Powell River will try again to expand its transit service.
The city had approved an expansion plan in October 2022 – 500 hours for the Townsite-Wildwood (Route 1) and Grief Point (Route 2) and 1,500 hours to allow buses to run more frequently on Route 1.
The proposal with a city cost of $178,000, was not approved by the province and no BC Transit expansion plans went ahead this year and there will be none next year.
The same application is 3.5 per cent more now at $184,000.
A committee of council agreed Tuesday night to try again with its recommendation through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BC Transit but any service expansion wouldn’t happen until January 2025.
Coun. George Doubt says people want a more frequent service.
“I’m actually in favour of going ahead with the request because I think everybody wants it and if we don’t pass this, it won’t happen,” Doubt said.
Under the terms of the agreement, the city would be on the hook for leased buses for one year if it decided to pull out of the expansion after it was approved. That clause had some councillors like Jim Palm concerned.
But a BC Transit spokesman told council, the chances of being charged for the one year lease were slim since other communities wanting to expand service would take those buses off Powell River’s hands.
The MOU recommendation still needs final approval by city council, which should happen Thursday night.
