Transit service expands

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: May 29, 2010 12:00 PM

It may become easier to get a bus in Vernon. City staff will work out details with B.C. Transit to provide additional operating hours for both the conventional transit service and handyDart. “In our official community plan process, we heard loud and clear that transit as alternate transportation is something we should be carrying out,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert. “Buses on some routes are over-subscribed and we need to address it.” With B.C. Transit funding in place, the goal is to put an extra handyDart bus on the road and increase service hours by 1,500 a year. There would be an extra 1,800 hours for conventional buses. “This means we can expand the hours — additional hours in the morning or evening,” said Amanda Watson, municipal transportation technician. Local funding of $40,000 for the expanded handyDart service will be required ($30,000 from Vernon and $10,000 from Coldstream). The local cost for the conventional bus service will be $160,00, with Coldstream paying $15,000 for an additional run.

Beyond this, the city is asking the North Okanagan Regional District to enter into an agreement with B.C. Transit to put an additional bus on the route to the University of B.C. campus in Kelowna. The cost of operating a second bus for all local jurisdictions, including NORD and the Central Okanagan Regional District, is about $156,000 a year. B.C. Transit has asked the City of Vernon to take over administration of the UBC route as a way of expediting decision-making. “It takes so long to get anything done at NORD,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy. “They act like we never talked about this (extra bus) but we talked about it at three or four meetings.” Coun. Bob Spiers, though, believes that shifting administration could be a form of downloading on to Vernon residents. “If we keep taking over regional functions, taxpayers get screwed,” he said.