Students experience sustainable travel at UNB Mobility Day
- Suzanne Shah & Sabrina Zabatiero
- Oct 20
- 3 min read
On Oct. 7, students gathered around posters and displays at the University of New Brunswick’s Mobility Day.
The event brought together students, faculty, and transit professionals to discuss how the city’s systems — from buses to bike paths — could better meet the needs of its growing student population.
Between research showcases and friendly chatter, the event portrayed crossroads between innovation and everyday life.
Organized by Trevor Hanson and the City of Fredericton, Mobility Day aimed to spark dialogue around sustainable transportation.
Beyond showcasing research, the day encouraged practical conversations about student needs, climate responsibility and community well-being.
Among the speakers was Fred Gerrior, manager of transit and parking for the City of Fredericton, who shared some of the current challenges the city faces in improving student transportation.
“Ridership is only about 20 per cent,” he said. “ In other cities with universities, it's higher—50-60 per cent—and a lot of the time it's because the university universal bus pass is higher, right?”
Gerrior said that Fredericton’s opt-in bus pass system limits revenue and expansion and suggested that a universal bus pass would give the city more room to work on effective transit services.
“If we can get more people on that, then that gives us a guarantee of revenue that then we can dedicate transit service, or increase transit service and build that service together.”
For many students, delays and unpredictable schedules remain a daily frustration. Gerrior acknowledged these issues, pointing to ongoing studies on routes 14 and 15, which often face bottlenecks caused by bridge congestion.
“We're sitting in traffic cycles for four, five traffic cycles. That's a lot of time to lose,” he said.
Gerrior said that they are looking into improvements, such as “transit priority signals” that would help the transit services get through a traffic intersection quicker or implementing “specific transit lanes” where buses can jump ahead of people.
Mohammed Huzaifa, an attendee of the event, also shared his impressions of the city’s transit system.
“We have few limited buses over here, so it can be improved,” he said.
Since moving from Pakistan, Huzaifa has compared Fredericton’s limited routes to the more developed systems in larger cities back home.
Still, he appreciates the convenience of the student bus pass “because it saves a lot of money.”
Sean Breitkrey, a STU student, said the city’s bus service is a mix of convenience and challenge.
“It’s better than walking, but not by a lot,” he said. “It takes me about 45 to 50 minutes by bus, only a little faster than walking, and sometimes the buses just [run] late, so I have to walk home.”
Despite the frustration, Breitkrey believes public transit plays an important role in the city’s future.
“For me, personally, cars are more convenient, but for the city, buses are better. They keep the roads less congested and it’s good for the environment.”
During the roundtable discussions, participants emphasized the need for collaboration between the city, universities and students.
Recurring topics during the roundtable included expanding Sunday services, improving driver training, and ensuring consistent communication about route changes.
The consensus was that Fredericton’s transit system needs both structural and cultural change and not just new routes, but a renewed commitment to treating passengers as valued members of the community.
As Mobility Day came to a close, the conversations lingered not just about policy or funding, but about belonging and access.
Students, professors and the City of Fredericton debated how transportation can connect not only places, but people — helping students get to class on time, protecting the environment and building a more connected community.
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