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Starting on July 2nd, transit should be a bit more accessible here in Chilliwack. Council approved the 2012 expansion plan yesterday. It includes another bus in the fleet, a new bus exchange, increased frequency of service, and 4 major routes that should allow most people in the city to access in 10 minutes or less. Councillor Jason Lum says this is good news for the community.
“I think with increased frequency, more people are going to be able to use this. I look forward to riding the buses, and I encourage everybody to get out and take advantage of this because as we build ridership, we can start to move the system along. I think with some regional connectivity, we’re going to really start doing some exciting things.”
Mayor Sharon Gaetz says the only thing not in this plan that was on their wish list is a commuter route to Abbotsford.
“We had quite a few applications from (UFV) students asking if we could start something like that. And I know recently with the kind of cutbacks that there have been from Fraser Health, with regard to people having to access the hospital for dialysis and for rehab beds…I think this is another priority that we’re going to have to address for 2014.”
Transportation Manager Rod Sanderson says he’s had discussions with Abbotsford and BC Transit about connecting the communities, and hopes to have a report with a list of options by the fall.
There will be a Vedder route, an Evans route, a Promontory route, and one that loops downtown. Research found that 70% of the urban population live within a 5 minute walk of one of these and 85% are within 10 minutes away. For those who can’t walk, the taxi-saver program is alive and well in this community. The Vedder run will go every 20 minutes, and the Chilliwack loop every 30. Evans and Promontory will run every hour, and Evans will take people through Eagle Landing. There will also continue to be a Cultus Lake shuttle, as well as routes for Yarrow-Greendale and Agassiz-Harrison.
The new bus exchange will be located at Spadina and Yale Rd, and will require the moving of some parking stalls.
It is also recommended that the fare on the Vedder route remain at $1.50 for the rest of 2012, and then go up to $2.00 in 2013.
You can access the city’s transit page here:
http://www.chilliwack.com/main/page.cfm?id=25
It’s great to see progress being made on the transit system in Chilliwack; ensuring that one can get across town from Downtown to Sardis in a timely manner.
- Desmond DevnichFinally residents will be able to visit Eagle Landing and the exciting development there as well.
I hope with increased bus frequency more Chilliwack residents will choose to use public transit to get to their places of work, school and recreation on a regular basis.