Prince George has heard plenty of requests for better bus service, so Council is looking to make improvements.
Councillors approved a proposal to increase bus service during evenings, weekends, and statutory holidays. Pending approval from BC Transit, this will likely begin in September 2017.
Taking into account who most frequently rides the bus, like students and minimum wage workers, Councillor Jillian Merrick believes these added hours make a lot of sense.
“They do their activities outside of normal 9-5 hours. They’re coming back from the library late at night, they’re coming back from social activities early in the morning or late at night and they’re working on statutory holidays so I think this will provide a big improvement,” she says.
The change could cost the city about $88,889 more in 2017/2018 than it will in 2016/2017. Councillor Merrick knows this is an important step to helping residents get around.
“This is a benefit we provide to the community for access. Just as we don’t expect the library to pay for all of its books through user fees, we don’t expect transit to pay for all of service through user fees. This is what enables people in the community to access the things they need.”
The change is expected to bring about $40,466 in added revenue in 2017/2018.
The Province announced $12.7 million in funding back in March and named Prince George a possible candidate for expansion.