Gas-tax boost urged for rapid bus service
Transit wants to beef up West Shore runs as part of McKenzie interchange solution
A rapid bus service between downtown and the West Shore, paid for with a higher gasoline tax, needs to be part of discussions about construction of an interchange at McKenzie Avenue and the Trans-Canada Highway, says Susan Brice, chairwoman of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.
The commission is pushing for a two-cent per litre hike in the transit tax for gasoline, raising it to 5.5 cents from 3.5 cents.
It has asked Transportation Minister Todd Stone for the increase, and he has forwarded the request to the Finance Ministry for consideration in the next provincial budget, Brice said.
How much the two cents per litre raises will depend on how much gasoline is sold, but transit officials are projecting about $6.8 million annually. Brice said the projection is conservative and takes into account energyefficient vehicles that need less gasoline.
The existing transit tax raised about $12 million in the most recent fiscal year.
Additional money from a higher gasoline tax would be spent on a rapid bus system between downtown and the West Shore that features highfrequency service and bus-only lanes.
“We see rapid bus as a logical immediate goal,” Brice said. “Eliminating gridlock for buses means more riders travel faster. When buses are stuck in gridlock, then more buses are needed to merely maintain the status quo.”
The transit commission has not taken a position on any of the options being proposed for the McKenzie interchange, aimed at improving driving times to the West Shore and upIsland.
The Transportation Ministry released three McKenzie interchange design options last month and invited public comment.
“Transit is a critical part of the solution,” Brice said. “There is no way to simply build ourselves out of congestion. There are multiple factors contributing to congestion, and unless there is a comprehensive solution, we run the risk of just moving the problem along.”
In the short term, construction of the interchange by the end of 2018 will allow B.C. Transit to capitalize on $1.9 million in investments already made in bus priority lanes on Douglas Street, Brice said. Almost 40 per cent of people travelling on Douglas during peak periods are riding buses, she said.
Building the Douglas Street bus priority lanes was based on a vision of a transit system connecting downtown with the West Shore, she said. “We are confident that drivers stuck in traffic will see the buses moving efficiently throughout the region and may choose to use public transit as their preferred option.”
Municipalities fund 68 per cent of the cost of the bus priority lanes on Douglas; the province funds the rest.
It will cost $1.5 million to $2 million to construct the southbound phase of the corridor, completing priority lanes to Tolmie Avenue, Brice said.
On the McKenzie interchange, bus priority would be made possible by road shoulders at ramp intersections instead of so-called high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
B.C. Transit buses are already travelling on shoulders in Kelowna to get around congestion, and it “seems to work well,” Brice said. Buses on Highway 99 in Vancouver also travel on shoulders. The shoulders are for exclusive public transit use 24 hours a day, helping buses to stay on schedule.
The province said that “attractive and fully accessible pedestrian connections to comfortable bus stops with shelters will be provided” as part of public transit integration into the McKenzie interchange project.
The province covered about 35 per cent of B.C. Transit’s 2014-15 Greater Victoria budget of $120.5 million. The remainder was funded by fares, advertising, property taxes, and the gasoline tax.