Penticton-Kelowna link eyed for 2019
South Okanagan politician hopes bus service will be rolling by next spring or summer
While Greyhound is pulling out of Western Canada this fall, Okanagan passengers may see a bus service between Penticton and Kelowna by next summer.
Long before Greyhound’s recent announcement of its plan to end all passenger and freight service in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba effective Oct. 31, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen was working with BC Transit to offer an alternative service between Penticton and Kelowna.
“A few years back, we developed a transit future plan in partnership with BC Transit, and part of that plan is to be able to get our constituents from the South Okanagan up to Kelowna,” said Karla Kozakevich, chair of the RDOS board.
The main focus is on people needing to go to Kelowna for medical reasons and students going to the university, but the service would be available to everyone, she said.
The original plan was to have this route available by September 2019. But, with Greyhound service ending this fall, Kozakevich said she hopes to have the route in place by spring or summer next year.
At the July 19 meeting of the RDOS board, approval will be sought to move forward with public assent, to determine the level of public interest in the bus service.
“We have to get public assent to put the money into our 2019 budget to move forward . . . to make sure the public is OK with us taxing them to expand the service,” said Kozakevich.
The total estimated cost of the project is around $259,000, onethird of which would be covered by BC Transit.
Should all RDOS members buy in, the average cost per household would range from $1.33 to $4.11 per year.
Penticton is looking to contribute around $65,000, and would act as the hub for the proposed service with plans for two buses running up the Valley in the morning and afternoon.
Kozakevich said the RDOS is also reaching out to other communities for funding, including Peachland and West Kelowna.
B.C. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said she will be speaking with service operators around the province to see if anyone is interested in taking over Greyhound routes.
When Greyhound pulled out of parts of Northern B.C. earlier this year, the province launched a oneyear pilot program, B.C. Bus North, replacing many of the former Greyhound routes.
So far, the program has been a success, Trevena said.
When asked if a similar program might be offered elsewhere in B.C., Trevena said nothing was off the table.
“I’m looking at all options,” she said in a telephone news conference Tuesday. “My priority is to make sure the people of B.C. can travel safely and affordably around this province.”
Trevena said Greyhound approached her ministry in the past about government subsidies, but that the provincial government had no interest.
“We didn’t want to go down that path,” she said. “It is a commercial operation. The model that Greyhound chose was not working for the people who wanted to use Greyhound.”