Kikinahk uses a 15-passenger van to operate the free service. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Public transport

Researcher finds Kikinahk free bus service has tremendous benefits for community members

Mar 7, 2024 | 5:00 PM

A researcher from the University of Saskatchewan was in La Ronge on Thursday to discuss his findings of the free bus service operated by the Kikinahk Friendship Centre.

“I came here today because we organized an event to learn about who has been using the free bus service,” said Jacob Alhassan, an assistant professor at the U of S.

“We’ve been studying that bus over the last year to understand how it affects community members and this is an event we organized to bring together community members and stakeholders to discuss how to keep the bus and let it run over the long term, and to discuss lessons that have been learned running the bus up until this point.”

Through his research, Alhassan explained he found the service provides “tremendous” benefits to community members. He explained transportation is a critical determinant of people’s health and that resources governments or stakeholders can put towards it will go a long way.

“Many people use it to go to the hospital, many people use it to go for visiting, many people are using it as well to go for errands and for culture activities between La Ronge and Prince Albert,” Alhassan said.

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“I just kind of did an analysis of 1,185 trips that people have ridden on the bus and one of the things that stood out to me was women use the bus more than men. It means if we don’t have a bus, it will affect women more than it will affect men.”

He also noted it will affect Elders more than younger adults or children as that group of people use the service more often than others to attend medical appointments. If funding isn’t found to keep the service going, there will be negative repercussions for particular population groups.

“Every bus trip that someone has made to the hospital, not having a bus means probably the person doesn’t go to the hospital, that means their condition probably gets worse and, by the time they do go to the hospital, they probably have a more complicated case of the condition they are suffering from and the cost ends up being borne by the government again,” Alhassan said.

“It’s tricky because it looks like it is cheap to not have a bus, but on the other hand, all the problems that come with it also comes with costs the government ends up having to bare.”

The transportation service also has other benefits. Alhassan mentioned statistically public transportation is safer than driving on your own and it allows a mean for people to escape loneliness and maintain social connections.

Kikinahk executive director Ron Woytowich stated he is happy the research is being done on the service as it won’t only benefit La Ronge, but other communities across Canada as well. At a cost of $127,449 between April 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024, he noted it is cheaper than what it costed the provincial government to offer a similar route between La Ronge and Prince Albert.

Woytowich added when the Kikinahk bus leaves La Ronge Monday to Friday, it is almost always full and he’s hoping to find further funding sources to keep it going. Some of the funds to operate it come from the federal government, the National Association of Friendship Centres, Métis Nation–Saskatchewan, along with in-kind administrative support from Kikinahk itself.

“Our funding is ending at the end of the month, but we are allowed to carry over for the first quarter, so the end of June if we haven’t spent all the money that we got in the last year and a half,” Woytowich said.

“We do have money left over, so I know it is going to run. I think for sure we can run three days per week, maybe even five.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com