Three 18-seat buses are making their way from northern Alberta to form the backbone of West Vancouver Island’s first public transit system between Tofino and Ucluelet.
The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District’s public transit system servicing Tofino, Ucluelet and nearby First Nation communities will begin service on April 2.
The district has contracted Pacific Western Transportation to provide seven round trips between Tofino and Ucluelet on weekdays and four round trips on weekends, with some of those buses making an additional stop at Hitacu’s community centre in Ucluelet First Nation.
Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Chair John Jack said the district is excited to introduce West Coast Transit to those living in the area.
“For too long, reliable public transit has been a challenge,” he said in a statement. “This service will fill that void and we look forward to connecting the West Coast.”
Regional district operations manager Eddie Kunderman said the transit service has been many years in the making.
The District of Tofino approached B.C. Transit with the idea as far back as 2009, he said.
Service was originally meant to be provided by B.C. Transit, which conducted a feasibility study for a transit system in the region in 2017.
But after several delays — some of those delays pandemic-related — and receiving notice that provincial funding would not be available in 2023, the regional district decided to forge on ahead with the service.
Anticipated to cost around $670,000 annually, the service is being funded with the help of Tofino, Ucluelet, Toquaht Nation and Ucluelet First Nation.
Tofino Mayor Dan Law said while Tofino has had a free local shuttle service for some years, the routes don’t extend far beyond the municipality and is only a seasonal service, funded by tourism dollars through the Resort Municipality Initiative and pay parking revenue.
Law said that local governments lobbied hard to get free trips for students and children under 12. “That’s going to be a tremendous boost to our region’s teen population.”
Kunderman said that many in the region who don’t drive currently resort to hitchhiking or paying $20 to a driver for a one-time ride.
“We really wanted to work to get something going and starting as soon as we could,” he said. “Whether that’s health-care, whether it’s education, the ability to provide and to access any services in the region has been a challenge without a public transportation system.”
Along with stops in Tofino and Ucluelet, the route services the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation communities of Ty-Histanis and Esowista near Long Beach Airport.
Contract operator Pacific Western Transportation is shifting some of its light duty buses from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. to Tofino’s Long Beach Airport, where space has been leased for a temporary bus depot for the newly created transit system, Kunderman said.
The fare for a single ride on West Coast Transit will be $5.50 and a day pass $10, a price that Kunderman characterized as “on the low-end” when compared with other regional transit services in the province.
Fares are cashless and use the San Fransisco-developed Token Transit mobile app for payment, but 10-pass paper booklets can be purchased at the Tofino and Ucluelet Co-Op stores for $50.
A monthly digital pass on the app costs $100.
Kunderman said the goal is to hand the service over to B.C. Transit. The Crown corporation has yet to commit to taking over operations.
“Decisions on which transit systems will be approved for expansions will be made in the coming weeks,” B.C. Transit said in a statement.
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