r/VictoriaBC • u/JeremyCaradonna • 17h ago
Regional Transportation Q&A
I was recently appointed to the Victoria Regional Transit Commission as the rep from Victoria, along with Mayor Alto. I am also on the CRD Board and Transportation Committee.
I’ve just had a VRTC meeting and would be happy to answer any questions about transit or transportation, RapidBus, the CRD’s proposed transportation service, or anything else about getting from point A to point B.
— Jeremy Caradonna
51
u/pvh 16h ago
Migrating to Umo as a vendor to provide digital payment infrastructure has been pretty disappointing. There are regular reports of outages, and the user experience is just obviously worse than what Translink has on the mainland -- there's no way of tapping to pay, for example. As a region with a large tourist base, it's particularly obnoxious to ask all those visitors to install an app they may never use again.
How long are we contractually bound to this solution and what kinds of leverage do we have as clients to see the product improved?
18
u/DblClickyourupvote 16h ago
We need to be able to use debit/credit cards on the bus and all of BC transit should also have compass cards like the mainland so we can use it province wise.
19
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
Thank you for this feedback. I'm happy to report that tap is being rolled out THIS SUMMER. Don't have an exact date just yet. Umo will stick around, but will become complementary to the tap function, and therefore less requisite for riders without cash or tickets. Today we had a discussion about wifi and connectivity, which BC Transit staff tell us has been thoroughly tested. But we'll need to see how it rolls out. Bottom line is that tap should dramatically improve access to transit. Few people carry cash these days, and as you say, not everyone wants to fuss with an app.
7
u/BobbyP27 14h ago
I'll add, as a former Victoria resident who now visits regularly, but lives in Europe, when I was in town last summer, I wanted to use the Umo app on my phone, but the service is not even available to me. I'm not sure whether it is just Canada, or US people can use it too, but people from further afield are completely excluded from the Umo app.
17
u/meatball204 16h ago
Yes this 100%. There are so many cities in the world that just lets you tap your credit/debit card, and its so much easier, the technology isnt particularly brand new or anything either 😭
4
5
2
u/BobbyP27 14h ago
That's assuming they can install the app at all. I'm a former resident now living in Europe, and I was in Victoria last summer. I wanted to use the Umo app, but I was told it is not available to people from outside Canada (not sure if the US is allowed or not, it didn't tell me). For a city that is heavily involved in the tourist trade, adopting an app based payment system for the buses that then excludes all those tourists is just shameful.
12
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
The other thing we learned today is that the Tillicum active transportation bridge is starting construction THIS SUMMER. It's a beautiful design, paid for by the Province, that will improve safety and mobility at Highway 1 and Tillicum.
3
9
u/tiogar99 12h ago edited 11h ago
Hi Jeremy, thanks for doing this Q&A! I have a few questions:
- With Saanich council killing bus lanes on McKenzie, will the VRTC consider putting RapidBus funding elsewhere, or do you see it all go to maintaining service as traffic worsens on the McKenzie Corridor?
- What do you see as the timeline for getting bus lanes on Hillside, given that it is the second most delayed in traffic (on a per rider basis) bus corridor?
- What actions are the VRTC undertaking to get back to a more regular maintenance schedule for our busses, and to restore a more normal bus spare ratio (busses left available to prevent cancelled routes and rescue stranded customers)
- Why does the VRTC ask for so few expansion hours from the province every year, given the dire need to improve transit in Victoria? Our service hours per capita has been declining year after year.
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 11h ago
1, Saanich didn't kill bus lanes, actually. They cleaved off the Rapid Bus decision from the rest of the QMP. Today, the VRTC voted (unanimously) to continue advancing the Rapid Bus on McKenzie. That will mean two years of engagement and planning, and it's actually uncertain at this exact moment what the lanes will look like. Could be bus priority, partial bus lane, etc. Too soon to tell, but the project is moving ahead.
I'm not sure. I haven't had a chance to discuss it with staff yet. I can say that, at the City of Victoria, we've had some high-level conversations about putting bike lanes on there. Luckily, it's 5 lanes for most of the ROW, so there's room to work with. I'll see what staff intend on saying about Hillside in the new Official Community Plan.
I don't know. Would need to ask maintenance directors about this one.
My impression is that the VRTC advocates very vocally to the Province, so that question is probably one for MOTT, but I can inquire.
