West Kootenay Transit users and advocates gathered for the “I Need a Bus To…” rally in Nelson on Friday, June 7, to highlight the urgent need for improved public transit services in rural communities.
The rally was put on by the West Kootenay Transit Action Network, with mostly seniors picketing along Highway 3, south of the Baker Street Intersection.
Winlaw’s Deborah Spittler was on the front line picketing at Friday’s event, advocating for her son who doesn’t drive and whom she hasn’t seen in months because of the limited transit options in the region.
“My son doesn’t drive and he can’t come visit me because of that.” said Spittler.
“For me to bring my son here during the holidays, the only bus service there is is a tiny little bus that must be booked months ahead.”
“We drive four times to Kelowna if we want our son to come and have Christmas with us, it’s a lot.”
Spittler wants to see the development of a national transit service, or a train service, to ensure West Kootenay residents have accessible access to critical resources safely and sustainably.
“It’s really time to act together. We really need a national bus service that’s overseen by government for safety reasons, or better yet, let’s get some trains going here. You want to promote tourism for our area? Then we really need to accommodate getting them around to see just how beautiful it really is here.” said Spittler.
West Kootenay Transit Action Network member and Rally Coordinator, Keith Wiley, said his organization is asking for more investments in the transit system from all levels of government and the development of an intercity bus system to connect rural communities with metropolitan areas.
According to Wiley, Mark Lee, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, was contracted by the BC Federation of Labour to conduct a feasibility study on expanding buses in the province.
Wiley said Lee provided a quote of about $1 billion to develop a full-scale network of buses in BC and enhance local bus services.
“It’s not a small item, but he said the only thing more expensive than that is to keep doing transportation the way we do now. We don’t realize it, but we have a very expensive transportation system except most of us are paying it out of our own pockets.”
With a provincial election looming, Wiley wants community members to ask politicians what their plan is for an expanded bus service in the province, specifically in rural communities.
“Lower Mainland communities have world-class transit services, but across BC services are limited,” he said.
“I insist that the politicians have a plan and that it’s a bold and big plan. If they tell you they’re going to study busing some more, tell them we don’t want any more studies. We know we need buses. They need a plan to build and greatly increase our public transit system.”
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