Cut Free
City Council put the brakes on the Zunga Bus in late December, citing high costs and limited use in a cash-tight time. The debate will be revived in January, and the bus may be back. But should Zunga come back under its current funding model? And why did support drop off for this award-winning service? BY PIETA WOOLLEY | LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
The Basics The Zunga bus ran every day from 11 am to 6:30 pm, in Westview only. Rides cost $2.25 per person. Call or use the Zunga Bus app to book a ride (see zungabus.ca). It offered door to door service. This on-demand public transit service started as a pilot project of the City back in 2021. Initially, Zunga was funded by the City’s Climate Action Reserve Funds and rider fares, but soon most
BUS STOP: The yellow Zunga Bus was ubiquitous around Westview since 2021. It offers about 38 rides per day, on average, between 11 am and 6:30 pm, for $2.25 each person. Photo courtesy of the City of Powell River of the budget was coming out of the City’s general revenues and Climate Action Reserve Fund; rider fares are subsidized slightly more than the BC Transit bus (see Page 20). However, unlike other public transportation, the Zunga Bus isn’t funded by BC Transit – which is mostly paid for by the province (which is, of course, still tax dollars.) Except for a one-time $100,000 grant from BC Transit in 2023, Zunga is funded entirely by the City and rider fares. Starting in May, BC Transit is piloting a similar on-demand service – subsidized by the province – but chose Kelowna to do so rather than Powell River.
Why Zunga Matters On-demand public transit is hot right now. It’s been tried recently in dozens of cities from North Bay, Ontario to Okotoks, Alberta, and studied by the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA). In May 2022, CUTA released a toolkit for cities considering on-demand transit, noting that it “is typically applied in areas with lower transit demand or areas where there are lower densities of population and employment, … areas with circuitous and disconnected road networks which impede the efficient use of fixed-route transit service, and areas where demand for transit service is lower during specific time
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qathet Living • January 2024 • 19