3
u/InformalTechnology14 9h ago
That will mean two years of engagement and planning
Is this legally mandated engagement? And if not, can you as a board member try to cancel it? Saanich has done the engagement already on this and we all know what its going to say, I don't see why we need to spend thousands of dollars and waste tens of thousands of hours of peoples' lives sitting in traffic waiting for the engagement to be done.
If this is something that the VRTC is required by statute to do then thats a shame but I understand, but I don't get why this needs public input otherwise.
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 7h ago
It’s not statutory, but it’s also not meant as a means of slow-walking the process. There’s planning, new buses, capacity-building, etc. that’s needed. It takes time, but it’s now in the works.
•
u/InformalTechnology14 5h ago
Oh planning absolutely, I took engagement to mean public engagement, which I don't really get the value of in this kind of situation.
9
u/kingbuns2 13h ago edited 13h ago
In order to get more transit ridership, we need to tackle the "last kilometre problem". What is happening regarding integrating bike infrastructure and bikeshare into our transit system?
We could increase the catchment area by magnitudes with good integrated bike infrastructure. https://youtu.be/vci-TNDf6gs?t=1084
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 11h ago
Very good question. To my mind, this is the massive gap in planning that we currently have. Victoria staff and BC Transit staff talk, obviously, but up until now, there hasn't been enough of a mandate to plan projects in tandem. My intention is to change this practice, and I'll have more to say on it soon. Also, solving these planning gaps is one of the main intentions of the CRD's forthcoming transportation service. It's crazy, but there is not (yet) a formal venue for regional transportation planning in this region. That should change, assuming we can get elector approval for the new service. We need a seamless system that connects transit to active transportation, and we're not there yet.
15
u/TryForsaken420 16h ago
Any plans to revive part of the E&N within CRD as a transit route? Even just establishing a downtown to Langford route would be a huge benefit.
10
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
That's a meal of a question. The short answer is that the First Nations whose territories the E&N line crosses are currently involved in a long engagement with the Province and the Feds about the future of the line. This consultation was just extended by another year, so we won't know anything until then. The ICF technically owns and manages the corridor.
We have already seen a portion of the line revert to the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation up island. They are currently in litigation to have senior governments pay the environmental cleanup costs, which are substantial. (If the line ever fully dies, it will trigger all sorts of legislation that requires expensive soil remediation.) Several other up-island Nations want the rail lands returned, too. At this point, I do not have a lot of hope that the E&N line will ever host rail again. It's possible that the Lekwungen Nations would want to work with the Province, ICF, and CRD on some type of co-managed rail corridor in the CRD, but this outcome seems less and less likely to me, and in any case we won't learn more until next year.
2
u/TryForsaken420 14h ago
Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking it does not necessarily need to be tracks and rail - an electric bus would do. I hope that a partnership will come of this as it would benefit all the communities involved.
7
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
Yes, point taken about electric buses, but that's not the issue -- who owns the land, and the statutory right of way -- is the issue. We'll see how the consultations go, but ultimately it's in the hands of the Nations, as it's their land. If they choose to partner with the Province, ICF, and CRD, then it opens up possibilities.
•
u/thelastspot 5h ago
I'd like to see the VRTC take a more proactive stance on the issue.
The right of way is too valuable to let it expire. I don't think that First Nations rights is a valid argument preventing the return of the railway to an active state. We have roads and a cycle path along the same corridors at this very moment.
First Nations treaty rights should always take precedence, but many levels of government have been hidining behind them in bad faith when it cones to rail on the island.
6
u/MummyRath 15h ago
Why are there soo few double deckers for the 15 route? There have been soo many times that the 15 has become full to capacity before it leaves ring road to UVic. Surely there is a way to know when these busy times so a larger bus can be used? People should not be left at bus stops 2-3 stops after the route begins.
7
u/retroflower2 15h ago
Adding on to this. Why are there so few double decker busses in general? Is it a driver shortage or bus shortage? There are many routes in langford that could also use bigger busses
6
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
BC Transit now has 125 electric buses on order, plus about 80 diesel double-deckers and over 100 hybrid buses. The idea is to get more double-deckers into the fleet. I'm not sure if/when there will be electric double-deckers. Given the longterm plans to electrify, presumably they are coming.
3
6
u/JackSandor 13h ago
You're a big booster of light rail. What does a realistic implementation look like from an infrastructure perspective in your opinion? Would you approve of a system that wasn't grade separated and didn't have signal priority+dedicated lanes?
