Saskatoon’s long-awaited update to the transit system, dubbed Link, has been pushed back another year. The much-anticipated transit upgrade is being pushed back to 2029, according to a report before Tuesday’s governance and priorities committee. “Link is a significant change to how people move around Saskatoon,” Terry Schmidt, the city’s general manager of transportation and construction, said in a news release. “A phased-in approach to a summer 2029 full service gives Saskatoon Transit the time to complete all construction, properly test the system, and deliver a more reliable experience for customers from day one.” The report from transit director Mike Moellenbeck highlights plans for 1st Avenue as the “greatest obstacle” to launching Link on a full-scale by 2028, the most recent scheduled opening. First Avenue is one of two areas, along with College Drive, where dedicated bus lanes will run the bus rapid transit system. A delayed decision is pushing construction to start in 2028, with the potential for some work to carry over in 2029. A proposal to build bus lanes downtown was originally approved by the city’s transportation committee in April, but council eased off the gas to hear from more businesses in the area. Council then approved the plans in September. Moving the launch back to July 2029 will allow First Avenue, along with transit hubs — transfer areas where routes connect with Link — to be completed. “While completion of these transit hubs would not prevent a summer 2028 launch of the new service, service reliability and customer experience could be impacted until the transit hubs are constructed and operational,” Moellenbeck said in his report. Darcy Pederson, president of local Amalgamated Transit Union 615, told CTV News he was surprised to learn of the 2029 launch date from local media. He says no update from city administration about the delayed timelines was provided to the union. The report says July is the ideal month for launch, with ridership being low, allowing for issues to be addressed ahead of higher ridership in the fall. The report also details the financial implications of moving Link back another year. Despite using an additional $4.3 million in the 2026-2027 budget, the report says another $9.2 million is needed in the next two-year budget cycle to fully launch Link. This marks the latest delay for one of the city’s most expensive projects to date. After a series of pandemic-related delays, the city pushed back the 2025 opening to 2026. After construction of platforms began across the city, administration pegged 2028 as an opening date, before Moellenbeck’s report further delayed opening to 2029. “It’s exciting that we are moving closer to the implementation of Saskatoon’s first rapid transit system, a requirement for any growing city,” Schmidt said.
