No free rides, really?

[mxtaylor]

nothing to do with safety, it's all about money

[SurplusElect]

Why should anyone else foot the bill because you want to get intoxicated and lose your ability to get home safely

New Years celebrations are a worldwide affair.

We live in this thing called a community. We try to do things for the benefit of all its members. We don't all drink and get intoxicated on New Years, but it is not uncommon to say the least. It is a night of celebration.

The idea that for one night a year - the one night where a lot of people are intoxicated and will find it even more difficult to find a cab in Kelowna (castanet article) - we make it easier for people to get home safer is not obscene.

We pay the police massive sums of money to run road blocks - the end result - to prevent people from driving drunk. How much does that cost? How much do judges and jails cost?

How much is running free buses for one night?

Be a part of the community instead of sitting on a pillar.

I grew up in a city of 150K, in which they ran the buses until 3am on New Years - and were free. I was shocked to find out the city was charging bus fare on New Years (again) and not running late or extra service.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

When they did have the free rides in the past it was often fun and a bit of an adventure.

They can forgo parking meter revenue for Saturdays all Dec, tohelp out downtown..hmmm but the bus revenue is too dear..hmmm
A free bus day now and then may actually increase ridership..

[grammafreddy]

Everyone should phone Wally at home and ask why the city didn't have free NYE bus rides.

[Bsuds]

With all the complaining about Drivers/schedules etc on here, I'm surprised anyone even cares!

[morphian]

Do any of you realize that taxes already pay for everything to do with transit and that 2.25 cents you pay every time you ride the bus is just petty cash in the transit coffers pockets...the fare does not contribute in any way to the operation, maintenance, or pay for the bus operators...

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Yes we realize that,,we also realize that if you can buy dozens of leaning lamposts, that you can give something up for community now and then. Not like they did not get raises, or cut back massively on everything.
We are talking about being like others cities.. Even if it is only once in a while..
Want to be a well known, liked city..act like one..

[morphian]

I wasn't bashing anyone...I was actually agreeing with you! I no longer live in kelowna but I do keep up with kelowna goings ons! I saw what they spent "revitalizing" downtown and quite frankly I think they over payed. And for them to not have insight regarding new years is just a blatant act of neglect. They serve a community they are a big part of the community yet they act like they don't care about us...if they were such a big part of mass population commute I'd say boycott and stop taking transit for a month and see where they stand on one holiday free day. But sadly that just wouldn't work in today's society where we're all concerned with going green and even more on the fact that not everyone can drive because it costs way too much...

[southy]

I live in Penticton and definitely I am not complaining. But come on folks .. it's a new year. Arguing over who is responsible for not providing free transit? If this issue is that important to you and obviously it is to some, you now have 12 months to go after your wonderful mayor and council to change things. Good luck with that! And oh by the way ... Happy New Year.

[grammafreddy]

How many people here stayed home on NYE solely because the buses weren't running later and weren't free?

[Captain Awesome]

I can't picture somebody who can't afford $2 for a bus, but yet celebrates NYE in a city.

[1life2live]

I listened to Walter this morning on the radio and he was dumbfounded on how this decision was made. Transit is one of the backbones of our community and he has no idea how this could have happened; come on, he is the "man" isn"t he. Oh, I see he found a fall guy and had Dombowski fall on the sword for him and clear the whole mess up. Security, Overtime Vandalism ect. It's the same old liability story. Nobody moves nobody gets hurt. Hogwash.

[MAPearce]

I can't picture somebody who can't afford $2 for a bus, but yet celebrates NYE in a city.

exactly...Spend how much on booze , weed and food but *bleep* about having to spend $2.25 on a ride....

sad huh >

[Catz]

I do not so much as view as a monetary thing, but a community thing.
We try so hard to prevent d and d, and a simple community thing like this would be nice.

Yes...if I can go party I can pay...which I stay home home for the last 5 years, but that is not the point
for me.

Just a neighbour thing for me.

[grammafreddy]

http://www.castanet.net/news/Central-Ok ... YE-transit

Priorities nix free NYE transit
by Wayne Moore - Story: 85310
Jan 2, 2013 / 3:35 pm

It's been at least five years since New Year's Eve revellers in the Central Okanagan were able to get a free ride home and that isn't expected to change anytime soon.

Despite a recent Castanet poll in which 967 (82.44%) people believe a free service should be offered New Year's Eve like it is in other communities, Kelowna Regional Programs Manager, Jerry Dombowsky, says such a service is not feasible here.

Dombowsky says, unlike larger systems in cities like Vancouver and Victoria, weekday service ends at 11:30 p.m.

Offering the service into the wee hours of the morning would require extensive overtime in order to keep the buses and the drivers on the road.

"There is really no such thing as a free service - there is a cost to it," says Dombowsky.

"Given that we have a whole lot of priorities in our transit system including high priority items like maintaining service schedules and handling bus overload situations and limited resources to apply, I think we have higher priorities that would benefit a larger number of people."

Dombowsky says transit did experiment with a free service on New Year's Eve several years ago but found there was very low ridership and a high rate of vandalism.

"At the time we found the type of rider we did attract was not the right one for us. At that time we experienced the highest on-bus vandalism we had ever had in one single night-before."

He says if a free service were to be offered in the future, transit would also have to look at the cost of increasing security on each of the buses.

"Overall it would be a nice thing to do but it is a question of resources and priorities but, if we are going to apply our limited funding resources to something we have to look at what's the biggest demand and what's going to give us the best bang for our buck," adds Dombowsky.

"Right now, to be honest, I would have to say it's maintaining schedule reliability for the people that take the bus on a regular basis and dealing with the overloads. We're running a pretty tight ship funding wise."

Dombowsky says the decision was made at the regional transit level and, while City Councils throughout the region do provide transit with direction, they typically don't get involved in day-to-day decisions like this unless they receive enough complaints or see a demand and ask for further information.

Makes good fiscal sense to me.