Metrobus Transit Study.pdf - City of St. John's

St. John’s Transportation Commission (Metrobus) 2011
Market Assessment and Strategic Directions Study – Part C: Assessment of Market Opportunities
These institutions are a key market for Metrobus in attracting higher ridership. According to the
passenger survey, approximately 50 percent of respondents attended a post secondary institution.
This is further broken down in Figure 10. As illustrated, the majority of post secondary student
riders are from Memorial University. While 25 percent of the ridership is significant, this is not as
high as other municipalities with similar sized institutions. This is discussed further in Section 12.
Figure 10 – Post Secondary Ridership (2009 Metrobus Passenger Survey)
Percentage of Respondents
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Memorial U Main Campus Marine Institute CNA Other
Post Secondary Institution
7.2 Secondary School Market
Public schools in St. John’s and Mount Pearl are managed by the Eastern School District. There are
6 secondary schools in St. John’s catering to approximately 4,000 students. There are also 2
secondary schools in Mount Pearl (enrolment not available) (Eastern District School Board, 2010).
All schools in St. John’s are fairly central and are well served by transit. The secondary schools in
Mount Pearl are served by Routes 21 and 22, which provide coverage over most of Mount Pearl’s
urban area and connect to Village Shopping Centre in St. John’s. Due to the broad coverage area
these routes are somewhat indirect.
There is a declining enrolment (especially in central St. John’s), aging infrastructure and shifting
demographics. The province made a commitment to provide yellow school bus service for children
outside a specified walking distance criterion. This has led to a reduction of Metrobus’ role in
providing transportation for students. Student ridership was 770,000 passengers in 1997 but only
260,000 passengers in 2005. According to the on-board passenger survey only 13 percent of the
ridership is aged 0-19 (elementary and secondary school students). For comparison, recent on-board
passenger survey for Guelph Transit in Ontario (a similar sized municipality) found that 27 percent
of the ridership was aged 0-19. This is a market that is not well captured by Metrobus.
7.3 Hospital Market
There are four hospitals servicing St. John’s. These include:
Janeway Children’s Hospital;
Dillon Consulting Limited Page 40