It's all aboard for the BX on university bus route

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: May 17, 2012 7:00 AM
 A longtime hold-out is getting on the bus. BX-Silver Star director Mike Macnabb has announced he will join other Regional District of North Okanagan jurisdictions in supporting the transit service to the University of B.C. campus. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said of supporting students, shoppers and people who work in Kelowna. “It’s naive to think Area C residents are not using it already.” All other RDNO jurisdictions, except for BX-Silver Star and Cherryville, have funded one bus to UBC for a number of years. There is also a process underway for them to participate in a second bus, which Vernon has been funding on its own since 2010. Macnabb isn’t sure what the UBC route will cost his constituents but he is confident there will be support for the long-haul trip between Vernon and Kelowna. “It reduces the need for commuting,” he said. But while Macnabb has endorsed the UBC service, he is still unwilling to pay for community-based transit in the region. “Nobody (in his area) is jumping up and down for transit,” he said. RDNO directors had been presented with a funding formula for the UBC service that included a budget based on both fixed funding and ridership. However, staff has been instructed to develop a cost-recovery formula based on ridership only.