City approves UBCO route expansion

Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star Published: June 29, 2010 7:00 PM

The City of Vernon has approved adding a second transit bus to UBC Okanagan, but still wants the North Okanagan Regional District to fund part of it. City council voted Monday to approve expansion of the UBCO route by adding a second bus and doubling the number of runs. “B.C. Transit has identified this as their number one priority,” said Coun. Patrick Nicol of the proposed route expansion. The cost of adding four runs and a second bus, without the regional district on board, will cost Vernon approximately $100,400, and that could increase by another $16,000 if the District of Lake Country does not contribute toward the expansion. Had the regional district agreed to expansion, they would have contributed $88,400, the City of Vernon would chip in $12,000, Lake Country would likely make a donation of $16,000 and the District of Coldstream would add $3,600. The current cost of running the route, which includes one bus and four runs to and from the campus, is $112,000.

Vernon Coun. Bob Spiers, while supporting the idea of a second bus, voted against it, citing the fact it’s only Vernon taxpayers on the hook for expansion. “I’m hoping they go back to NORD and convince them it is a regional function and should be financed out there,” said Spiers. The city did unanimously pass a motion to send the matter back to NORD for reconsideration.

The total cost of expansion was a concern for NORD Armstrong director Chris Pieper, who said at the last meeting that while he’s glad the UBC bus is full, he sees some buses that are half-full. Nicol said he gets the feeling some NORD directors would be willing to make contributions towards the expansion. Steve Harvard, southern Interior regional manager for B.C. Transit, told council the UBCO route is the authority’s highest priority because of significant demand. “The expansion will double the number of trips from four to eight, and all trips will go through the (Kelowna) airport, which is good news for passengers looking to catch a plane or a ride home from the airport,” said Harvard. The expansion, set to begin in September, will see the first bus leave Vernon at 7 a.m., arriving at UBCO at 7:45 in time for 8 a.m. classes. The last bus will leave UBCO at 7:50 p.m., arriving in Vernon at 8:39 p.m. On all return trips to Vernon, the airport stop has nine minutes timetabled to allow people to get on and off with luggage, then continue on to Vernon. City of Vernon transportation technician Amanda Watson also explained that two Vernon bus routes – Route 2 Pleasant Valley and Route 4 East Hill – have had their schedules tweaked so that all seven route’s first runs will now connect with the first bus leaving for UBCO.