A month after the City of Saskatoon held information sessions about its plans for bus rapid transit (BRT), residents say they can't wait to see what the long-awaited system will look like. Some, however, fear that this will not be fast at all.
The city held an open house for Link in October transit project by submitting its current plans, intersection drawings and renderings for public comment.
A spokesman for the advocacy group bus riders says it continues to welcome the plans as they will make the system more reliable and convenient.
“The fewer bottlenecks there are where buses can get stuck in traffic, the better,” said Robert Clipperton with the Bus Riders of Saskatoon. “And if we have dedicated lanes, that will improve the situation.”
The concept for the system dates back to 2016, when the city's growth plan was first published and the project was approved, with the service scheduled to launch in 2028.
The City Council approved dedicated transit-only lanes on 1st Avenue back in 2019 after also considering 3rd Avenue as a location for the lanes. The last three bus routes were also approved this year.
Receive daily national news
Get the day's top news, political, economic and current affairs headlines delivered to your inbox once a day.
But not everyone in the city is warmly welcoming the updated plans. City planner Cary Tarasov says potential plans for the city's Events and Entertainment District (DEED), which is in the same area where three Link lines intersect, complicate matters.
“It's not very well designed to have the entire bus network connected to just one use, which is the BUSINESS. We run the risk that people who regularly use the bus will get very upset every time an event occurs,” Tarasov said.
Tarasov also looked at the lengths of street platforms on the plans, comparing them to bus lengths and other measurements along 1st Avenue. He says he fears they won't be long enough to allow all the buses on converging routes to drop off and pick up passengers at the same time if necessary.
Removing traffic lanes and restricting traffic to transit-only lanes is also poorly planned, Tarasov says, adding that it could lead to traffic jams and delays for drivers on the road.
“All we have to do is do nothing here. Just create better bus stops on the sidewalks for now. Get the bus system up and running and then decide if it's possible to ride in the middle of the street,” he said.
In a statement to Global News, city officials said planners “considered the impact on traffic flow,” adding that current estimates show rush hour travel times could increase by up to two minutes for vehicles traveling between 20th and 25th streets along 1st Street. Avenue.
Former Saskatoon city planner Alan Wallace, who left office in 2016, says he supports central platforms because they create space for transit while maintaining street-level parking.
“People will, you know, be a little surprised, they'll be a little shocked when they see the changes,” Wallace said. “But this is part of the transition to a larger city… In the future we will have to provide more space for buses.”
Clipperton agrees changes are needed to improve the system. “The most important thing about BRT is that it buses with transit, and if you continue to shorten it by making it fast… you'll still have the same bus system as before.”
The City Council will receive a report in the first quarter of 2026 on the latest changes to the project, which include a transition from rear-facing transit lanes to in-stream lanes, according to a city statement.
The city will also be exploring the possibility of removing the median at 2nd Avenue and 21st Street, as the designs shown to the public are not yet final and will likely have “minor changes” before construction begins.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
