465 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

 

 But Greyhound was able to survive, with the existing subsidies, for decades. Even if they weren't very profitable, the length of service at least shows it wasn't a ridiculous money loser for them.  So keeping or tweaking the existing subsidies may be all that is needed to get the service back up and running.

 

 

 

NO.  Greyhound was never given subsidies.  they were awarded exclusive trade contracts for lucrative routes in exchange for also operating certain rural routes (at a loss).

 

your vancouver to calgary overpriced fare paid for a crappy route in the north to keep going.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 May 2021 - 04:43 PM.

[LJ]

Those stats sound like they are pulled out of thin air. What community are you referring to in your example? I can't think of any BC community that only has one bus per week other than Fort Nelson.

Give him a break, he's using VHF stats.

[Victoria Watcher]

i'm not.

 

i'm simply confident that inter-city bus lines serve less than 1%.  so that's the number i'm using.

 

they serve such a tiny portion of the population but we have an outsized view of their importance for some reason.

 

look at the bc ferries connector.  in a regular summer we have 12 sailings leaving from the vancouver side coming to swartz bay.  up to 2,100 passengers on each ferry.  yet the connector only has 3 bus loads*.  

 

24,000 passengers, three buses with 240 people total if they are full.  and that's on a route that carries lots of tourists that have no cars or friends and family locally for rides.

 

 

* the 2021 plan is one bus per day.  if/when it re-starts.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 May 2021 - 01:50 AM.

[vortoozo]

it's what i'm known for.  

 

i'm all for you taking the inter-city bus.  i just do not want to pay part of your fare.  i never ask you to pay for my gas or flights.

 

You definitely ask me to pay for the roads you drive on and other infrastructure.

[vortoozo]

i'm not.

 

i'm simply confident that inter-city bus lines serve less than 1%.  so that's the number i'm using.

 

they serve such a tiny portion of the population but we have an outsized view of their importance for some reason.

 

look at the bc ferries connector.  in a regular summer we have 12 sailings leaving from the vancouver side coming to swartz bay.  up to 2,100 passengers on each ferry.  yet the connector only has 3 bus loads*.  

 

24,000 passengers, three buses with 240 people total if they are full.  and that's on a route that carries lots of tourists that have no cars or friends and family locally for rides.

 

 

* the 2021 plan is one bus per day.  if/when it re-starts.

 

OK you want to use the ferry as an example of people who don't use public transit?

Is the irony lost on you?

Even if you don't consider the ferry as a form of public transit, what about the thousands a day that bus to the ferry and walk on?

[Victoria Watcher]

Even if you don't consider the ferry as a form of public transit, what about the thousands a day that bus to the ferry and walk on?

 

i love it.  i wish we'd make it proper though.  1 easy fare all the way through and no long walk on the vancouver side.  have the buses at the berth and just fill it and go.  and no extra stops on this side.  express up the highway with no exits.   uptown and royal oak and sidney (highway stop) and mt. newton only.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 May 2021 - 03:22 PM.

[Mike K.]

OK you want to use the ferry as an example of people who don't use public transit?
Is the irony lost on you?
Even if you don't consider the ferry as a form of public transit, what about the thousands a day that bus to the ferry and walk on?

I rest my case, 2.0.

[Victoria Watcher]

About 20 civil lawsuits have been filed related to injuries suffered three years ago today when a bus carrying 45 University of Victoria students and two staff on a field trip to Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre crashed, killing two first-year students and injuring others.

 

Victim Sarah Hunter, who sat behind the two students killed and started a petition calling for safety upgrades and paving for Bamfield Road, is represented by Ramsay Lampman Rhodes in Nanaimo, according to court documents. Magalie Eva McCormack is represented by Hemmerling Law in Kelowna, and Tabitha Baatz is represented by Acheson Sweeney Foley Sahota in Victoria.

Injuries cited include mild to moderate traumatic brain injury and post-concussive symptoms, broken bones, cuts and scarring, and post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

 

 

Lawyer Rajinder Sahota said he represents about eight of the claimants.

 

“I would be shocked if any plaintiff is not dealing with ongoing PTSD, and survivor’s guilt — that’s been expressed to me by several of my clients — and the emotional consequences arising from this accident are as significant as you can imagine,” said Sahota.

 

Defendants include the University of Victoria, Wilson’s Transportation, bus driver Donald Middleton, Smith Transportation Limited, Western Forest Products, TFL 44 LP and TFL General Partner, the society doing business as Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and the B.C. government via the Ministry of Transportation.

 

 

https://www.timescol...tudents-5813116

[Nparker]

The Vancouver Island Connector bus that used to offer daily service from Victoria to Campbell River (via transfer in Nanaimo), has now reduced service north of Parksville to once per month!

Campbell River to Nanaimo and Nanaimo to Campbell River routes are monthly bonus departures that run once a month on the 15th day of each month. This route does not operate on any other days of the year.

Days of operation: January 15th, February 15th, March 15th, April 15th, May 15th, June 15th, July 15th, August 15th, September 15th, October 15th, November 15th, December 15th.

https://viconnector....-2022-11-07.pdf in 

I guess there's no climate emergency on the mid-north island that requires any sort of public transportation system. Private vehicles are just fine in this region.

