Powell River Regional Transit Future Service Plan
Consultation has concluded
BC Transit, together with the City of Powell River, qathet Regional District and Tla'amin Nation,BC Transit, City of Powell River, qathet Regional District, and Tla’amin Nation are developing a transit plan to guide transit changes and improvements in the Powell River Regional Transit System over the next 1-7 years.
The plan has two phases of public engagement:
Phase One was a survey to help us learn more about transit use and understand community priorities for improvements
- Based on your input from the Phase One survey we developed new ideas for the future of transit within the City. This includes a new network of of routes. We also have some ideas for improvements to the rural routes.
- Review what we learned by clicking here to see the Phase 1 Engagement Summary
Phase Two begins online on June 10, and in-person on June 16. We invite transit riders, community members and stakeholders to drop by and tell us your thoughts about the route network ideas. We also have ideas for the rural routes. We want to know which would work best for you.
Your feedback will help us finalize the concepts to complete the new transit plan. The draft plan will be provided to the City of Powell River Council, qathet Regional District and Tla’amin Nation later in summer 2025 and route changes from the final plan will begin in early 2026.
More about Phase Two Engagement:
In-Person: Visit BC Transit staff at Open Houses throughout Powell River
Monday June 16
Tla'amin Health Centre, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Powell River Town Centre, near the transit exchange, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Tuesday June 17
Powell River Recreation Complex lower lobby, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
qathet General Hospital, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Powell River Town Centre, near the transit exchange, 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
qathet General Hospital, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Online: Our survey will become active on June 10 - learn about our ideas there and share your thoughts
What has happened already?
In addition to conducting the Phase 1 Survey to understand travel patterns and community values related to transit use, BC Transit staff has been:
- Reviewing transit use: How well used bus routes are at different times of day and times of the year; what travel demand patterns indicate.
- Reviewing operations: How on-time or off-schedule bus routes are. The service change that occurred on May 17, 2025 is a direct result of the this operations review.
- Working with local government staff to:
- understand how Powell River is changing and what parts of the community will need consideration for adjusted service based on growth projections
- understand capital and roadworks plans that may influence transit service opportunities.
- BC Transit is also continuing it's pilot in On-Demand transit and the OnDemand Team has ideas for Powell River.
