Kamloops City Council is expected to officially ask BC Transit to proceed with a preliminary service review for a new bus route along Ord Road and to the airport this summer.
That request is expected to be made in August, according to Jacob Burnley, the City’s former Transportation Planner, who said there have been several requests for that service from both residents and businesses.
“There is no guarantee that that service would be incorporated into a future action plan but at the very least, it’s important that we look at the options and weigh those options out and see if these are areas that we could, in fact, service directly in the near future,” Burnley said.
Burnley told Council last week that there used to be two separate buses operating in that part of Kamloops – one to the airport and one along Ord Road.
“Airport service was suspended in 2017,” Burnley said. “On Ord Road, the records go back to about 2009 and those areas both have very different make ups now than they did then.”
Efforts to try and re-establish a new bus route along Ord Road are not new, with Kamloops school board trustee Jo Kang circulating an online petition that is calling on the City of Kamloops to “ensure that residents in that part of Kamloops have equitable access to transportation options.”
Two years ago, Kamloops Councillor Bill Sarai also told Radio NL he was hoping to see the new Ord Road bus route established, with service to Kamloops Airport.
In January, Sarai brought up the idea once again after the City approved the rezoning of nearly 300 hectares of land at Fulton Field, saying the bus would help people get to work at the airport.
Speaking Tuesday, Sarai said the Ord Road area has “changed dramatically” with new housing units going in.
“In the next five years it’s going to be a completely different corridor than we see now,” Sarai told Burnley Tuesday. “To have it move up on a list of priorities is great but then it sort of stalls there. It’s almost like the chicken and egg thing again.”
“No one is going to be standing there waiting for a bus that is never going to come, while BC Transit is never going to send a bus when they haven’t told anyone there is going to be service. How do we get around that?”
Burnley suggested that people get in touch with the City’s Transportation Department – who are in regular contact with BC Transit officials – to ask for that bus service. He also said transit users can take their concerns directly to BC Transit.
“If you report it through the website it goes to the depot, it goes to BC Transit, and it goes to the city all in one email, and then we can assign those and delegate those,” Burnley said. “Like I said, we will be planning to come back to council end of the summer to formally proceed with a service review.”
At this time, it is not clear when that service review may take place, though the new bus route on Ord Road has been identified as a longer-range expansion item on the City’s transit plan.
“The petition is not the first thing that has come forth with this. There has been community requests prior,” Burnley added. “There seems to be a base there that’s positive, so I think the city would have the basis to go forth with a study.”
Editors note – Jacob Burnley left his job as the City’s Transportation Planner effective May 31, 2024. The City is currently in the process of hiring his replacement.
