Bus Service in Kelowna

[dle]

A story on Castanet this morning "How is Your Commute" https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#212801

1. Stories like this annoy me to no end simply because people have been trying to get through to the people at City Hall ad nauseum, either directly or by every form of social media available, and the City just sticks their fingers in their ears about it, like just they do about every other issue that the populace takes issue with. If Mayor Sugarplum and the crew think something sounds "upwardly mobile" and "cool" they will just deem we need it and go ahead whether it costs us our lakeshore, our greenspace, our clean air, whatever, they are just deaf to it all. If they removed said fingers, they would hear in this instance that people don't ride the bus in Kelowna because, for one, the schedule won't get most people to work or anywhere else on time and/or delays them getting home at night (unless you want to show up at work like an hour early or leave an hour later!). There isn't even bus service to Kettle Valley - look how many people live up there!

2. The City wants people to "go green", "lessen our carbon footprint" etc (to the extent they are thinking of charging us, the most ripped off people in Canada when it comes to gas prices, a GAS TAX!!!!) Ya right, when you get rid of the parking lot aka Harvey Avenue/Hwy 97 and provide a decent bus service!!

(3) If the City truly wants people to use public transit then the City has to open their eyes about the bus service (or should I say lack thereof). A bus is only as useful as its schedule and if it won't get you where you need to go, when you need to get there, of course people are going to drive.

(4) Another reason people won't ride the bus in Kelowna is the lack of security on them. Maybe they forgot a man was actually murdered in cold blood by a total stranger a few years back. Maybe they forgot the bus drivers themselves are often attacked. Maybe they forgot the random passenger who was injured from being stabbed after a (presumably) drugged up doofus threw an out-of-nowhere fit not so long ago. Be a frosty day in hell-o before I'd ever get on a City bus in Kelowna even if I thought for one minute it would get me anywhere on time. I know people who for short times have been without wheels and HAD to ride the bus and the horror stories about scary passengers and the complete inconvenience of the system are enough for me.

(5) Sad thing about the whole situation is that there are really nice things about riding a well-run, proper bus system. There are a LOT of people who would absolutely ride the bus if the City actually cared enough to make it feasible and safe. However, the City obviously doesn't care to do anything about the system, they just want to try to convince us to ride it the way it is, which isn't going to happen so our Mayor Sugarplum can either put his money where his mouth is and fix it or shut up about it. Granted, he didn't put out the Castanet article, but he and the City are a reason that article is so flimsy and wishy-washy - get to the point of WHY no one rides the bus here!! The City seems to find money for really contentious issues where it seems their fingers are literally cemented into their ears like the tourist centre (I won't get started on that), or the $800,000 loo in the park (won't go there either), or the $90,000 spent for nice light-up HOV signs we will continue to ignore so we can actually get where we are going on the parking lot aka Harvey Ave. We wouldn't have to pay highway robbery prices to the thieving gas stations, we could get into a nice warm bus and not have to worry about all the idiot drivers on the roads - who wouldn't want to sit back, relax and read a book while you sip a nice warm whatever in the winter? Some days you'd have to take your car for grocery shopping etc, but it would go a long way to "reducing our carbon footprint" the right way - not by ignoring everything being said about it and thinking a solution is a gas tax in this town!

Here's an idea, why doesn't Mayor Sugarplum gather up his crew and ride the bus for a day - just do an experiment and try and get anywhere. We could submit point A to point B scenarios and they could try and accomplish the trips.

The bus service in Kelowna will remain a dodgy, dingy, scary, crappy alternative form of transportation that has 3/4 empty buses leapfrogging willy-nilly around this town, missing some neighbourhoods entirely, until the damn City starts listening to what people are telling them they need if it is to become a viable system.

[oneh2obabe]

There isn't even bus service to Kettle Valley - look how many people live up there!

Route #16 covers Kettle Valley. Starts around 6:00am and stops around 10:20pm Monday to Friday. Saturday it operates from 8:00am to 7:00pm and Sunday is 9:00am to 7:00pm.

https://bctransit.com/kelowna/schedules ... w?route=16

[dle]

There isn't even bus service to Kettle Valley - look how many people live up there!

Route #16 covers Kettle Valley. Starts around 6:00am and stops around 10:20pm Monday to Friday. Saturday it operates from 8:00am to 7:00pm and Sunday is 9:00am to 7:00pm.

https://bctransit.com/kelowna/schedules ... w?route=16

Thanks for this info....is this new? What are the routes? What streets can you catch it from downtown? What streets does it stop at in Kettle? Sorry to sound like like I'm putting you under the bright light for questioning lol but the reason I ask is about 2 years ago we tried to get from the Springfield area of Kelowna to Kettle Valley on a Saturday for a visit. There was only 1 bus the whole day and that left from Gordon/Springfield to KLO at about 1:00 p.m. Then, at KLO you had to get off and transfer to another bus to go to Kettle. It made one stop in Kettle, sorry I can't remember the name of the street it stopped on, then our friends had to drive to the bus stop to get us because it was quite a hoof to their place in upper Kettle. We never tried to bus it again. More recently I asked them if the bus service had improved and they said no - I took that to mean there was still 1 bus, once a day but maybe they meant there are more, just not conveniently so.

