How do you improve local bus service? That’s a question facing the City and BC Transit.
The City has been getting by with two ageing buses and while new vehicles have been ordered and should be here next month there’s more to the issue than just the hardware people use to get around.
New routes have been proposed and Councillor Phil Welock who chairs Council’s Transportation Committee hopes faster service — the old routes had buses completing a route in about an hour — can improve the currently dismal ridership.
“Ridership is the big issue,” he said at an open house where members of the public had an opportunity to study new proposed routes. “We need to encourage young people to use the buses — not just seniors.”
Community Economic Development Director Alan Mason, who was besieged a couple of weeks ago by a group of senior ladies concerned about bus service, said the City is also planning to install new bus shelters and will take steps to better advertise the service’s schedules.
Improving ridership is a goal for BC Transit’s Ryan Little, too.
“We really need to promote it,” he said.
Click here to see the new routes.
