By Wade Paterson - Kelowna Capital News Published: March 28, 2012 9:00 AM
Starting Sept. 1, fewer buses will be roaming the streets of West Kelowna. On Tuesday, council opted to cut a total of 3,700 service hours in advance of the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit in 2014. Michelle Orfield, senior urban transportation planner
with B.C. Transit, gave council information on West Kelowna service
hours and ridership. She also gave suggestions of how the district can
improve efficiency and increase cost recovery within its transit system. She said that Routes 27, 28 and 29—which service
Horizon, Smith Creek and Bear Creek, respectively—have the lowest
ridership. She suggested adjusting service to weekday, peak hours only: A
move that would save the district 1,250 service hours. At Orfield’s last visit to council in February, a
debate arose whether or not Glenrosa should continue to get service
every 15 minutes during peak hours and 30 minutes during off peak hours. On Tuesday, Orfield illustrated to council that
although Route 21 Glenrosa accounted for 60 per cent of West Kelowna’s
ridership, most passengers were getting off somewhere along Highway 97
and not continuing to ride the bus up into the actual Glenrosa
neighbourhood. Orfield concluded that current Glenrosa ridership
doesn’t support the existing level of service; therefore, she suggested
changing service to every 30 minutes during peak hours and every hour
during off-peak hours. Finally, Orfield recommended that night service be
offered until 10 p.m. on Routes 20, 21 and 24, while the Highway 97
Express route also receives late night service Friday and Saturday. In order to accommodate Bus Rapid Transit without
having a tax impact on Westside residents, the district was required to
reduce the number of annual service hours by 1,500. (more)
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