Starting today, September 5, transit doors are swinging wide open to provide free transit fare for all those 17 and under.

The move comes as part of the City’s efforts to improve accessibility and increase transit ridership.

“Providing free transit fares for youth was an important decision for City Council. Our aim with this choice was to support families by encouraging and facilitating healthy individual and family lifestyles and transportation options that are inclusive and affordable to all residents,” says Mayor Jackie Clayton.

Starting, Saturday, July 29, Transit is expanding its service hours offering late night service.

The new late night service is available on-demand. The service will run from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. with a final booking time of 10:15 Monday to Saturday and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a final booking time of 7:15 p.m. Sundays.

Late night service is available from any transit stop to any other transit stop and is not exclusive to on-demand zones. Regular bus fare applies.

The City of Grande Prairie is gearing up for another year of Canada Day festivities on Saturday, July 1, presented by New Horizon Co-op.

In addition to transit being free-of-charge, the City has extended the hours of service on July 1 as follows:

The City of Grande Prairie is pleased to announce that it has received a two-year grant of $275,430 from the Government of Alberta’s Low-Income Transit Pass (LITP) funding program.

LITP funding assists individuals living on low-income access affordable transit. The funding provides the support needed to continue offering subsidized passes for those in need.

Note: new transit hours are anticipated to be in effect by mid-June.

Grande Prairie City Council has approved extended transit hours to help improve access to transit services and enhance mobility around the community for residents who rely on transit during early morning and evening hours.

The new operational hours for transit are:

The City of Grande Prairie is introducing new day and weekend pass options for riding transit.

The new options provide unlimited travel for the duration of the pass to enhance riding options with improved convenience and affordability.

The passes are available now with the following prices:

Starting Saturday, November 26, updates are being implemented to transit routes and schedules to improve connectivity and schedule reliability.

The updates are being made to the Transit Redesign introduced earlier this year based on customer feedback and system data.

Updates coming into effect include:

The City of Grande Prairie is adding a new morning transit Route 1A on school days starting Wednesday, August 31 for students travelling from Westpointe and Pinnacle to St. Joseph Catholic and Charles Spencer high schools.

The transit route runs once daily, leaving the corner of Westpointe Drive and 84 Avenue (Fas Gas) at 7:50 a.m. traveling southeast and arriving at the Eastlink Centre at 8:05 a.m. Students in Westpointe and Pinnacle areas can ride Route 1 home after school.

Commuters are reminded that the City's new transit routes and schedules come into effect on Saturday, August 6.

The new routes and schedules are part of the transit redesign to enhance connectivity and provide improved service within the City.

It was completed with community consultation and includes multiple service delivery modes including On Demand to enhance service and reducing ride time.