5 minute read
Not enough bus
Other BC regions have vibrant, publicly-funded inter-city transportation.
Why not here?
Advertisement
BY PIETA WOOLLEY
From Prince Rupert to Prince George, many different kinds of bus systems carry people where they need to go. For example, BC Transit serves the small regions – including the 231-kilometers covered by the Smithers system, from Kispiox to Burns Lake.
The Northern Health Connections bus ferries seniors, people with out-of-town health appointments and others from Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Terrace and elsewhere all the way to Vancouver for between $10 and $40 (that is, $40 from Smithers all the way to Vancouver – an 1,147-kilomtre trip.)
That bus service is subsidized by the BC Ministry of Health and the First Nations Health Authority, among others. The Ministry of Transportation funds 12 First Nations community vehicles which are operated by local nonprofits and agencies.
Tying it all together is BC Bus North, a three-year old private transit service that goes all the way from Prince Rupert, to Prince George, to Fort Nelson, to Valemont, subsidized at $2 million a year by Victoria and Ottawa. For $65 or less, you can get from city to city. It’s the only private bus company in BC that the Ministry of Transportation subsidizes. All of these efforts are coordinated by a five-year old regional working group which includes BC Transit, Northern Health Authority, local governments, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and of course the Ministry of Transportation. Together, they administer the Highway 16 Transportation Action Plan, ensuring safe, accessible rides are available over what is known as the ‘Highway of Tears,” a known site of many murders and disappearances, especially of First Nations women.
A TALE OF TWO BUSES: At the top is Powell River’s Sunshine Coast Connector, a private bus that runs between Powell River and Vancouver - though less and less as the company can’t afford to provide daily or even weekly service as a business. The next trip is in May 2021. Above is BC Bus North, another private company that runs four buses constantly across Highway 16 in northern BC, but it’s subsidized by the Province and the Federal government.
Prioritizing safe transportation across the North should be a clear priority of government, and it is. But safe, accessible inter-city transportation should be achievable everywhere in BC.
Here in Powell River, even transit within the region is spotty (see story on Page 34), and the private bus to Vancouver won’t start running again until May.
Why is inter-city transportation so thorough elsewhere, and so inconsistent here, given that it’s largely paid for by the same governments? You’d think the goal would be consistency across BC.
In an email from the Ministry of Transportation, the inequity is explained like this: “The Province consults with local leaders to determine how we can best support each region.
“In the north, after consulting with local leaders to gain a better understanding of the impact of Greyhound’s service elimination in northern B.C., it was concluded due to the unique nature of the north and the distances between communities, it was important that the Province provide stable and reliable inter-city ground transportation services.
“This ensures that people have continued access to safe and reliable transportation to get from one northern community to the next. This way, residents who have to travel outside their community for jobs, appointments, school and other essential purposes are still able to do so.”
Powell River hasn’t attracted the same kind of investment so far. But the good news is, two current efforts are underway to improve bus service between Vancouver and Powell River.
First, several elected and government officials are working together towards a solution based on a shared funding model between BC Transit and local governments. The qathet Regional District, the City of Powell River, Tla’amin Nation, BC Ferries and the Sunshine Coast Regional District have been meeting with on Zoom, trying to pull together a plan.
BC Transit’s liaison with this area, Rob Ringma, grew up between Powell River and Vancouver Island, so he understands the challenges that come with living in remote communities.
“It’s a chicken and egg situation,” he explained, noting that many local governments are hesitant about investing in more transportation, when they’re not sure the demand is there to support it. “Local governments and taxpayers need to be willing to absorb the cost until such time as ridership has caught up with the expenses.”
Later this year, he said, BC Transit is refreshing the five-year service review for this region.
Qathet board chair Patrick Brabazon, a long-time advocate for public transit and a member of the working group, said he feels hopeful this multi-government solution will materialize into a regional transit agency that can coordinate transportation through three re-
gional districts. It may take some time. Governments move slowly – especially when multiple agencies have to collaborate on something new, he said.
However, that wasn’t true in the North. When Greyhound pulled its service along Highway 16 in 2017, Victoria and Ottawa collaborated quickly on a public-private solution, BC Bus North.
The owner of the Sunshine Coast Connector bus proposed a partnership with BC Ferries and BC Transit in 2019, and again in 2020. So far, Dmitry Tyunin said, it hasn’t come to fruition.
In 2015, thinking that demand was high for a connecting bus between Powell River and Vancouver, Dmitry bought three buses to serve the route, a 40-seater, a 24-seater, and a smaller bus. It wasn’t long before he realized the market was not that big.
“We didn’t get enough people – just four or five a trip,” he recalls, noting that he adjusted pricing, schedules, and frequency to try to make the route work as a business. Running the bus in the summer turned a small profit; running it in the winter resulted in debt.
Dmitry still has the buses. If the Ministry of Transportation is interested in subsidizing his private bus company like it does Bus North, he’s in.
Second, Powell River’s two most vocal bus lobbyists are at it again.
Those are the extreme words of Rae Fitzgerald, a Powell River senior who has been advocating for a transportation solution between the two cities for close to two years. With her friend Diane Wolyniec, the duo spent late 2019 sitting in the Quality Foods foyer collecting over 2,000 signatures in support of a bus.
At the time, the Sunshine Coast Connector had stopped running temporarily. They brought their petitions to both City Council and the Regional District.
They’re frustrated by the continued lack of a bus, so they’re planning another signatures drive. They’re hoping for 5,000 this time – hopefully enough to make a bus materialize.
If those are not convincing enough arguments for better public transportation, the environment is.
In November 2020, the Ministry of Transportation announced that, over the next decade, three levels of government will be putting $1.2 billion into BC Transit’s 130 communities for “new and replacement buses, including battery electric and compressed natural gas, smart technologies (including NextRide), advanced fare technology, new and upgraded transit facilities, new transit exchanges, park and rides, and new bus lanes.”
That money is also designed for the North, where it will provide, "safe, affordable travel for Indigenous communities, residents and organizations through BC Bus North and the BC government's Highway 16 Transportation Plan."
