Nova hybrid buses for Banff are also expected in the spring.
Through the end of July, there had been 193,157 riders on the route compared to 179,167 for the first six months of 2023.
An automatic passenger counting system replacement includes sensors above bus doors to count passengers getting on the bus. It also collects GPS coordinates, dates, times, routes and trips for additional data. The estimated cost is $168,000 or roughly $4,000 per bus and total overall annual operating fees of $8,600.
New position requests are for a part-time accounting administrator and a half-time dispatch coordinator. In 2026, Roam staff is proposing to have the accounting administrator position become full-time and a full-time general maintenance person.
The cost for a part-time dispatcher would be $50,800, including benefits, and the accounting administrator would be $46,246 in 2025 and $84,275 in 2026 when it would go to full-time.
The general maintenance person is requested at $92,960, including benefits, and help with work on vehicles and Roam facilities.
Bean said the transit dispatcher position would help since the transit authority can have service up to 18-20 buses on the road.
“To have an additional dispatcher so that we can have seven days a week coverage from 6 a.m. until approximately 7:30 or 8 p.m. will really help with support for drivers, and also cut down the amount of overtime that we see now because dispatchers are answering calls after they’ve already done their 10-hour shift,” he said.
The financial position is to assist with organizational growth and the general maintenance person for 2026 would help with facility maintenance.
In 2025, ridership is forecasted at 2.96 million and expected to increase to 3.07 million in 2026 then 3.1 million in 2027. Total anticipated service hours are estimated to be 82,563 in both 2026 and 2027.
The upcoming year is estimated to have Roam’s fleet complete 2.43 million kilometres at a gross cost of $6.93 per kilometre.
For Banff, the increased capital costs are largely for electric battery replacements, while Canmore has slight increases for electric bus-related infrastructure. The report noted in previous budgets it was calculated 50 per cent of battery replacements would be covered by the Proterra warranty. However, with its bankruptcy and each bus having six batteries at about $60,000 USD, the transit commission is likely going to have to pick up the full cost.
Among key cost increases are $900,000 for maintenance increases, $250,000 for contract services, $126,000 for wage increases and $110,000 for transit storage. The amortization estimated increase jumps by $400,000 because of the new buses, leading to increased member contributions of $941,000 total.
Of the $250,000 in contracted services, $215,000 is for OnIt, which is now included in Roam’s budget when it was previously outside the annual budget. Half of the $110,000 in transit storage is for use of the Town of Canmore’s protective services building – formerly the fire hall – and the rest for increased utility costs, maintenance and general contract work.
The staff report noted pass sales have increased by $339,000, which reflects a jump in service hours, ridership and revenue.
The draft Roam budget anticipated 81,267 service hours, which is an increase of about 3,000 hours from 2024.
The ridership forecast for 2025 is a two per cent increase, while 2026 and 2027 has one per cent increases each year.
The sales revenue is forecasted for a two per cent increase in 2025 from what was reached in 2023.
In 2026, the draft budget is $15.67 million for income and $14.84 million in operating expenses.
The draft budget for 2027 anticipates $16.11 million in income and $15.27 million in operating expenses.
The transit commission will be asked to approve the draft budget at its Sept. 11 meeting. If passed, the public can provide feedback for 30 days and it would be finalized at the commission’s Oct. 30 meeting.
However, the budget can still change when it goes to the commission’s member councils and comes back to the commission to be fully ratified in early 2025.
WHO PAYS WHAT IN DRAFT BUDGET
- Banff: $5.29 million (previously set at $4.3 million)
- Canmore: $3.19 million (previously set at $2.74 million)
- Improvement District No. 9: $1.07 million (previously set at $865,761)
- Parks Canada: $2.58 million (previously set at $2.59 million)
- Alberta Parks: $111,540 (previously set at $105,813)
