The City of Saskatoon engaged CIMA+ to design key transportation infrastructure for its new Link Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, aimed at enhancing urban mobility, reducing congestion and supporting sustainable growth. Our pivotal role includes
Saskatoon has a growing population, and the city is working hard to expand its public transit offering to accommodate some 60,000 regular commuters who need to get around the city more efficiently and sustainably. With over 14,000 more people deciding to call Saskatoon home in 2024 alone, the City is making efficient, high-capacity transit infrastructure a priority—and CIMA+ is at the forefront of its civil infrastructure design and management.
“An economic and cultural hub in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon has become one of the most attractive places in Canada to live. In the next 25 to 40 years, Saskatoon’s population is expected to double, from 250,000 to 500,000. Based on comprehensive visioning analysis and planning, the City recognizes that accommodating growth using a business-as-usual approach would be problematic if not unsustainable.” – Transportation Association of Canada website
Approved by Saskatoon City Council in 2019, the will introduce dedicated transit corridors, optimized routes and modern station infrastructure to improve service performance and reliability and the passenger’s experience. By integrating dedicated rapid bus lanes and efficient station designs, the system will reduce congestion, encourage transit use and support sustainable urban development.
A core component of Link is the addition of 104 new BRT stations and two new dedicated corridors designed by CIMA+. One of these corridors will primarily serve University of Saskatchewan students, a key demographic for whom improved pedestrian safety, accessibility and campus connection are essential. The stations will serve as key transit nodes along the three BRT lines that will crisscross the city, significantly enhancing Saskatoon’s public transportation network.
“Rapid transit is brand new for Saskatoon—and Saskatchewan, actually,” said Justen McArthur, Partner and Director, Transportation at CIMA+. “Link will completely change the way the city operates, offering users not just one corridor, but several express routes and dedicated bus lanes for better efficiency and safety.”
When complete, the BRT system will consist of three different bus lines, spanning 38 kilometres and covering major roads such as 22nd Street, Warman Road, Preston Avenue/Attridge Drive, 8th Street and College Drive. Inspired by the networks of other booming Canadian cities, multiple local transit hubs will connect feeder routes to the BRT system, improving accessibility and efficiency for transit users both in and around the city’s core.
Bridging the transit gap with a high-efficiency, low-cost solution
Both BRTs and LRTs (light rail transit) are distinct public transit modes, not just variations of buses or subways. They are solutions that fill important gaps in a city’s transit network, offering high performance at a lower cost. Urban planners often use them as strategic tools to expand service quality and capacity without the high price tag that comes with constructing a subway.
The bus and light rail systems are both referred to as rapid transit because of their reliability and efficiency, not their speed. They make fewer stops and for shorter periods of time, allowing passengers to get where they are going more quickly and conveniently all through the day. Several Canadian cities have successfully implemented BRT systems in recent decades, including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Surrey. These systems are characterized by dedicated bus lanes, traffic signal priority and other features that enhance speed and reliability compared to regular bus routes.
Beyond increased ridership, reduced traffic congestion and environmental sustainability, BRT systems can also support economic growth in burgeoning cities by providing residents a better and more convenient way to access parts of the city where jobs and other opportunities are abundant. As a growing transportation solution in both developed and developing countries, BRT systems already have a combined daily ridership of more than 32 million people in 200 cities around the world.
Even larger cities are holding on to their BRT systems long after larger or more advanced transit options are put into place. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) planned to close the York University Busway BRT once the extension to Line 1 of the subway was completed, but a 2 km stretch between Finch West station and Dufferin Street remains in operation to this day.
Transforming a city’s transit footprint… and entire outlook
“Corridors are destinations, not just roads that get you from point A to B. They connect neighbourhoods and neighbours. They’re places for people—whether you’re walking, riding, driving or spending time with family and friends. To create this shift, the City of Saskatoon is re-thinking how corridors are planned for the long term, including how the land is used, how public space is designed and how buildings are built.” – City of Saskatoon website
Because of the sheer scale and criticality of Saskatoon’s new network, more than 73% of the cost of this project totalling $250 million is being covered by the Province of Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada. Along with funds from the Investing in Canada’s Infrastructure Program (ICIP), Canadians are seeing an increase in government spending intended to improve transit infrastructure nationwide. In 2024, the federal government launched the Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF) program, which invests in public transit infrastructure across the country. By modernizing and expanding transit systems, travel within growing cities like Saskatoon is becoming more affordable, sustainable and resilient—and therefore, more attractive for existing and prospective residents.
“High-quality transit allows a city to grow without slowing traffic down…It has the potential to reduce vehicle congestion, provide environmentally efficient and responsible transportation, and reduce both personal mobility expenses and overall public infrastructure expenses… BRT is the backbone of Saskatoon’s plan to increase housing accessibility and create more places where people want to live, work, play and thrive.” – City of Saskatoon website
Engineering for USask students: The College Drive experience
Engineering for people means designs will focus on the passenger. By incorporating weather protection, real-time updates and accessible layouts with streamlined boarding areas into the new system, riders will enjoy less congestion, more accurate updates on wait times, and enhanced service reliability.