In addition, northbound and southbound routes (that go from Victoria to Tofino and vice-versa) only operate on alternate days, 3-days-per week each. There are no buses in either direction on Wednesdays.

[vortoozo]

I guess there's no climate emergency on the mid-north island that requires any sort of public transportation system. Private vehicles are just fine in this region.

 

Island Link Bus has a robust schedule as far north as Campbell River. On the sample December date that I checked, it's 4x daily from Victoria.

North of that, Waving Flags has shuttle service from Campbell River to Port Hardy 3x per week.

BC Transit also operates in the Woss to Port Hardy corridor.

 

The Wilsons once per month schedule has been in place since September. The requested permission to drop to 1x per month service from the Passenger Transportation Board  in June and received approval in August. Decision is published here: Weekly Bulletin - Wednesday, August 03, 2022 (ptboard.bc.ca)

Edited by vortoozo, 23 November 2022 - 09:55 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Island's only inter-city bus service to be suspended in January

Citing heavy financial losses, Wilson’s Transportation says it will suspend its Tofino Bus operations, including the Vancouver Island Connector, for four months starting in January.

https://www.timescol...january-6290916

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 December 2022 - 07:50 AM.

[GaryOak]

There is also island link bus and so far it seams like their service is still running

https://www.islandlinkbus.com/

[Victoria Watcher]

IslandLinkBus, which operates as many as 14 buses along the east coast, connecting communities between Campbell River and Victoria, said it doesn’t expect to change its operating plans.

Owner Phillip Morgan said the routes Tofino Bus serves are not something IslandLink typically does year-round. He said they have only run to the west coast of the Island in the summer.

Morgan said IslandLinkBus, which also operates ­IslandExpressBus, has been in business for 24 years and he’s used to seeing others drop out of the market.

“We are accustomed to our competition curtailing, cancelling or abandoning their services on Vancouver Island,” he said, noting they have continued to work while Laidlaw, Greyhound, Tofino Bus and now Wilson’s have experienced difficulty. “None of this [fazes] us, as we have grown every year since we started — COVID excepted.”

IslandLink says it carries just over 50,000 passengers a year, and is the only scheduled bus service available in many locations.

“Essentially, by sticking to our business plan and by providing the service our customers want and need, we have prospered,” Morgan said.


https://www.timescol...service-6295256

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 December 2022 - 06:59 AM.

[Matt R.]

“Essentially, by sticking to our business plan and by providing the service our customers want and need, we have prospered,” Morgan said.

What a concept.

[Victoria Watcher]

The bus, travelling from Kelowna to Vancouver, went off the road and rolled onto the passenger side of Highway 97C also called the Okanagan Connector, near the Loon Lake exit, which is 330 kilometres east of Vancouver in the Southern Interior.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...h-b-c-1.6698128





I don’t know what the passenger side of a highway is.

But from the looks of the wreckage stills and video, most of the people walked away. The bus turned onto its side but did not otherwise roll. And didn’t appear very crushed. One survivor credited his seatbelt for saving him any injuries.

It’s a bit surprising maybe that four people died but of course you whack your head from a “fall” 10 feet from one side of the bus to the other, some people might not survive.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 December 2022 - 05:23 AM.

[LJ]

Had a relative on that bus, taken to Merritt hospital initially, then transferred to Kamloops for a brain scan. They think he will be OK.

[Victoria Watcher]

Few passengers wearing seatbelts in B.C. bus crash that killed four

 

“The Ebus was equipped with seatbelts; unfortunately, it appears the majority of passengers were not wearing them.” — RCMP spokesman Const. James Ward

 

https://www.timescol...ed-four-6301604

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Since 2020, all newly built highway buses have been required to have passenger seatbelts. Companies whose buses were built before 2020 are not required to add them. The requirements don’t apply to school buses, but operators can install them voluntarily and there are pilot projects testing their use.

 

Wearing seatbelts has been mandatory in B.C. since 1977. In 2019, exceptions for taxis and delivery drivers were removed, though exemptions for emergency service personnel remain. “Everybody else has to wear a seatbelt” under the Motor Vehicle Act, Ward said.

 

The driver of the vehicle is responsible for people under the age 16 wearing a seatbelt, while those 16 and older are responsible for their own seatbelt use.

 

Enforcement can be “convoluted” and time consuming, said Ward. A coach bus operator could check seatbelts prior to departure but would have a hard time monitoring use while driving, he said.

 

Police officers pulling over a commercial bus would need to be able to see passengers not wearing a seatbelt while the bus was in motion — something difficult to do given the height of the vehicles and their often-tinted windows, he said. Proving a passenger’s age would be another issue, he said.

 

At the same time, Ward said, airplanes don’t depart until flight attendants check that everyone has a seatbelt on. “So maybe buses [have] to start doing the same thing where it’s like ‘we’re not pulling out of the bus depot until everybody’s buckled in.’ ”

 

 

https://www.timescol...atbelts-6306629

[lanforod]

If government wanted to regulate it more, they could: seatbelt sensors are a thing. adds cost, but not prohibitively so, I don't think. basic weight and seatbelt sensor with audible alarm ...

[Mike K.]

That’s tricky. You put a bag on an empty seat, and the alarm goes off. Sometimes those sensors malfunction. It can cause a lot of issues when you have 48 seats that accommodate thousands of people every year.