Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper took the plunge last week with the launch of its new transit system, which includes both a regular bus service and a yellow school bus.
This is a plunge that many other Alberta municipalities have taken in recent years, and I have often been skeptical of this trend.
Transit isn鈥檛 a money-making venture, I know, but I fail to see how driving an empty bus in circles will help address climate change.
Jasper, however, has more of a need for transit than many other towns.
While the townsite is very walkable, there are sites such as the campgrounds and Lake Anette that are a fair distance away.
As well, parking and traffic have become increasingly worse over recent years, not just in town but also at popular sites, so if transit is able to help alleviate that pressure, it will be more than worth the investment.
Perhaps the biggest benefit will go to students, particularly those living at the Jasper Park Lodge, who have historically not had access to busing.
No doubt ridership will be low at first, but hopefully a month of being 鈥渇are free鈥� will help habituate the public to this service and see the benefits of it.
The more I think about Jasper Transit, the more I think a service like this was sorely needed.
Too bad there鈥檚 been a serious road bump in the process.
Many have accused the municipality of inadequately advertising the request for proposal (RFP) to operate the transit service.
The RFP was advertised on a provincial procurement website called Alberta Purchasing Connection but not through more well-known channels such as the municipality鈥檚 website or Facebook page, or local media outlets such as our humble paper.
To be fair, the municipality must ensure that no preferential treatment is given to local businesses.
Ultimately, it鈥檚 about providing the best value to ratepayers.
This is a fair point to consider, and I鈥檓 not quite as outraged over the controversy as some in Jasper, but I do think this situation was mishandled.
This RFP may have been advertised as normal, but this was not a normal RFP, as it pertained to establishing a major service that could have been provided by at least one local business.
Many local businesses probably don鈥檛 typically deal with government contracts or have intimate knowledge about the municipal procurement process, so if there is a significant RFP that is specifically relevant to them, it might be worth going that extra step to ensure they are aware of it.
It seems the municipality has acknowledged the error at least somewhat, as council recently updated its procurement policy.
The revisions require the municipality to notify the local market of procurement opportunities issued through Alberta Purchasing Connection.
This shall be accomplished by posting links to all procurement opportunities on the municipal website and emailing notification of procurement opportunities to all members of council and the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce.
Hopefully, that will prevent future mishaps, although it鈥檚 not every day a town gets a transit system.
In my opinion, overall, that鈥檚 still good news to me.
