FAQs

The Victoria Regional Transit Plan (VRTP) is being updated to reflect significant population growth, changes to local and provincial policies around density, and the evolving transit needs of the region.

    • The Victoria Regional Transit Plan has not been updated since 2011 and since then, the region’s population has grown by about 50,000 people, and many local governments have updated their OCPs and transportation strategies.

    • The updated plan will align with demographic trends, transit patterns, and sustainability goals, while striving to get more people using transit by 2050.

    • As we plan for the future, we know that to add more buses, we need facilities to park and maintain them, so alongside updating the regional plan, we are beginning early work on a new Saanich Transit Centre—a facility that will help operate and maintain more buses across the region, ensuring that both planning and infrastructure are ready to meet the needs of a growing population.

    • BC Transit is engaging with First Nations, local governments, key stakeholders and the broader public to discuss the regional transit network and future priorities. 

Feedback from the public will help BC Transit identify ways to improve service reliability, efficiency and accessibility, and learn about how transit fits into your life now and in the future. 

BC Transit wants to make sure transit services are shared fairly across the region, and that similar communities get similar levels of service and are connected in similar ways. This includes how we can improve connections to future hubs at Uptown, and how the regional transit network connections are made to help shape a modern transit system that meets today’s needs and plans for tomorrow.

The Victoria Regional Transit Commission (VRTC) currently has an ambitious target of a 15 per cent transit mode share by 2050, which if achieved, would require more than double the current service levels.

    • The VRTC and local governments are working towards this 15 per cent mode share across the region, which means 15 per cent of the population moves around the region using transit.

Achieving these goals will require a bold, phased approach to service expansion, infrastructure upgrades, and policy alignment, as well as significant investment from all levels of government.

Public engagement includes discussions about important and influential trade-offs, such as directness and coverage, number of one-seat rides and service frequency, and how services like RapidBus should be prioritized across the region.

These considerations include:

    • Direct transit service can sometimes provide convenient service to some areas but the trade-off is other areas may have lower service levels or require transfers to get to their destinations.

    • Providing more even service levels and coverage across the region could result in less capacity on highly used routes and may result in pass ups or undependable transit service.

    • While some service levels could be higher on other routes, they may be underutilized for what the area needs.

    • One seat rides represent the number of trips taken where the customer gets right to their destination without a transfer.

    • If more transfers were required and there were fewer one seat rides, the transit system could function better as a whole, but some may view this as inconvenient.

    • RapidBus lines could be prioritized to meet current and forecasted future demand or could focus on creating and growing demand by offering great service in areas with large potential to grow transit ridership.

Your feedback as part of this engagement will be reviewed by BC Transit’s Planning staff and incorporated into reporting for the Victoria Regional Transit Commission. Staff will compile and analyze feedback to support guiding planning recommendations for the Victoria Regional Transit Plan.