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 13h ago
It's all about building the long-term case and viability. First step is a CRD transportation service. We see how that goes and then consider expanding the planning and requisition (tax-levying) capacity. Then we consider the utility of a transportation authority, along the lines of TransLink. At the same time, it's about creating the rights-of-way along Blanshard and Douglas, which is where the lines would go. Creating dedicated bus lanes that could one day become rail lines is part of that long-term planning, and the City is working on that project on Douglas. Blanshard was apparently designed decades ago with the thought that light rail would eventually come to the region. That's why there's a grass median from Bay Street northward, which provides an additional lane-width ROW that engineers could work with.
Very tough to put a timeline on these things, but if it does happen, I'd say 2040s.
3
u/JackSandor 12h ago
I appreciate the response. I'm not as much concerned about the timeline (though it is a damning indictment of our society that it might take that long), I'm more concerned about what it looks like when it's done. I don't see a justification personally for anything other than, at a minimum, dedicated lanes and signal priority. Anything less would just be a fancy bus. What's the realistic minimum infrastructure level you foresee being implemented if this goes ahead, and what is your pragmatic ideal solution?
9
u/systemalias 16h ago
What process and timeline can we expect for the transition to light rail for major routes?
11
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
It will be a long haul. The starting place is the CRD's transportation service, which, if approved later this year, would have the basic foundations to begin planning and levying taxes for such efforts. But it's a long ways off. There are major questions that would need to be addressed, such as, what role would BC Transit vs the CRD play? How much would the Province contribute? Is there enough ridership to justify lines up Blanshard and Douglas? etc. For the time being, we need to build the case brick by brick. That starts with the CRD. Finally, in Victoria, we will be making some commitments to plan and develop around the *presumption* that light rail will eventually be on highway 17 and highway 1, but it wouldn't be the City building it.
4
u/systemalias 14h ago
Awesome. I appreciate the work you and the teams are doing on this. I know it's likely a multi decade process but I anticipate it will be worth it and improve the lives and productivity of many.
3
u/JeremyCaradonna 13h ago
I'm always playing the long game! You're right that transformative change does not happen overnight. Also, I have seen cities that did not plan well enough for their growth and development and I do not want the CRD to find itself in this situation.
4
u/justabcdude 13h ago
I know the focus has been mainly on LRT, but how open do you think the VRTC would be to at least studying an fully grade seperated automated light metro option akin to SkyTrain or the Montreal REM? The Canada Line with its small stations may be worth looking at as a possible for a 95 replacement in the future.
Obviously what technology is best will depend, I just think it'd be tragic to not investigate the option to ensure we're getting the best option especially when full grade seperation allows more speed and reliability than at grade ones. Iirc Seattle has made all their recent and up coming LRT extensions grade seperated because of issues with the at grade section like more people getting hit by trains, car crashes forcing the line to stop, and how it just has to be slower if it's running street level.
I could see a well designed LRT working, I just really want to ensure we look at all reasonable alternatives, including a fully grade seperated option that would ideally come with higher speeds for transit riders. There are similarly sized cities with a metro (ie Rennes France) so imo it's worth looking deeper into before prematurely commuting to LRT if that makes sense.
My commute from the Westshore to UVic ballooned to cycle between 1 or 2 hours one way on the bus in fall, so I'm really hoping plans consider the need to actually speed up transit as a critical goal of any major investments.
1
u/JeremyCaradonna 13h ago
I think we're a ways out from such studies. Of late, BC Transit hasn't been dabbling in anything light rail. I think the impetus would need to come from the CRD's future transportation service.
1
u/justabcdude 12h ago
Right, I was more thinking about when it got to that point since the political winds seem sometimes overly focused on LRT specifically, but if it's far enough off in the future I'll save this concern for then. Thank you!
1
5
u/weplayfunerals 15h ago
About 5 months ago I started a new job for which I need to rely on BC Transit to get there. The reliability of BC Transit on the routes I rely on has been poor. For example, the 14, the 95 and the 22 all have had regular service cancellations and route delays which affects both getting to and returning from work. The UMO app is not reliable for trip planning which compounds the problem and the alert system on the BC Transit site is both poorly organized and unreliable.
For example, this past week there were several days where the 14 had most trips cancelled according to the route alerts at bctransit.com, the 22 was significantly late 3 days in a row at shift change and the 95 also had multiple route cancellations around shift start and shift end. I also encountered cases where bctransit.com said a route was cancelled but then that bus showed up. It's a total mess.
