465 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Passengers scramble to get home as Tofino Bus suspends service



Tina Akland was desperate to get on the last Tofino bus leaving Nanaimo Monday. The service was about to be suspended, and it was urgent she got home to Port Alberni.

“Well, I’m coming home to see my brother because my dad passed away right before Christmas. This is the only way I can get home because I don’t drive,” said Akland, who now lives in Vancouver.

As of Tuesday, Jan. 3, Tofino Bus and the Vancouver Island Connector are suspending Victoria to Tofino service until May, leaving passengers who use it unsure of how they will get to and from their remote communities on the west coast.

https://www.cheknews...ervice-1129387/


According to Wilson’s Transportation, which operates the Vancouver Island Connector and Tofino Bus, ridership has plummeted 95 per cent since the pandemic, and that financial loss forced this cut.

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‘Island Link Bus’ will continue to provide service from Victoria to the North Island along the east coast, but now there’s no link west. So Wilson’s Transportation is urging the province to step in and subsidize the service year-round.

“This is how I’ve stayed in touch with my family, so yeah, I’m gonna really miss it,” added Akland.

So Akland boarded the last bus she could on Monday to be with her family, as she and the many who rely on the bus service try to find a new way home now that’s safe.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 January 2023 - 03:51 AM.

[Nparker]

I can confirm the VI connector from Parksville south to Victoria was fuller than I have ever seen it yesterday.

[Kilo95]

I took the VI Connector from Victoria to Port Alberni (via Nanaimo) on the 30th and it was barely 1/4 full. Not unsurprising to me that they're cutting service to Tofino in the off-season. 

[Victoria Watcher]

“We had to suspend service because essentially after about September, the passenger count just dropped so drastically that we could not cover the operational expenses,” Wilson-Newton said.

Wilson’s Transportation is privately operated and does not receive federal funding or subsidies and operates based on ticket sales, but with a sharp decline in passengers riding these routes, Wilson-Newton said it was not financially feasible to continue.


https://www.vicnews....rship-plummets/


Tofino Bus, Wilson’s Transportation to receive over $1M to continue intercity operations, resume service in April

Posted: Mar. 30, 2021 1:14PM

https://www.cheknews...ril-757373/?amp

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 January 2023 - 12:49 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

IslandLink to provide service to Tofino in 15-passenger vans

 

The company has stepped into the void left by suspension of Tofino Bus’s coach service to the west coast of the Island

 

https://www.timescol...er-vans-6372108

 

 

 

“We’ve looked at the ­numbers, and with our 15-passenger vehicles, we’re able to add this service,” said owner Phillip ­Morgan.

 

The new service follows a decision by Wilson’s ­Transportation to suspend its Victoria-Tofino coach service and the Vancouver Island ­Connector service between Nanaimo and Campbell River on Jan. 3 due to heavy financial losses. The company says it plans to restart its Tofino Bus services in May.

 

Morgan initially said his company was not going to change its service plans when Wilson pulled the plug on Tofino Bus.

 

The new IslandLink route will run between the Departure Bay Ferry Terminal in Nanaimo and Tofino, with stops in Port Alberni and Ucluelet. Starting May 18, it plans to ramp up to daily service year-round.

 

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Wilson has been in ­discussions with the province about a longer-term solution, but there’s been no word on what that might look like. The Ministry of ­Transportation and Infrastructure has said it’s reviewing information provided by Wilson’s and will look for a workable solution.

 

In March 2021, Tofino Bus got $1.15 million in provincial help to maintain essential operations until the end of March 2022. Wilson said the provincial grant helped get them to the high ­season when ticket sales started paying the bills.

 

Wilson said they intend to restart the Tofino Bus and Island Connector services in May, when there is enough demand to justify the expense of running large coaches on the routes.

 

“But we can’t operate at the current model,” he said, adding operating motor coaches ramps up the overhead cost compared with smaller 15-passenger vans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilson said they intend to restart the Tofino Bus and Island Connector services in May, when there is enough demand to justify the expense of running large coaches on the routes.

 

“But we can’t operate at the current model,” he said, adding operating motor coaches ramps up the overhead cost compared with smaller 15-passenger vans.

 

 

 

 

 

So Wilson's cannot run without a government subsidy, but IslandLink can.   

 

So isn't IslandLink the answer, or at least 15-person vans is?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2023 - 12:42 AM.

[vortoozo]

 

So Wilson's cannot run without a government subsidy, but IslandLink can.   

 

So isn't IslandLink the answer, or at least 15-person vans is?

