Powell River’s Zunga Bus will keep operating in limbo for at least another month.
With Coun. Cindy Elliott away, city council remained deadlocked after two votes Thursday night to either can the on-demand service or extend it until March.
Mayor Ron Woznow says the money to operate it could be better spent to benefit the entire community.
“What if we were creative and said let’s use $220,000 a year and let’s build a community center where there is child care, where there is a medical clinic and where’s there’s an opportunity for medical professionals coming in to look at Powell River, but stay,” the mayor said.
An analysis by city staff shows Zunga Bus currently costs $8 per ride to the taxpayer – double that of conventional transit. Without a provincial grant in 2024, the cost per ride to the taxpayer would be $13.
The service is currently paid for with the climate action reserve fund. Councillors disagreed over the reserve – some arguing using it won’t be a direct impact to the taxpayer; others saying it’s all taxpayer dollars.
“We keep make reference to that like it’s magical dollars. It’s not magical dollars. It’s taxpayers’ money. So let’s not have any warm and fuzzies over climate action reserve. It’s all taxpayers’ funds,” Coun. Jim Palm said.
But Coun. Earl Almeida said he’s received a “litany” of emails from residents about the future of Zunga Bus – both for and against continuing it.
“This is not a service that if we take away is going to affect 22 people. This is going to affect several hundred people in our community that are using the service,” Almeida said. He was referring to a city report showing the service has 22 “regular users” – those using it 11-51 times in any given month.
The matter is expected to come up in January when Coun. Cindy Elliott is back or when budget deliberations begin.