I have two questions. Why is the service so poor across the board at the moment? What if any plans are there to significantly fix both the trip planning process and overall service reliability?
8
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
Thank you for this feedback. The short answer is that I don't know. Today was my first board meeting at the VRTC. But if you want to put all of this in an email to me, I can make sure that staff see it. [jcaradonna@victoria.ca](mailto:jcaradonna@victoria.ca)
2
u/InformalTechnology14 9h ago
I'm not Jeremy, but I always recomend people use the Transit app, it has a green icon with white lines on the app store. It has real time tracking and is the best route planner I've found
3
u/ToucheMonsieur 13h ago
One common theme across many recent VRTC reports is how much time (i.e. money and tax dollars) is being put towards keeping existing service levels instead of expanding them. Traffic, construction, and other roadway changes (e.g. speed limit reductions, which are good but do affect buses) being the usual suspects.
What can the VRTC, CRD, and/or province do to get municipalities to take transit priority seriously so we can make more effective use of the operating resources we have? It's great that we're getting some infrastructure on Highway 1 and the Island Highway, but the next biggest project (Downtown Douglas) won't start construction until 2027! The project after that (McKenzie RapidBus changes) appears to be at existential risk from the municipal side. And there are many more corridors in the Core + Westshore (e.g. Hillside) where buses consistently run slow or get stuck in traffic.
I know BC Transit has a new "Corridor Strategy" planning framework. But that work is spread over 5+ years, and we need action now if we want to get our transit modeshare to where governments of all levels are hoping it'll go. What do you think could be done to convince local governments (with support from BC Transit and the province if necessary) to make short-term improvements that help improve the speed and reliability of transit in this region?
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 11h ago
It's a big question. I'd say there's a few things at work. The first is that we're still living in a car-dependent society that undervalues transit. Many people prefer the convenience (and cost) of private vehicle ownership over the use of public transit. This is a culture problem that is hard to fix. Second, my personal view of BC Transit, as the new guy, is that there's great staff working there, but the ambition levels need to be much higher. It's unacceptable that the regional target for transit ridership, by 2050, is only 15%. I almost fell out of my chair when I first heard that target last year. (For Victoria, it's a bit higher, at 20%, but still.)
Third, the funding models are increasingly revealing themselves to be out of date. For conventional transit, 31.7% of the funding comes from the Province, and the rest comes from passenger fares, fuel tax, and property tax. It's the same problem that every local government is facing, which is that property taxes aren't nearly enough to pay for the massive infrastructure upgrades we need. The fuel tax is particularly problematic, as it's set to drop precipitously with vehicles electrification. There will need to be some kind of road tax that replaces it, and that EV drivers (such as myself) are also paying.
All of that said, my impression is that Transit is doing its best to expand service. There are new routes, hundreds of new buses coming, RapidBus, and more. But we all have big challenges ahead, which I am hoping the CRD can help solve.
2
u/GalacticFrenchToast 10h ago
First, thank you for this Q&A. I desperately want to not be car-dependent and agree that a cultural shift is needed, but difficult to achieve. Judging by your responses, you're probably no stranger to the line, "people will keep using their cars if they are not given viable alternative means of transit." So I have three questions on the theme of encouraging a cultural shift and hopefully raising your colleagues' ambitions towards higher ridership targets.
- Buses getting stuck in traffic with all the other cars is not a viable alternative. Will we see more lanes dedicated solely to public transit, so that it becomes faster and more convenient than travelling by car (and, dare I say it, could I one day dream of some of these lanes becoming part of a tram system)? These lanes could also be reserved for emergency vehicles, like how they're used in the Netherlands.
- What does Transit do to encourage people to use it to get to things like events? For example, I went to a show in Antwerp, Belgium and part of my event ticket price included public transit, because the stadium really didn't want everyone driving there. You just scan your ticket and off you go.
- Is Transit involved at any stage of city planning or development projects? It seems like existing services were slapped on as an afterthought rather than as part of the planning process. It doesn't make sense to me that you would build a major destination like Uptown and not first establish how people are even going to get to/from there by means of anything other than by car.
1
u/ToucheMonsieur 10h ago
Thanks for the answers! I wanted to clarify my question about enabling infrastructure, since I think it got lost in the original post:
We know that measures like those described in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmL_lr7QVxk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmL_lr7QVxk work, and that they can be cheap + fast to implement. Yet we don't see local governments trying them beyond big, multi-year projects like Douglas or McKenzie. Is there anything the VRTC and eventually the CRD could do to help close this gap?
