Region roots for more transit routes

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: November 20

A major expansion of transit services could hit the road in the new year. The North Okanagan Regional District board is being asked by its committee of the whole to request that B.C. Transit fund a new route between Vernon and Kelowna by March 31 and consider launching another route in 2009. “We have to look at expanding transit in all areas. It’s the way of the future,” said director Juliette Cunningham, during Thursday’s committee meeting. If B.C. Transit agrees, there would be a new morning route to the University of B.C. campus, and one in the late afternoon returning to Vernon. Currently, there is one route in the morning to Kelowna and one in the early evening to Vernon. One of the challenges with the present schedule — which began in August — is it can’t keep up with demand. “Ridership went from zero to standing room in a week,” said director Wayne Lippert.

The main problem is that the existing morning route gets students to UBC for 8:30 a.m. classes but some classes begin at 8 a.m. Beyond UBC students, the Kelowna run is also used by people who work or want to shop in that community. The service is not only used by Vernon residents but by those from Coldstream, Lumby, Enderby, Armstrong and Spallumcheen through connecting routes. Options for getting more riders on the existing morning bus to Kelowna have proven to be limited. “We’ve looked into the possibility of a double-decker bus but they don’t perform well on highways and on ice,” said Maggie Knox, NORD’s manager of community services. Provincial funding is already in place for a third route, and NORD’s contribution would be $20,000 a year. But a fourth route would depend on funding approval from B.C. Transit and NORD, which is entering 2009 budget deliberations. This route would also cost NORD $20,000. The full regional district board will consider the recommendations from the committee of the whole Dec. 3.