Roam is the public transit system for the towns of Canmore, Banff (located inside

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

), and Lake Louise (located inside

) and in the

Bow Valley Bow Valley is a valley located along the upper Bow River in Alberta, Canada. The name "Bow" refers to the reeds that grew along its banks and which were used by the local First Nations people to make bows; the Blackfoot language name for the ...

Alberta's Rockies Alberta's Rockies comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. On the southwestern part of the province along the British Columbia border, the region covers all but the south of Census Division 15. The main industry in this region ...

. The system is managed by the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission (BVRTSC). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

History

Roam was formerly known as Banff Public Transit and the town has had some form of public transportation since 1994, contracted to a variety of private operators. The system was re-branded as Roam in June 2008. At the same time a new fleet of four hybrid buses was acquired and operation of the service was turned over a new private contractor, Brewster Inc., a local tour bus company. On April 21, 2011, the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission was formed by the town of Banff, the town of Canmore and

Improvement District No. 9 Improvement District No. 9 (Banff), or Improvement District No. 9, is an improvement district in Alberta, Canada. Coextensive with Banff National Park in Alberta's Rockies, the improvement district is the municipality that provides local govern ...

. This new government agency was authorised to provide or coordinate local and regional transit services in the

. Although not a voting member,

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

actively participates in commission meetings. In the fall of 2012 the BVRTSC took over responsibility for the transit service. On December 3, 2012, regional transit service between Banff and Canmore began.

Service

There are currently six routes, four that operate year-round and two that operates seasonally (May to September). Service is provided using hybrid

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

buses, each decorated with scenes from the National Park, featuring either a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

, buffalo,

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

, or

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

References

External links

Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission – Five-Year Business Plan
{{Authority control Transit agencies in Alberta Banff, Alberta