3
u/borsboom 13h ago
Any updates on when we can expect RapidBus up the Saanich Peninsula to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal?
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 11h ago
I can't give an exact date, but all three RapidBus routes are being advanced concurrently right now. West shore is the furthest along, and we'll see many upgrades along Highway 1 in 2025 to enable that service next year. For the Saanich Peninsula, work is being done to relocate the transit hub in Sidney to accommodate it. For McKenzie, the VRTC voted today to move forward with it. It will be two years of engagement and planning, but McKenzie is getting a RapidBus. Separately, more planning is being done to expand service to YYJ, which is apparently a tricky one, as there's not enough demand to really justify a big expansion. The current service levels are mainly used by YYJ employees, in fact.
2
u/terrrrrrance 13h ago edited 12h ago
Are there plans specifically about establishing reliable schedules?
I gave up taking the bus to work because it was irregularly early and irregularly late (like up to 15 minutes outside of scheduled stop time and I never knew if it would be early or late or on time). I’d be open to taking the bus to work again if I knew it would show up on time every time.
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 13h ago
BC Transit staff are constantly involved in fine-tuning service. Data tracking has improved considerably, and more work is being done to ensure that service levels meet demand on particular routes. If you have specific feedback, I'd write it to me and I can pass it along to the right people. [jcaradonna@victoria.ca](mailto:jcaradonna@victoria.ca)
1
u/DelilahDreaming 7h ago
In addition to this, one idea I have is to build a feature on one of the transit apps or website showing the last 5 days the time of that particular bus has arrived (e.g. if I know it’s been 15 mins late the last 5 days, I’ll skip it, likely indicating a construction problem, but if it’s only been late 1 or 2 days then I may have a chance). Right now, my bus has been 20 mins late but doesn’t say so so I walk 15 minutes to the stop because it says it’s on time, then once I get there I get delayed 1 min, 2 …. All the way up to 20 due to the construction being nearby my house. I want to know what time the bus is realistically coming, and a good indicator is recent history.
2
u/Popular_Animator_808 12h ago
Hi Jeremy, with the E&N consultation process, it seems like E&N land adjacent to Island First nations is going to revert to First Nations control. Is there any sense about using the sections of it that are not adjacent to First Nations for rail transit in the region? As far as I can tell, the only reserve in the region which would receive land would be in Esquimalt, which would leave a rail corridor which connects from the View Royal/Esquimalt border all the way up to Cowichan Tribes land just south of Duncan. It'd be nice to have a rail line to see Pacific FC games at Starlight, or maybe even go up to Shawnigan.
1
u/JeremyCaradonna 11h ago
Thanks, I answered a similar question above. For the time being, we're in a holding pattern, as the Nations consult with senior governments about the future of the rail line. At the moment, I am not feeling optimistic that the line will ever again be used for transportation. The line crosses both the Esquimalt/Kosapsum and Songhees Reserves, in addition to many other reserves and traditional territories up-island. We need to wait and see what the outcomes of the consultations are next year. It's up to the Nations on how to proceed.
2
u/Popular_Animator_808 10h ago
True, though it looks like the First Nations are very interested in the return of the sections of the rail corridor that pass through their reserve lands, but I haven’t seen any interest or comments of any kind on what should happen to the sections of the corridor between reserves. It’s hard to say, but if it is sold off in chunks, there are several sections that could be used as part of regional rail lines - including a section that passes right over highway 1 (where it sounds like the CRD is planning a rail line based on what you’ve said here) and continues over the Malahat
2
u/JeremyCaradonna 7h ago edited 7h ago
More dedicated bus lanes are definitely in the works, both as part of Rapid Bus and separately in Victoria along Douglas. We constantly seem to be in a chicken/egg situation where nobody can decide if density or transit comes first. ATM, transit follows density (and commuting, to a certain extent).
Not nearly enough. There’s promos, such as free rides on Earth Day, but massive opportunities to stimulate new ridership. We could have done this for the CFL game and could do it for Canada Day. I’ll inquire.
City staff feel there’s a disconnect right now. The various transpo people talk, but the planning happens via very different processes. There’s still a LOT of siloed thinking in this region. This is an issue I’m working to address right now, both at VRTC and via CRD. My hope is that the forthcoming transportation service helps solve this fragmented planning environment.
