9623 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

June, 1979.

[vortoozo]

You guys keep saying that Sooke bus rides will have to pay more. When in reality most people either get a $5 day pass or a month pass. Very few people only go one way most people take at least 2 buses in one day, unless they are lucky enough to have a ride back home or into town.

 

Correct, this will impact relatively few people on the fare side.

[Ismo07]

You guys keep saying that Sooke bus rides will have to pay more. When in reality most people either get a $5 day pass or a month pass. Very few people only go one way most people take at least 2 buses in one day, unless they are lucky enough to have a ride back home or into town.

 

 

Sooke riders can still pay the $5 day pass?  Absurd...  Then the few can transfer to "downtown Langford" which is like a 10 minute walk... 

[Mike K.]

Oh it's just the way the complaints were going I thought Transit eliminated all Sooke to Downtown, but it's only mid-day and night time.  So it affects even less people and Sooke gets more buses.  Got it.

 

It's 7:40AM to midnight, not mid-day and night time. There are no direct buses into downtown Victoria, nor into downtown Langford on Goldstream, after 7:40AM.

[Mike K.]

When was the last time you guys even took the bus because it sounds like you're making a lot of assumptions that don't match up with reality.

 

It's easy to say that when it doesn't impact you.

 

But imagine, that your downtown Victoria bus, dropped you off at Hillside and Douglas. Would you find that helpful, if you were headed to Douglas and Pandora, and only one bus serviced that connection? Probably not, you'd ask why they can't just connect downtown-proper.

 

It's the same scenario for Sooke residents now. They have lost direct access to downtown Langford on Goldstream, and downtown Victoria.

[Ismo07]

It's easy to say that when it doesn't impact you.

 

But imagine, that your downtown Victoria bus, dropped you off at Hillside and Douglas. Would you find that helpful, if you were headed to Douglas and Pandora, and only one bus serviced that connection? Probably not, you'd ask why they can't just connect downtown-proper.

 

It's the same scenario for Sooke residents now. They have lost direct access to downtown Langford on Goldstream, and downtown Victoria.

 

It's 7:40AM to midnight, not mid-day and night time. There are no direct buses into downtown Victoria, nor into downtown Langford on Goldstream, after 7:40AM.

 

But there are more buses and you can use the $5 day pass to continue and just walk on to another bus.  We are in circles here.  This started that it was affecting everyone and it was going to cost more.  Now Sooke residents have to do what many other Westshore residents do already.  Take 2 buses to get to town and home.  You make direct access sound like they can't get downtown by getting off one bus and getting on another.  I get it you don't like it but that is what is happening...  For many other the service will improve, include Sooke folks who get more buses.

Edited by Ismo07, 29 March 2023 - 11:50 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

 

 

 

 

 

 

So those are population heat maps, all the same scale.  Sooke seems left out.

[Mike K.]

But there are more buses and you can use the $5 day pass to continue and just walk on to another bus. We are in circles here. This started that it was affecting everyone and it was going to cost more. Now Sooke residents have to do what many other Westshore residents do already. Take 2 buses to get to town and home. You make direct access sound like they can't get downtown by getting off one bus and getting on another. I get it you don't like it but that is what is happening... For many other the service will improve, include Sooke folks who get more buses.

Apples to oranges. A small neighbourhood of 1,000 people served by one bus, is not equivalent to a catchment of 20,000 served by one bus. Surely we can appreciate the difference here, right? It’s not the same as a bus connecting Royal Bay, or Bear Mountain.

On weekends there is no direct service now, at all, right? I think that’s been wiped out.

I mean, per capita Sooke pays the highest transit taxes and receives the lowest transit services in the developed areas of the CRD, no? And there is no transit-served community in BC, currently, with less transit services than Sooke. That’s BC Transit’s own statement.

[Ismo07]

Apples to oranges. A small neighbourhood of 1,000 people served by one bus, is not equivalent to a catchment of 20,000 served by one bus. Surely we can appreciate the difference here, right? It’s not the same as a bus connecting Royal Bay, or Bear Mountain.

On weekends there is no direct service now, at all, right? I think that’s been wiped out.

I mean, per capita Sooke pays the highest transit taxes and receives the lowest transit services in the developed areas of the CRD, no? And there is no transit-served community in BC, currently, with less transit services than Sooke. That’s BC Transit’s own statement.

 

It more than one small area for more than 1,000 people when you combine it all.  All I'm saying is there are a lot of people in the region who do not have direct access all the time.  Sooke still has it for the majority of there people.  No point having a double decker leave Sooke and end up in Langford with 10 people on it.  That's a terrible business model.  

