Hop on the bus, Gus

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: July 13, 2010 7:00 PM

It’s been some time since I’ve rode transit but I remember the tense moments that came more than 20 years ago as I relied on the bus to get to college and then home again. With so few runs available then, you either had extremely long gaps between your arrival and the start of class, or you were plunking yourself down into a desk just as the instructor began speaking. And of course the entire day could be thrown out of whack if the bus was running late for a variety of reasons. That’s why I am puzzled by the debate over adding a second bus run between the North Okanagan and UBC’s campus in Kelowna, and particularly the dithering by some jurisdictions.From everything I have heard and seen, the current bus to UBC, and particularly the one that arrives at 8:30 a.m., is highly popular and often it’s standing room only. The problem is that many of the classes begin at 8 a.m. and a second vehicle would alleviate some of the pressure. Some jurisdictions have expressed reluctance to fund another bus and that may make sense if you are in the Enderby or Lumby areas. How many riders are actually coming from the far reaches of the regional district?

But it’s surprising that the District of Coldstream is still sitting on the sidelines. Mayor Jim Garlick says the municipality wants to see some statistics indicating what ridership actually is. “It’s one thing to take word-of-mouth that it’s full all the time. We want to see some actual numbers where the people riding the bus are coming from and how many are on there,” he said. Does that mean council will not participate if the stats don’t indicate sufficient ridership from Coldstream, and what is the magic number of riders that would trigger funding ($3,600 if all of the regional district was involved)? It should be pointed out that many on Coldstream council have put themselves forward as advocates of the environment and sustainable communities. What could be more positive than reducing the vehicles that commute between this end of the valley and UBC every day? In terms of sustainability, having expanded transit links to a relatively close university may retain and attract young families to Coldstream. The benefits of increased access to post-secondary education particularly must be apparent to those who teach high school.

And the reality is that if Vernon goes ahead with an expanded service without participation from other communities, Coldstream residents desperate to get to class on time will still find their way on to the bus. That means Vernon taxpayers will be subsidizing their neighbours and there’s nothing fair about that scenario. At the other end of the spectrum is Mike Gavinchuk, BX-Swan Lake director. “For our area, I want to chip in for sure,” he said. So if an elected official from a relatively small jurisdiction with limited tax base sees merit to an extra bus, why is a much larger player like Coldstream being indecisive? Given that the UBC run could also benefit people working in Kelowna or trying to get to the airport, it’s a question all residents should pose to council, and particularly as college classes will resume again soon.

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Don Quixote Note: The actual cost for the 9 partners in the function at NORD are illustrated in the table. The Cost breakdown for this extra bus can be found at Agenda Package PDF (675Kb) (Wed. NORD COW meeting). (Table above illustrates Vernon & Coldstream taking on the costs by themselves) Transit bus in question (June 20)

Coldstream's cost of this bus at the NORD Table would cost their taxpayers $20,520 if all partners continued to participate.

If only Vernon and Coldstream shared the load their Cost would escalate to $31,569. If Vernon took on the load by itself it would have a total cost of $120,000 and the function would be taxed as a municipal cost and the tax consequences to the various classes of taxpayer would arise. (business would pay 13.34% more and residential taxapyers would pay 9.94% less at the City level at current tax ratios.)

Director's Gavinchuk (Area B) offer of $5,640 would reduce the cost to Vernon and/or Coldstream. If the $16,000 materalized from Lake Country it would reduce the initial costs down to $104,000.