Councillor suggests free transit between Penticton, Summerland
Summerland councillors are on board with exploring the idea of offering free transit service to Penticton.
“When we talk about affordability — and that’s an issue in this province — it’s not just housing, it’s also transportation,” said Coun. Doug Holmes, who raised the issue at Monday’s regular meeting.
“And, increasingly, people in Summerland need to go to Penticton for essential services, including things like health care.”
Holmes’ motion to have staff discuss free service with BC Transit received unanimous support from council, which also approved the 2022-23 operating agreement between the district and Crown corporation.
The district operates just a single route, No. 30, which offers five daily round trips between the communities from Monday through Saturday, with no service on Sundays.
The total cost to operate the service is forecast at $483,000 for the fiscal year that began April 1. Summerland’s contribution is pegged at $189,000 and fares are expected to generate another $27,000, leaving BC Transit on the hook for the remaining $267,000.
David Svetlichny, the district’s finance director, said Summerland could “in theory” make the service free by offering to cover the foregone fare revenue, but cautioned there could be other roadblocks, such as figuring out what to do about riders who hop on at stops in Penticton.
“For the cost of $27,000 – we’re spending half that much on netting for the new dog park – it’s not a lot of money,” said Holmes.
“Every time these (annual operating) agreements come to us, there’s never anything in there about how we increase ridership or what kind of marketing is going to be done or how we promote this service that we’re providing. It just kind of stays stagnant every year,” he continued.
“So, I think we need to do something to promote ridership and to address issues like affordability and our environmental concerns, and I think providing free transit would be a boon — we would see a lot more people riding it.”
Coun. Richard Barkwill was among Holmes’ counterparts who described the idea as “interesting."
“I see it as an experiment almost to see how much ridership goes up if we make it free,” said Barkwill.
“We just don’t know what would happen and I think that’s one reason to do it.”
BC Transit seems open to the idea.
“While BC Transit provides recommendations and advice based on expertise and best practice, decisions regarding service levels and fares are the responsibility of BC Transit’s local government partners,” said the organization in a statement Monday afternoon.
Since launching in 2013, Summerland’s transit route has seen a gradual increase in service hours and now includes four stops in Summerland and three in Penticton.
Based solely on fare revenue, BC Transit’s estimates ridership on the route increased from 6,700 passengers in 2020-21 to 8,000 last year.