Regional district able to fund second bus to UBC

By Staff Writer - Vernon Morning Star Published: December 03, 2012 9:00 AM

It's all aboard for the Regional District of North Okanagan funding a transit service between Vernon and the University of B.C. in Kelowna.  An alternate approval process has wrapped up and an insufficient number of names were collected to block the function from proceeding. "Eight elector response forms were received by our office opposing the proposed bylaw," said Jeanne Byron,corporate officer. For the service establishment bylaw to be shot down, 10 per cent of qualified electors would have had to sign the petition. That translates into 6,218 names. Virtually all RDNO members fund one bus to UBC. But when a second bus began in 2010, only Vernon picked up that cost. RDNO members have now agreed to fund the second bus and that requires the creation of a funding service. "The bylaw will now be forwarded to the (provincial) Inspector of Municipalities for approval. Once approval has been granted from the province, the bylaw will be brought to the board for adoption," said Byron.. RDNO is also looking at ways to expand capacity of the existing service. That would be done by adding two runs a day when university classes are in sessions and decreasing the runs during the off-season in the summer. Long-term, adding a third bus to the route is also being considered.