A final decision on the future of Powell River’s digital, on-demand Zunga Bus could come as early as tomorrow night (Dec. 21).
A council committee ended in two tie votes Tuesday night on both ending the service in a week-and-a-half or extending it to March.
Coun. Cindy Elliott wasn’t at the meeting, meaning there were six committee members voting.
As for holding off until the end of March before cutting Zunga Bus, Coun. Trina Isakson was looking for a grace period.
“Some of the people who rely on Zunga Bus are some of the most vulnerable folks in the community for whom actual transit routes are not an option. I would like to give them a bit of a grace period to let them know this could be cut so they are able to rearrange their child care, work or health care needs schedules,” Isakson said.
But Mayor Ron Woznow says extending the service is spending $52,000 to alleviate situations for a handful of people.
Coun. George Doubt, the committee chairman, says the service is expensive and limited to Westview.
“It’s an interesting service, it’s a glitzy service, but it has a price. If we’re going to expand that to the entire community, which I think we should do if we’re going to keep the service, I say we should double the cost of the service,” Doubt said.
Rides are currently $2.50 each or 10 rides for $20 and 20 rides for $35. The bus runs 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day.
A city report says Zunga Bus would bring in $17,000 in revenue in 2024 and costs of $230,000 for an overall operating deficit of $213,000.
In the first 10 months of this year, the average daily rider count was 38, compared to conventional transit at 596 rides per day.
Zunga Bus was started as a pilot project in 2021.
The full city council meets tomorrow night to make a final decision.
