Prince Rupert
Name: City of Prince Rupert
Population: 12,815
Highlights: The City of Prince Rupert is our Bronze winner in the Heavyweight division, scoring 15,000 points. It has also published a Community Energy Plan and boasts a strong public transportation system.
Public Transportation
The City has a high degree of transit ridership and walkability. Some of this is due to economic circumstances, but it is also the result of an efficient bus service (one of the highest cost recovery systems in BC) and the compact nature of the community.
Funding for transit services is shared between the City of Prince Rupert, the District of Port Edward and BC Transit. For the most part, bus routes adequately service major destinations within the City; buses run frequently, Monday through Saturday, during daytime hours; accessibility concerns are addressed through low floor buses and door-to-door handyDART services; and fares, routes, schedules and other incentive programs are communicated via the website.
Walking and cycling are certainly viable transportation modes in good weather. However, these become less attractive in poor conditions as snowfall and snow clearing activities can make some sidewalks difficult to navigate. In this initiative the City will endeavour to identify the most problematic areas for pedestrians to navigate through snow and find ways to improve these amenities (e.g. alternative snow disposal or sidewalk clearing, etc.).
Energy Vision
The underlying purpose of producing a Community Energy Plan is to combine the various activities around energy into a vision for a direction in the future. The City of Prince Rupert has pledged to:
“… be a model community of energy conservation and renewable energy generation. Our award winning practices will show the province and the world that a small community can “walk the talk‟. We will capitalize on our natural assets and compact community to create opportunities for energy conservation and renewable energy development.
We will work in partnership with other communities and neighbouring First Nations as stewards of our energy resources. We recognize the socio-economic and cultural diversity of our community and will work to bring the benefits of energy conservation and reduced fossil fuel use to all our residents.â€
