Bus service into the BX is getting a rough ride. Residents of the Foothills subdivision have lobbied the
City of Vernon for transit, but Mike Macnabb, regional district
director for the surrounding electoral area, doesn’t believe it is
necessary. “By putting transit into it, it goes against the
regional growth strategy and doesn’t support densification,” said
Macnabb of concerns about urban sprawl. The Foothills subdivision is 12 kilometres away from
Vernon but is part of the city’s boundaries. All land on both sides of
Silver Star Road and surrounding the Foothills is part of the Regional
District of North Okanagan. City officials have stated that a bus to Foothills
could also serve electoral area residents, but Macnabb isn’t convinced
that’s the case. “I’m getting no phone calls that this is a service anyone wants,” he said. Macnabb also says extending service to the Foothills may not be a good use of limited funds. “If you look at the Foothills, there are well-to-do
people there and I’d rather see the service go to people who could
benefit from it such as (college/university) students or the low
income,” he said. A recent transit review has suggested there could be an
initial hourly service to the Foothills Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m.
to 6 p.m. Hourly service would cost $170,000 a year, while a 30-minute frequency would be $327,000. City staff say that based on current population, the
Foothills and adjacent areas are just at the limit of being a viable
service financially. The other concern from city staff is the expectation
among electoral area residents that the bus will pick them up if the
city extends service to the Foothills but the regional district is not a
financial partner. There is strong support at Vernon council to eventually
have buses run to the Foothills although no timeline for such a service
has been determined. “If we’re thinking about something for sustainability
reasons, we should extend transit to the outlying areas,” said Coun.
Brian Quiring. “There is a significant carbon footprint for those people driving in (to town) every day.” Coun. Patrick Nicol also wants the issue investigated further. “We can serve people who come from Kelowna to Vernon but someone in the Foothills can’t get the bus,” he said. “They pay for routes (through taxes) to go everywhere else. It’s time they got something.”
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Don Quixote Note: This unapproved Transit option presented was to establish service in 2013 at $170,000 a year for hourly service or $327,000 for 1/2 hourly service. This cost would not include extending the evening service as has been approved on a Thursday to Saturday basis on the other City Routes. The Area C cost recovery shown for this line if Area C was to participate was 20% or $34,000. (Based on 'the number of service hours the bus would spend serving the residents in Area C.) Finally a new bus would be required for hourly service. Cost of that new bus not part of the calculation yet.
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