The promises and perils of a free rural inter-city transportation scheme: A mixed-methods study from Northern Saskatchewan
Date
2025-02-05
Authors
Alhassan, Jacob Albin Korem
Fuller, Daniel
Woytowich, Ron
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Springer Nature
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Article
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Abstract
Objective
Transportation is a critical health determinant, yet the last decade has witnessed rapid disinvestment across Canada (particularly in rural contexts) with negative health consequences. We sought to explore and describe the benefits and challenges faced in operating the first community-driven free-transportation scheme in Saskatchewan that emerged in response to widespread unavailability of public transportation due to budget cuts (austerity).
Methods
We conducted a mixed-methods community-based participatory research study involving 22 interviews with bus riders and service administrators. We also performed descriptive statistics and chi-squared analyses on bus rider data (data on 1185 trips routinely collected between July 2023 and December 2023) to explore sociodemographic characteristics and trip purposes of bus riders.
Results
All trips were completed by 616 community members using the free bus service between July 2023 and December 2023. Community members took an average of 5 trips (median = 2.0) with a maximum of 22 trips being taken by one community member (1.9% of all trips). Most trips were by women (53%), and older adults mostly used the free bus for medical purposes (22% of riders were older adults and 34% of these used the bus for medical reasons). Qualitatively, the bus service has increased access to care and promotes social participation and autonomy, especially for older adults. The service however faces some challenges, including funding disruptions and difficulty recruiting and retaining drivers.
Conclusion
Free inter-community transportation (i.e. transportation across cities and municipalities) promotes health equity and access. In contexts without access to public transportation, governments could support community-driven initiatives through increased funding.
Description
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords
Free transportation, Austerity, Budget cuts, Rural transportation, Health equity, Saskatchewan, Community-based participatory research (CBPR)
Citation
Alhassan, J.A.K., Fuller, D. & Woytowich, R. The promises and perils of a free rural inter-city transportation scheme: A mixed-methods study from Northern Saskatchewan. Can J Public Health (2025). https://doi-org.cyber.usask.ca/10.17269/s41997-024-00986-3
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DOI
10.17269/s41997-024-00986-3