Mission Neighbourhood Transit Restructure

Hello CS and thank you for your question.

As transit ridership recovers from the effects of the pandemic, the City and BC Transit are once again beginning to determine what system changes and investments may be able to be accommodated to respond to changes in the community. Service expansions had been halted ahead of the pandemic as a result of our regional transit operations centre being at maximum capacity; a situation that persists today and that the City and BC Transit are activity seeking solutions to.

The Transit Future Action Plan (TFAP) details transit investment priorities over short (1-3 year) medium (3-5 year) and long term (5-10 year) time frames. The Plan recommended considering opportunities to expand transit to new coverage areas in the medium and long term. The Central Okanagan Transit Service Guidelines identify, among other things, the recommended minimum service levels and the minimum characteristics (e.g., population density, road connections) for considering transit service expansion to  new areas. 

The current study to investigate restructuring options in the Mission area stems from near-term recommendations in the TFAP. The study aims to determine what changes may be possible in the near-term without the need for additional service hours or buses and which changes may be deferred to the future. 

Areas that are not served by transit today will be considered for new service once ridership has recovered from the effects of the pandemic; when resources permit, and only when the combined population and employment is deemed sufficient to generate a level of ridership that ensures services are able to meet minimum performance standards detailed in the Guidelines.

The Clifton-Magic Estates area is a candidate for future transit service. 

Regards,

Mike Kittmer