10057 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Once government gets involved.

[mbjj]

I wonder up to what age this goes? I remember the walk to and from school was our social time. I didn't want adults muscling in on it! 

[LJ]

I walked to school from grade 1 thru 12, that's something that should come pretty naturally, surely to god you don't need the government to show you how to walk to school.

[Victoria Watcher]

I walked to school from grade 1 thru 12, that's something that should come pretty naturally, surely to god you don't need the government to show you how to walk to school.

 

You'd think so.   But we also now apparently need the government to feed our kids.  Not just on school days, but weekends too.

 

 

 

Wait list continues to grow for B.C. program that provides food for kids on weekends

 

The wait list for Backpack Buddies’ services is now estimated to be about 2,000 children, with about half the schools waiting to join on Vancouver Island

 

https://www.timescol...ekends-10566930

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 May 2025 - 07:46 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

United Way aims to fill transit bus with menstrual products for those in need

 

 

https://www.timescol...n-need-10701649

 

 

That sound fine, but what route should we take to find that bus and the free supply?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 May 2025 - 08:51 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Cyclists ride free on buses during Greater Victoria GoByBike Week

Nearly 1,500 riders on 600 teams are registered for GoByBike Week

https://www.vicnews....ke-week-8019138



This is not wise. Buses can only take 2 bikes. Why bump a paying rider and perhaps regular user?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 May 2025 - 10:48 AM.

[LJ]

If you are going by bike, what is the point of getting on a bus? That would be go by bus week.

[Victoria Watcher]

Major construction has begun on the Trans-Canada Highway bus-on-shoulder project, which is intended to improve transit connections between downtown Victoria and the West Shore.

 

The project is expected to be completed in the late fall of 2027.

 

The new bus lanes will extend from the McKenzie interchange to the Colwood interchange — a distance of 3.7 kilometres — and are expected to reduce travel time via bus by about 20 per cent, saving commuters up to five minutes.

 

Existing bus lanes between downtown Victoria and Tillicum Road have already save bus commuters 20 minutes, says the Transportation Ministry, which reminded drivers to follow posted speed limits during construction.

 

The Burnside Road on-ramp and the Helmcken Road overpass will close overnight — between 8 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. — as needed during the project, the ministry said, while the Galloping Goose Trail could see closures of up to 15 minutes between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ighway-10722582

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 May 2025 - 05:40 PM.

[Mike K.]

The bus schedules do not show that 20 savings. I dunno.

But there must be savings if some kind?

[Victoria Watcher]

‘We need transportation’: Remote towns disconnected by Cowichan transit strike

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...strike-1257840/

 

 

The job action between unionized workers and the France-based company contracted to provide bus service in the Cowichan Valley, TransDev Canada, is about to enter its fourth month and it has left many people in remote communities stranded or scrambling to find rides. 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 May 2025 - 02:29 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Police say a four-year-old boy is dead and his mother is in critical condition after they were pinned under a bus in West Vancouver, B.C.

 

West Vancouver Police say a second woman, believed to be a family friend, is in a stable condition after the Wednesday afternoon tragedy at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.

 

Police say the boy was pronounced dead at the scene and his mother and her friend were transported to Lions Gate Hospital.

 

TransLink confirms one of its buses and a driver were involved in the incident and says it's supporting the West Vancouver Police Department, which is leading the investigation.

 

Police say the driver is co-operating fully with investigators and is being interviewed by police.

 

They say the bus has been seized for mechanical inspection.

 

"While the investigation is still in its early stages, preliminary findings suggest that speed was not a contributing factor," police said in a statement.

 

"The West Vancouver Police Department is working in collaboration with the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service and the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch to determine the full circumstances surrounding this tragic event."

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...rminal-10729477

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 May 2025 - 03:52 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

One might wonder, if Cowichan has gone without transit for 4 months, if they even need it.

[Mike K.]

Just hand out taxi vouchers and uber coupons. That’ll be far cheaper than operating a transit system.

[Victoria Watcher]

Just hand out taxi vouchers and uber coupons. That’ll be far cheaper than operating a transit system.

 

In 2017, the (40,000-population) town in Ontario, Canada, embarked on an ambitious – and, to its critics, fraught – experiment. It handed responsibility for public transit to the ride-sharing app Uber.

 

 

https://www.theguard...ansit-with-uber

 

 

 

30 discounted trips per month limit.  Has been working fine for 8 years.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 May 2025 - 04:20 AM.

[Mike K.]

It looks like even 30 was too much. It’s now down to 15, likely related to shifts to WFH.

[Victoria Watcher]

Same scale:

 

 

 

 

 

So Innisful looked at 3 transit routes, would cost $1M.

 

Seems to me the Uber is a better service.  The only ones complaining in the article are "transit buffs", not the service users.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 May 2025 - 04:43 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The provincial government is urging both parties in the almost four-month-long Cowichan Valley transit dispute to hammer out a deal at the bargaining table.

In a statement sent to the Times Colonist, Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside said she is strongly encouraging both sides to work with some urgency to resolve the dispute so transit services can be restored as soon as possible.

“The situation has been especially difficult for people living in the Cowichan Valley who rely on public transit,” Whiteside said. “We know that the best agreements are found at the table, and we will do what we can to support the parties in that regard.”

If the parties can’t resolve the dispute on their own, Whiteside said, the province is “looking at additional tools” to help resolve it.


[…]


The current rate for an operator in Duncan is $31.24 an hour, while in Victoria, it’s $37.96.



[…]


McGarrigle said the reason there has been no movement on the wage-gap issue is likely down to the fact there is no pressure on Transdev. “They’re not accountable to the public,” he said.

He noted the body that is accountable — B.C. Transit — puts out statements saying how sorry they are about the lack of service, yet they are the ones that negotiated the Transdev contract and provided the equipment.


https://www.timescol...strike-10733284




I presume Transdev won the contract based on paying X for wages, not sure how they would have lots of wiggle room under their current contract with BCT.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 May 2025 - 02:54 AM.

[Mike K.]

BCT wages are not necessarily $37.96 in Victoria. There are stepped up wages over time. That may be the maximum wage. I’ll check for us.