Kamloops council has approved this year’s service agreement with BC Transit, but not without certain issues.
Councillor Sadie Hunter took issue with transit service for people with mobility issues. She says it’s been a work in progress for two years and calls it “ridiculous” that transit is lacking for that demographic.
The city uses HandyDart and specialized taxis, called taxi savers, for people with accessibility issues.
Hunter says the city has two taxi-savers but neither are currently running. She says one is out of service for repairs, and that BC Transit is unable to find willing and qualified drivers for the other vehicle that’s available.
A city staff report says demand is low for those services, and says spending to expand the service is being postponed indefinitely because of a lack of demand. But Hunter says staff recently said those services were over-subscribed before the pandemic.
“This impacts people’s lives from day to day and we just continue to offer the service to them and expand the service in a way that’s just not even feasible or viable.”
City manager David Trawin says BC Transit pays for the majority of bus service in Kamloops, and that the Crown corporation is gathering information on usage.
“There was direction to look at HandyDart, and getting more HandyDart on that. The problem is, the province has to agree on that also, because they are the bigger funder. And we’re in the process of trying to get that information, or that we can convince the province that they need to provide funding for that.”
Kamloops council will also be asking city staff to see if the city can create its own taxi commission. That’s after a motion was tabled by councillor Bill Sarai, who says that could give the city more authority with specialized bus service.
The issue came up as council was asked to approve the annual operating agreement between the city and BC Transit. Council voted 7-2 to approve the annual plan, with councillors Hunter and Dale Bass opposed.
“At the risk of rocking the boat, this report was brought forward identifying that it aligns with our goal of inclusivity, diversity and accessibility in the community. And with all good conscience, I can’t support the contract because it just doesn’t,” Hunter says.
Some highlights of the annual operating plan will include the city adding two new full-sized busses in January of 2022, and 2,900 additional hours of service compared to service. That means busses will operate on city streets for 122,600 hours this fiscal year.
Between conventional, community and custom transit, bus service in Kamloops will cost $19.6 million for this fiscal year. Most of the cost is covered by BC Transit, while the city will pay just over $6.9 million.
