Premier Wab Kinew greeted an enthusiastic crowd of students at Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School on Tuesday before announcing a plan to bring free transit for everyone under 18 to cities across Manitoba.
“We’re going to work with them over the next few months to make sure when you come back to school in the fall, no one under 18 has to pay for transit at all,” said Kinew.
It will start with a pilot project in Selkirk, where students aged 12 to 21 can ride for free throughout the summer with a new pass called “NextStop.”
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Kinew said the province is working with the cities of Winnipeg, Brandon, Winkler and Flin Flon to launch free youth transit there in September.
The city of Selkirk says ridership on its four city buses has nearly tripled from 13,502 riders in 2011, when the system launched, to 35,642 riders in 2024. Mayor Larry Johannson expects ridership to grow even more as kids become comfortable with it.
“We know that youth that grow up using transit become adults that use transit,” said Johannson. “Either as an option or as a regular part of their transportation mix.”
The city plans to bring a bus to school every year to get students familiar with how it works.
Kinew said Selkirk was selected for the pilot because they already had a comprehensive plan drafted.
“What we’re doing as the province is just stepping up as the funder for a model that the city of Selkirk was already planning to roll out,” said Kinew.
The province is providing $10 million in funding for the pilot, while Selkirk is expected to allot approximately $500,000.
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