 

Only Wilsons would know why they didn't try a go at it with smaller vehicles. They do have the failed YYJ Airport Shuttle fleet, after all, unless they've already divested it. Seems like they would have the ability to scale up that way. If more than 15 tickets sold - use a larger vehicle. If not, use the smaller one & save on the gas bill. IslandLink can't do that.

[Victoria Watcher]

Wilson's does have union drivers.

 

https://www.hrreport...ortation/335185

 

Current union contract:

 

https://cdn-res.keym...80346730998.pdf

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2023 - 07:55 AM.

[vortoozo]

I doubt the $27 and change is significantly more than IslandLink. 

[Victoria Watcher]

OPINION: How to pull out of Vancouver Island’s intercity ‘death spiral’

 

A transportation planner argues that potential network benefits are ignored at our peril

 

https://www.capitald...on-death-spiral

 

 

 

 

 

I’m calling for a strong, connected provincial transportation network for the benefit of its residents. But there’s another obvious beneficiary, if we could pull it off: the travel industry. There is a shortage of car-free ways to access nature, especially in Canada and the US. I envision a future where our province markets itself to the world as the place where you can take a coach bus to a campground beside a mountain stream.

 

 

^ There is also a shortage of travelers that do not have the wherewithal to rent a car or RV.  Renting a car is relatively cheap.  Beats the bus to go camping.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 January 2023 - 07:22 AM.

[Mike K.]

All we need now are more buses on the route to Bamfield, right?

BC Transit will get you to Goldstream.

It’ll get you very close to Island View.

It’ll get you to multiple RV parks that offer camping.

It’ll get you to Sooke River campground and Sunny Shores (or whatever it’s called).

It’ll get you to Duncan, where it'll then get you to Lake Cowichan. It’ll connect you all the way to Campbell River, where you can get a taxi to take you anywhere you want in that area.

But it’s not going to get you to the remote wilderness for obvious reasons. Neither will a coach bus, for obvious reasons.

[Victoria Watcher]

Nothing like taking a taxi to the campground.

 

That West Cost Trail bus is well-equipped to take you (and/or hippies) camping.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 January 2023 - 08:37 AM.

[Mike K.]

Not good enough.

It must be a luxury coach.

[Victoria Watcher]

A BBC reality TV show aired last month that showcased the beauty of British Columbia — while also constantly pointing out how frustrating the province's transportation system can be.

Race Across the World began its third season in B.C., with five teams competing in an Amazing Race-style journey to get to St. John's, N.L.

The first episode saw competitors dropped in Vancouver's Stanley Park and told to head to Tlell — a community on the archipelago of Haida Gwaii off B.C.'s North Coast, around 800 kilometres to the northwest — without any access to phones, airplanes, or car rentals.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...world-1.6804863

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 April 2023 - 11:50 AM.

[Mike K.]

Did anybody mention BC is 4x the size of the UK, with 1/12th of the population?

That might explain the transit woes keeping the BBC up.

[GaryOak]

Then how do you explain us having a much better bus service only a few decades ago that connected almost every town daily. And guess what our population was even smaller back then. It's not that it's impossible it's just that we haven't been finding it like we used to.

[Mike K.]

Cars became cheaper to own and the road network improved.

It’s all a numbers (ridership) game. There’d be those buses if people rode them, and density helps in that regard, in 2023. But there’s no reason for density on northern Vancouver Island, like there’s need for density in the UK.

That’s why progressives are trying to impede roads for cars, to force people into an option that is far, far less convenient and desirable, to then claim mode share victories.

[GaryOak]

I just find it sad that we as a society have raised the middle finger to those who can't afford a car or can't drive. I hope your offering hitchhikers rides since you don't seem to want to subsidize intercity buses.

[Mike K.]

Here’s a quick lesson in consequences.

When a government moves to sunset or inhibit the primary industry on which a remote town was once dependent on, people will leave, and/or demand on travel options to and from that town will erode as the population declines and business moves elsewhere.

That’s why nobody’s riding a bus to Gold River today, or to
Port Hardy. There’s no demand for that service, even when heavily subsidized just to keep the lights on (even government has limits).

And don’t get so worried about people who don’t have a car. They can spend some extra cash on their trip to a remote town, by not having spent a bunch of cash on a car, insurance, gas, maintenance, etc.

[GaryOak]

How many services have you and/or do you rely on that if the government decided to stop funding would you life would be far more difficult and expensive? I know it sounds all hippie dippie but I do want to live in a more compassionate world.

[Victoria Watcher]

How many services have you and/or do you rely on that if the government decided to stop funding would you life would be far more difficult and expensive? .

Almost none. Rent food and car is the biggest payment for everyone. Yes the government maintains the roads.