Kamloops Councillor Bill Sarai is hoping to see a new bus route in the Ord Road area, which he says would be beneficial given the new residential and industrial developments in that part of the City.
“You’ve got hundreds and hundreds of new developments and new modulars going on there and light industrial, but the bigger piece we’re missing out there is the airport,” Sarai said at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“They are going to be expanding and they need to know if there is going to be transit out there or is it in the future plan?”
Sarai says he thinks having a bus go down Ord Road to the airport and back down Tranquille Road would be a good idea, as the closest bus stop to YKA is over two kilometres away at Crestline and Tranquille.
“I’ve heard from the manager of the airport that he actually picks up employees of the forestry department out there or the cargo places and gives them a ride. There used to be a bus service to the airport twice a day, and now there is nothing, and the stop isn’t even anywhere close,” he added.
“A lot of people don’t take the bus to the airport, that’s a given, but a lot of workers need to get transit to get to work. Parking is at a premium and if do get it, it costs a lot.”
The City’s Transportation Planner, Jacob Burnley, says that bus route to Kamloops Airport was cut “in 2016 or 2017” because of a lack of riders at the time.
He told NL News that BC Transit is looking at options to potentially bring that bus service back in the future.
“It is a long process. There are feasibility studies that need to take place and it also hinges on adequate funds from the budget that we are provided for service expansion,” Burnley said. “We have heard some questions and some concerns from riders and that is something that we are keen to explore going forward.”
“It seems like a simple process and we would love to have that service start tomorrow but of course with the service hour allocation that we have, we have a specific amount of funds and specific amount of time that is allocated to transit and so if we add the service one place, we have to take it away from somewhere else.”
Burnley also told council that BC Transit has noted that airport service for travellers can be difficult, especially when it comes to lining up bus and flight schedules.
“When we’re talking about airport workers, that is certainly something to be considered and something that can be explored going forward in the agenda for planning between the city and BC Transit,” he said on Tuesday.
Seth Wright, BC Transit’s Manager of Government Relations, also told Council that Ord Road has already been identified as “an area to monitor for growth and future service level increase.”