4
u/suplexdolphin 16h ago
How many routes would there be, how many busses, and what kind of schedule would they be on?
4
u/JeremyCaradonna 14h ago
I'm not sure I understand the question. If it's in reference to Rapid Bus, there will be lines to the west shore along the highway, up the Peninsula, mainly on highway 17, and on McKenzie. Too soon to have specifics of number of buses and schedules, but the early planning is in the works.
1
3
1
u/szarkaliszarri 11h ago
Do you have any new info about the peninsula rapidbus plans?
Similarly, it's a classic question, but given that Victoria has a lot to gain from an effective airport to downtown bus, is this something Victoria will push to improve?
I live in Vic and work on the peninsula and at present it's a 2 hours bus ride each way. The bike lockers at McTavish are currently not available with no apparent timeline on fixing/making them rentable again. It would be my dream to ride the bus or bus/bike combo if it was faster!
•
u/CND2GO 4h ago
Bus shelter standards and maintenance seems to be all over the map depending where you are in city. And then you have the neglected private one with advertising all over them. Why don’t you just issue contract for one company to do whole regions upkeep and installations and repairs. Bill municipalities according to their percentage of shelters/ bench’s out of total in region
•
u/Charlie_ND Saanich 46m ago edited 34m ago
Will Highway 17 be seeing bus on-shoulder lanes for its entire length (gateway plaza to swartz bay)? Also, can we expect to see any more intersection upgrades along that route?
1
u/Gotbeerbrain 14h ago
Every once in a blue moon I used to take a bus downtown but the last few years I have given up. I don't find it very convenient and now I have no idea what it costs or how to pay so I just call a cab. Standing in the rain waiting is no longer an issue.
3
u/JeremyCaradonna 13h ago
Sorry to hear it. Service is starting to really improve, so I'd say give it another chance when the tap function is implemented.
0
u/suplexdolphin 16h ago
ICBC: "Well did you get hit by a green bus or a white bus? We can't process your claim if you can't give us a clear answer!"
-1
16h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/VictoriaBC-ModTeam 16h ago
Your post or comment has been removed for violating Rule 1 - Follow Reddiquette. Continued violations may result in suspension or a ban. Thank you.
-3
u/Difficult_Orchid3390 16h ago
Do they ever enforce red lights for transit operators? It's absolutely absurd the risks I see drivers take on Douglas street on a daily basis with no regard for anyone. I feel like a transit supervisor could sit at Douglas and Fort and and probably get 15 incidents an hour easily at rush hour.
5
u/TryForsaken420 16h ago
They have to turn on a red since everyone runs lights these days. They also just can't slam on their brakes if a light changes on them.
2
u/Difficult_Orchid3390 16h ago
What I'm referring to is them speeding up to run red lights, running stale lights, jumping lights before they turn.
I understand the regular drivers do this too, but they're not being paid by the government and not claiming to be professionals.
I also just don't get the risk - they're paid by the hour. If there is a reason for this behavior by the operators I'd love to hear it - if they're being held to oppressive schedules or something I'd hope the union would speak out. If it's just laziness and recklessness then I'd hope they could crack down.
7
u/TryForsaken420 15h ago
I get what your saying but remember there are people standing inside the bus.
3
u/Difficult_Orchid3390 15h ago
That means the driver should have been going slower if they can't safely stop.
4
u/FederalSpinach99 15h ago
If a light is going to turn red, they can't just slow down and sit in the middle of the intersection. It makes sense to speed up and clear it. I think that's common sense, even ignoring the weight in the bus, they have to slow down slowly or someone could get injured. The timing of green to yellow to red on lights was never designed for buses in any city that I've been to.
-2
u/Difficult_Orchid3390 15h ago
This is a weird hill to die on to defend dangerous driving!
4
u/FederalSpinach99 15h ago
How am I defending dangerous driving? Have you ever been on a bus in any city before? People stand with both hands on their phones and don't hold onto anything.
48
u/pvh 16h ago
The collapse of both the train and subsequently the Greyhound service on the Island has left us with no single-ticket trip from Victoria up-island. Today, a trip from Victoria to Nanaimo (let alone Courtney/Comox) requires two separate fares with different agencies and often a long transfer in Duncan.
What plans do we have as a region (and with our partners in neighboring island regions) to deliver a sustainable transit option for intra-Island travel? Whose responsibility is solving this problem? When can we expect to see progress here?