The ability to travel by city bus from Courtenay all the way to Duncan may be an idea residents might want to see included in the Comox Valley Regional District's Transit future plans.
Michael Zbarsky, the CVRD's Manager of Transit and Sustainability, said they would have a better idea on how the riders feel about it after the next public consultation to be held between April 22 and 26.
"It's something we're aware of," said Zbarsky. "We're doing a Transit Future Plan right now and have a huge list of transit improvements that we've heard from the public on.
"What we're doing is just bringing them all out to the public and we're just going to see what do people want. What are the more important priorities, what we do in the long-term versus the short-term? It will be interesting to see where this ranks. Is it something people want now or would they rather have something else."
The CVRD's local bus services already link up with services north from Oyster River to Campbell River. It's an initiative Zbarsky said that has been successful.
"That's quite a good connection that has worked well," said Zbarsky. "A lot of North Island College students use them going to the campus there or vice-versa, and also people commuting for work out of town."
The Regional District of Nanaimo board of directors, which recently endorsed its Transit Future Plan, has also considered linking up its bus services to the Comox Valley. Its main priority is a "rapid transit network" covering the length of Nanaimo fed by smaller neighbourhood collector bus routes. As more riders use the system, Nanaimo Regional Transit would connect to neighbouring transit systems serving Ladysmith and Courtenay, with service to Nanaimo Airport and possibly Duke Point.
Zbarsky said it's a feasible plan because the CVRD has a bus route all the way to Fanny Bay and the RDN has a transit service that ends in Qualicum Beach. The gap he said is not too far apart. However, financing the link-up to provide a transfer service might be an issue.
"The unfortunate thing about something like that is it's going to be very costly," said Zbarsky. "It probably won't generate a lot of ridership. If we have only a limited amount of money to spend here in the Comox Valley, do we want to spend it connecting to Nanaimo or do we want to spend it connecting more frequency between Courtenay and Comox for example?"
The Transit Future consultation team will be back to the Comox Valley between April 22 and April 26. It's inviting the public to gauge the results of the first phase of engagement, provide input on the proposed Transit Future network and help prioritize proposed changes that will move the Comox Valley Transit System in to the future.
If you are not able to attend an Open House being planned for that week, take the online survey to provide BC Transit with feedback on the draft Transit Future network proposals and any changes you think are important. The online survey will be available from April 7 to May 9.