 

Sooke shouldn't have direct service on weekends.  There is no need.  Getting off one bus on to another isn't a hardship.. Thousands do it daily...  Add another couple hundred it's fine.  Sooke should be paying more per capita for a service that costs most to operate.  It's the lowest developed area of all the developed areas.  The lower the development the lower the service.  Sorry..  It's also hella far compared to other areas in the CRD...  Y'all don't pay enough...  Let's stop saying 20,000 though, how many folks take the bus daily from out there.  Have we got those numbers of people who get on before 17 Mile say?  I'm sorry Mike, all things just are not equal.

 

Can we give this 6-9 months and see if ridership drops do to the worse service?

 

Can you show where you got the per capita amount for Sooke and other municipalities?

Edited by Ismo07, 29 March 2023 - 02:20 PM.

[Mike K.]

I'm sorry Ismo, I've gone as far as I can on this topic with you.

[Ismo07]

I'm sorry Ismo, I've gone as far as I can on this topic with you.

 

Always quit... It's just helpful when you make statements like that that you can show it too...  I don't disbelieve, just curious.  I know the mill rate in Victoria is higher for transit so was curious how that all worked out.

[Victoria Watcher]

Even Ukrainians living in Sooke thinks transit sucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Sidney-based car club is putting out a call for donations as they aim to help purchase at least one used car for an East Sooke organization supporting Ukrainian families fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war in their home country.

 

The Torque Masters Car Club is raising funds on behalf of the Ukrainian Safe Haven with the original goal of raising $3,000, with the club matching individual donations up to $1,500 in order to purchase one reliable used car, but as of March 28 that goal had already been reached.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....ns-fleeing-war/

 

 

Smith said the safe haven already has a vehicle, but with everyday shopping and appointments, and with many of the residents needing to commute to language classes throughout Greater Victoria, more are needed.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 March 2023 - 04:33 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Translink:


It is hoped this will stem any potential layoffs and potential route cuts as ridership continues to creep back up to pre-pandemic levels.

Ridership is about 82 per cent of pre-pandemic levels but revenue collection accounts for about 75 per cent.

https://globalnews.c...government/amp/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 March 2023 - 05:34 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

She notes the way most routes send people downtown and then splay out to various destinations throughout Saanich and the Peninsula doesn’t seem logical post-pandemic.

“Most people don’t go downtown, COVID killed downtown … We closed the office downtown and all the businesses that can work from home now do. Nobody works downtown anymore. The demand for every single bus in the entire fleet to be servicing downtown is just not logical anymore.”

Tanya Mitchell commutes downtown from Langford for her job at a medical clinic. Both the stops she uses to get on and off are being discontinued with the switch from Route 50 to 95, meaning she’ll have to travel further on foot. For her, it’s not a massive impact, but she worries about people with accessibility issues struggling.

“It feels like the West Shore gets forgotten about.”


https://www.vicnews....ransit-changes/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 April 2023 - 07:01 AM.

[Mike K.]

It's the old LRT plan, but with buses. Their plan to boost LRT ridership and justify the expense was to have virtually all bus routes connecting to the main LRT line, forcing transit riders to switch over, and creating the impression of higher ridership.

 

Closing off those stops for the 95 is so, so not necessary.

[Victoria Watcher]

Planners gonna plan though, even in light of 20% ridership loss.

[GaryOak]

Their just coping the same hub and spoke model used in many other cities just with BRT. For instance in Vancouver you can't take a bus directly downtown from the ferries, you need to transfer on to the SkyTrain at Bridgeport, but the SkyTrain comes so frequently that you don't even think twice about it. So by using this model of BRT with dedicated bus lanes and priority signaling that allows the buses to not be stuck in traffic along specific corridors you often see higher ridership in total.

[Victoria Watcher]

Not sure BCT even releases ridership numbers for Victoria. At least not since 2020.

[Victoria Watcher]

A man has been arrested after a series of alleged assaults and an attempted knife-slashing after a SkyTrain ride early on Sunday morning.

According to Metro Vancouver Transit Police, the suspect was assaulting passengers without cause while riding a Millennium Line train in Burnaby, B.C. just after midnight.

He was intercepted by police at Lougheed Station, but when officers tried to speak with him, he allegedly hit one of them in the face and fled toward Lougheed Highway and Austin Avenue.

 

https://globalnews.c...ource=@globalbc