The Summerland-Penticton transit service begins today. This is the interior of one of two new Vicinity buses which are smaller and more manoeuvrable than the older models.
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
October 29, 2013 - 9:39 AM
PENTICTON - Summerland residents enjoyed a free chauffeured ride to Penticton earlier this morning thanks to B.C. Transit and their community's leadership.
The route will run four times a day, for free, with two morning shifts starting at 7:15 a.m. at the Summerland Okanagan Regional Library before heading to Victoria North at Jubilee Road, then Summerfair Shopping Centre and finally to Nixon Road at May Street. The bus heads south on Highway 97 for Okanagan College, Penticton Regional Hospital and Cherry Lane Mall.
The afternoon route is the same, with the bus leaving the Summerland library at 2:40 p.m. and getting to the Cherry Lane Mall at 3:25 p.m. The last bus leaves Summerland at 4:30 p.m. to arrive at the Cherry Lane Mall at 5:10 p.m.
Stakeholders hope offering two months free transit service will keep riders coming back when the fee goes from zero to $4 for a one-way Penticton-Summerland trip. The community has been trying to get Summerland-Penticton transit for 12 years, Summerland's long-term planner Julie McGuire said and added "everyone is so happy it is coming."
The bus will be leased by Summerland from B.C. Transit for $101,300 annually with the province paying $47,300 and the district paying $54,000. The two-free months of rides will mean a revenue loss of $30,272.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict
News from © iNFOnews, 2013