Through this project, CIMA+ is supporting the College Drive corridor redesign efforts and transit-oriented development plan, promoting sustainable development with the integration of durable materials and active transportation features. Urban vegetation, sidewalk infill, and improved pedestrian safety and accessibility are also key parts of the plan.
“Significant greenspace has been incorporated into the College Drive corridor design, as it was an element that stood out in stakeholder consultation,” added Justen. “The addition of 135 new trees and over 600 new shrubs support a design that also promotes active transportation for students, such as use of an adjacent multi-use path.”
The university route will have the potential to move up to 1,440 passengers per hour in each direction, with one articulated bus capable of carrying 120 passengers, moving the same number of people as 100 or more cars.
“College Drive will look different once construction is complete,” said Rob Dudiak, Special Projects Manager with the City of Saskatoon in a CKOM radio interview, “There is a reduction of a single lane in each direction for other vehicle traffic (and) we’ll remove the centre medians that exist today…Additional crosswalks will be added, and the ones that exist today will be widened.”
The city hosted several open houses on campus in early 2025 to obtain more recent feedback on the university’s new route plan. “For university students that take public transit, the move is being viewed as a win.” – CKOM
Bringing CIMA+’s cross-country expertise to Saskatoon
CIMA+ experts from across the country have come together to support Justen and his team with this massive undertaking. Insights from the design of BRT projects in other provinces are vital, as the Montreal and Greater Toronto Area networks are seen as a benchmark for the whole of Canada—a goal to aspire to in smaller cities.
Among the many people the project has brought together is Vincent Ermatinger, Senior Transit Director at CIMA+. “For me, transit is firstly an urban project with a transportation component, but it has to be embedded in the overall plan. This structure is located mostly downtown, so the streetscaping and the vibe of Main Street, for instance, are as important as the fundamental infrastructure itself.”
Vincent has completed about a dozen BRT and LRT projects during his career, from planning through to implementation, so he has learned what to look for in terms of potential hurdles. Decades of experience have enabled him to look at projects holistically and identify issues early in the process, before the design is too developed. This foresight helps in determining whether they can be successfully mitigated, because rework requires a lot of time, effort and additional cost to the client.
“We use a high-level design tool called Remix Street to assess different options for the client,” added Vincent. “It’s very fast and graphical and allows us to quickly come up with several options for a four-block stretch of road, for instance, and then we can show it to the client. It gives us a very effective, almost immediate way of communicating the vision to our stakeholders before we begin the actual design work.”
Given Saskatoon’s closer proximity to Calgary and Edmonton, incorporating the Western Canadian perspective is essential as well. Saskatoon could benefit from learning about how to manage a rapidly growing population. In 2024, Calgary’s population reached an estimated 1.6 million, with an 18% increase over the past five years. It is the fastest growing city in Canada.
“We had colleagues and interns come from Alberta this summer, just to help out with this project,” confirmed Justen. “It’s an opportunity to grow the CIMA+ team here. And it’s a fantastic learning experience for recent civil engineering graduates as well.”
Unlike “heavy” BRT projects, such as Dundas in Toronto or Pie-IX in Montreal that involve widening the whole boulevard and adding a central running bus lane, the Link is considered a curbside BRT where curbside lanes are simply retrofitted to accommodate buses, with the addition of new stations along the sidewalks and off-street transit hubs where local services can seamlessly connect with the BRT. This is a much less disruptive, and less expensive option that can be particularly well-suited to smaller cities.
“The important thing is to strike the right balance and help the City achieve the ideal value for money spent,” explained Patrick Lalach, Vice President, Transportation, Western Canada at CIMA+. “What Saskatoon is doing is adapting to the local context and balancing that with the desired investment, but the positive outcomes will be immeasurable for the entire community.”
“You are here”, but the journey continues
Nearly half of the project’s 500 or so drawings have been drafted, and the CIMA+ team is in the process of finalizing the ones for the College Drive corridor, which is slated for construction beginning in summer 2026.
The team is just now getting into the design of the 1st Avenue corridor downtown, to be constructed in 2027. This will replace the current downtown terminal, which will be rendered obsolete as a result. New, modern stations in the downtown core offering shorter wait times will enable people to get around more quickly and provide easy access to the city’s new planned event and entertainment district, to be designed around the BRT system.
Having been involved in the project since pre-design as a subconsultant in 2016, and now entrusted with the design and construction phase portion, Justen is hopeful that CIMA+ will continue to be awarded contracts related to this project through to the completion of construction in the summer of 2028 and beyond.