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Public invited behind the wheel for transit planning

Vernon commuters may have shorter waits if bus runs are added under the new Transit Plan.

By Charlotte Helston

Boarding the B.C. Transit Future Bus this month will give riders one more look at the North Okanagan's proposed transportation plan before it goes for the green light.

The Transit Future Bus will be touring the North Okanagan from March 14-18 with the proposed 25 year transit plan for the area. This will be the second round of public input. In October and November, residents told B.C. Transit planners what they wanted to see in the coming decades.

"People said they wanted more direct services, more frequent services, greater coverage to outlying areas like BX, Blue Jay, Paddlewheel, Silver Star, Foothills, and of course the UBCO connector to Kelowna," the city's transportation technician Amanda Watson says.

Since then, the wheels have been turning.

"We've taken all that inut, developed a plan (and) a future network," Watson says. "This is what we're going out to consultation with this March."

After the public gets their final chance behind the wheel, the plan will go into its final stages of approval and implementation.

"At the end of the day, (council and the regional district) have to endorse the plan," Watson says.

Watson says Vernon saw an 8 per cent rise in ridership last year.

"We saw a big jump when the UBCO bus started, but since then, the expansions have been on the Vernon system, routes one to eight."

The B.C. Transit Future Bus will stop in Vernon, Armstrong, Lumby and Coldstream from March 14-18 at the following locations:

Thursday, March 14, 1-3 p.m., Armstrong Odd Fellows Hall, 3005 Wood Avenue
Thursday, March 14, 4-6 p.m., Askew’s, 3305 Smith Drive, Armstrong
Friday, March 15, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Schubert Centre, 3505-30th Avenue, Vernon
Friday, March 15, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Downtown Transit Exchange, Vernon
Saturday, March 16, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Village Green Centre, Vernon
Sunday, March 17, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Super A Foods, 2056 Vernon Street, Lumby
Monday, March 18, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Coldstream Women’s Institute Hall, 9901 Kalamalka Road, Coldstream


Visit www.bctransit.com/transitfuture and use the online survey to comment by March 28.

Public input drives the transportation plan.
Public input drives the transportation plan.
Image Credit: SOURCE/B.C. Transit

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call (250)309-5230

News from © iNFOnews, 2013
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