Bus service to Kelowna now up to public

It’s now up to the public to decide if it wants daily bus service from Penticton to Kelowna.

At its meeting Thursday, the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen voted unanimously to begin the alternative approval process to obtain public assent for the new service.

“This link will be key to get people from Penticton to Kelowna hospital and the college,” said board chairwoman Karla Kozakevich, who is also the RDOS director for Naramata.

The RDOS has been working on expanding transit service for the entire area from Coalmont to Osoyoos, and originally estimated the Penticton-Kelowna buses would roll in September 2019.

But with Greyhound pulling out of Western Canada this Oct. 31, and the growing need to get people to Kelowna, the RDOS has accelerated the tentative timeline for its buses to as early as next spring.

The service from Penticton is planned to begin with two round trips each weekday — one in the morning and one in the afternoon — and would tie in to existing routes.

If approved, the new bus service would cost the average household between $1.33 and $4.11, depending on community of residence.

With the board giving approval to go forward, staff will now begin to host public information meetings. The deadline to respond to the AAP is Aug. 31.

If 10 per cent of the 65,160 eligible voters register disapproval, the RDOS will be forced to hold a full referendum or scrap the plan.

“BC Transit needs us to decide by Sept. 9 so they can budget for this, so we did speed up the process,” Kozakevich added.

Some directors wondered if Summerland residents would be picked up heading north or would have to go to Penticton first, to which RDOS legislative manager Christy Malden replied there had been talk of a number of stops along the route.