9628 replies to this topic

[nagel]

Right, the connection to Victoria is pretty good. But residents in Sooke have little means to actually get to the main line unless they drive.

Gosh golly our fractured municipal state makes angry old men out of us.

I don't understand what you expect for those out in Sooke.  I have very little sympathy, if you choose to live all the way out there and commute in.  If you made that decision and were ok with the 90 minute bus trips, good on you.  If you made it expecting an LRT to Sooke in 3 years, or even buses every 15 minutes, expecting someone else to pay for that, I've got some pretty nice dreams too.

[jonny]

Right, the connection to Victoria is pretty good. But residents in Sooke have little means to actually get to the main line unless they drive.

Gosh golly our fractured municipal state makes angry old men out of us.

 

But the way BC Transit funding works is that if Sooke wanted better bus service they could pay BC Transit to run more service in Sooke. BC Transit is simply the contracted service provider. They will do whatever the municipalities pay them to do. 

[Mike K.]

Jeepers. There are more people living in Sooke than in View Royal and by the next census it’ll eclipse Esquimalt and Oak Bay. It’s not just a podunk little hick town in the middle of nowhere.

A community of 13,000 people should have access to more than a single reasonably frequent bus route. It currently has the worst transit services on the south Island and that’s not ok.

[Coreyburger]

But the way BC Transit funding works is that if Sooke wanted better bus service they could pay BC Transit to run more service in Sooke. BC Transit is simply the contracted service provider. They will do whatever the municipalities pay them to do. 

 

Uhh, no. That isn't how it works. BC Transit both operates and plans the buses here in the region. Their taxes are completely independent of the munis (who do collect it on their behalf, but that is all they do). The commission decides on taxation levels, very much similar to the CRD or the GVPL - legally separate boards that share some members.

[nagel]

It's not like all bus routes are made equal.  That dude in VR is probably on the bus for 20 minutes, but the Sooke bus trip is 90 minutes, at the same rate.  So my impression is this is just another notch in the sprawl subsidy bedpost.

[jonny]

Uhh, no. That isn't how it works. BC Transit both operates and plans the buses here in the region. Their taxes are completely independent of the munis (who do collect it on their behalf, but that is all they do). The commission decides on taxation levels, very much similar to the CRD or the GVPL - legally separate boards that share some members.

 

So you're telling me that Sooke has no say? Why would Sooke sign-up for that?

[jonny]

It’s not just a podunk little hick town in the middle of nowhere.

You haven't been to Sooke, have you?

[Coreyburger]

So you're telling me that Sooke has no say? Why would Sooke sign-up for that?

 

Because they have no choice. The commission model is specified in the legislation. Partly why there are no other regional commissions anywhere else in the province - they are too much of a headache

 

https://bctransit.co...nsit-commission

[Mike K.]

You haven't been to Sooke, have you?

It’s a small residential suburb. What’s it supposed to be? Richmond? It’s no Port Moody, I’ll give it that, but it’s also more of a town than North Saanich is, or Metchosin, or Highlands.

[VicHockeyFan]

But as the town furthest away from Victoria does it deserve $2.50 one way fares?

[Mike K.]

It's not like all bus routes are made equal. That dude in VR is probably on the bus for 20 minutes, but the Sooke bus trip is 90 minutes, at the same rate. So my impression is this is just another notch in the sprawl subsidy bedpost.

BC Transit used to charge a higher fare for Sooke riders but decided to forego zones. I agree that longer routes should cost riders more but for some reason BCT does not.

[Mike K.]

But as the town furthest away from Victoria does it deserve $2.50 one way fares?

No! But that has nothing to do with Sooke.

The distance traveled is nearly identical to routes from North Saanich and Sidney which also charge riders $2.50. I think we can all agree that BCT should not have lowered fares for such long routes but they did.

[nagel]

Well that depends on the cost of administering two zones over the cost of the subsidy.  My thoughts were more on the line of maybe you only get one sporadic bus route because it's so far away, vis a vis your contribution, whereas in VR they get far more service a) because more routes go through it incidentally, b) the routes are shorter, c) more riders, etc.

[Mike K.]

It’s all politics. The 1 and 2 routes run empty all day long but the thought of cutting service to a wealthy area of Victoria is a non starter.

[Cats4Hire]

It's not like all bus routes are made equal.  That dude in VR is probably on the bus for 20 minutes, but the Sooke bus trip is 90 minutes, at the same rate.  So my impression is this is just another notch in the sprawl subsidy bedpost.

Once again we weren't talking about the 61. The original conversation was getting around Sooke (which included connecting to the 61 but not going to Langford/Colwood/Victoria/etc.). For example my sister and her friends wanted to go to Sooke Potholes this summer but the day they decided on none of their parents could drive (they're too young to have Ns) so they had to bus. They were planning on going from Uptown to the Potholes and looked up the bus schedule. Now this gives no results for some reason but look at where Westbound Sooke at Lazzar is and how far they'd have to walk down Sooke River road. They determined with the amount of time it would take walking there and back (for when they needed to get home) it wasn't worth it and went to Gyro or Willows or something. 

 

Why is there no commuter bus going down Sooke river road in the summer? I've been there a few times and it's pretty busy. 

[Cats4Hire]

It’s all politics. The 1 and 2 routes run empty all day long but the thought of cutting service to a wealthy area of Victoria is a non starter.

Isn't the 1 only a peak hours bus and 2 is about to be expanded to James Bay (and I think they mentioned increasing the amount of buses at any given time)

[LJ]

I don't want to subsidize people living in Sooke commuting into Victoria. Sorry. 

How about subsidizing people who live on small islands demanding more ferry service?

[Matt R.]

And our bus service on salt spring (10,000-30,000 pop) sucks too!

Matt.

[Cats4Hire]

Is the 8 becoming peak hours only? I was reading the bulletin about the service changes and see

 

Route 21 interlines with Route 7 in downtown. Midday service on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays are increased to account for Route 8 no longer serving Camosun College.

https://bctransit.co...s/1403648890979

 

They don't have schedules listed for the 8 so I can't tell but that will be annoying. I'd sometimes take that from Lansdowne if the buses coming from UVic were all full/busy or if I needed to get to Interurban and the Campus bus wasn't going to get me there at a good time.

 

Actually now that I think about it they could be just terminating it at Tillicum Mall outside peak hours. Seems weird though. Also the 22N seems to be changing to the 21N which makes more sense as it was basically a 21 when it left from Camosun. Judging by the timing point stops listed it will be both directions which is a little weird.

Edited by Cats4Hire, 07 December 2017 - 01:16 PM.

[Cats4Hire]

ok I just Emailed BC Transit. It seems the only change to the 8 will be Saturday it now terminates at Tillicum Mall and it should be 35-40 minute service during miday on weekdays.