[UhHuhYeahSure]

Every time I read about these studies over the past +35 years, in any city that has politicians who chortle on about saving the world by getting people to take transit, I have to respond with the same line.

Get rid of free/subsidized parking for government officials and bureacrats who lament about an underutilized transit system and cost of building and maintaining car infrastructure.

Get them out of their cars first and let them live with transit instead of just pushing an eco-popular agenda for the political optics of it all.

Stop with all the banter and fluffy details of when council meetings occur or who does/might need their vehicle during the day or hardship issues that make transit unworkable (read "inconvenient" usually with a sanctimonious politically correct excuse). This is smokey escape rhetoric that they raise as barriers for them not to use transit yet is discounted by the same politicians and bureaucrats when used by the general public.

[spooker]

Thanks for this info....is this new? What are the routes? What streets can you catch it from downtown? What streets does it stop at in Kettle? Sorry to sound like like I'm putting you under the bright light for questioning lol but the reason I ask is about 2 years ago we tried to get from the Springfield area of Kelowna to Kettle Valley on a Saturday for a visit. There was only 1 bus the whole day and that left from Gordon/Springfield to KLO at about 1:00 p.m. Then, at KLO you had to get off and transfer to another bus to go to Kettle. It made one stop in Kettle, sorry I can't remember the name of the street it stopped on, then our friends had to drive to the bus stop to get us because it was quite a hoof to their place in upper Kettle. We never tried to bus it again. More recently I asked them if the bus service had improved and they said no - I took that to mean there was still 1 bus, once a day but maybe they meant there are more, just not conveniently so.

It looks like there is a #16 bus every 30 minutes starting from 6:30am on weekdays (8am on Saturday and every 60 minutes) ... starts from H2O and loops around Quilchena Park ... seems to be about 10 stops in the Upper Mission area ...

Maybe things can get better?

[bjsilent]

A story on Castanet this morning "How is Your Commute" https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#212801

1. Stories like this annoy me to no end simply because people have been trying to get through to the people at City Hall ad nauseum, either directly or by every form of social media available, and the City just sticks their fingers in their ears about it, like just they do about every other issue that the populace takes issue with. If Mayor Sugarplum and the crew think something sounds "upwardly mobile" and "cool" they will just deem we need it and go ahead whether it costs us our lakeshore, our greenspace, our clean air, whatever, they are just deaf to it all. If they removed said fingers, they would hear in this instance that people don't ride the bus in Kelowna because, for one, the schedule won't get most people to work or anywhere else on time and/or delays them getting home at night (unless you want to show up at work like an hour early or leave an hour later!). There isn't even bus service to Kettle Valley - look how many people live up there!

2. The City wants people to "go green", "lessen our carbon footprint" etc (to the extent they are thinking of charging us, the most ripped off people in Canada when it comes to gas prices, a GAS TAX!!!!) Ya right, when you get rid of the parking lot aka Harvey Avenue/Hwy 97 and provide a decent bus service!!











(3) If the City truly wants people to use public transit then the City has to open their eyes about the bus service (or should I say lack thereof). A bus is only as useful as its schedule and if it won't get you where you need to go, when you need to get there, of course people are going to drive.

(4) Another reason people won't ride the bus in Kelowna is the lack of security on them. Maybe they forgot a man was actually murdered in cold blood by a total stranger a few years back. Maybe they forgot the bus drivers themselves are often attacked. Maybe they forgot the random passenger who was injured from being stabbed after a (presumably) drugged up doofus threw an out-of-nowhere fit not so long ago. Be a frosty day in hell-o before I'd ever get on a City bus in Kelowna even if I thought for one minute it would get me anywhere on time. I know people who for short times have been without wheels and HAD to ride the bus and the horror stories about scary passengers and the complete inconvenience of the system are enough for me.

(5) Sad thing about the whole situation is that there are really nice things about riding a well-run, proper bus system. There are a LOT of people who would absolutely ride the bus if the City actually cared enough to make it feasible and safe. However, the City obviously doesn't care to do anything about the system, they just want to try to convince us to ride it the way it is, which isn't going to happen so our Mayor Sugarplum can either put his money where his mouth is and fix it or shut up about it. Granted, he didn't put out the Castanet article, but he and the City are a reason that article is so flimsy and wishy-washy - get to the point of WHY no one rides the bus here!! The City seems to find money for really contentious issues where it seems their fingers are literally cemented into their ears like the tourist centre (I won't get started on that), or the $800,000 loo in the park (won't go there either), or the $90,000 spent for nice light-up HOV signs we will continue to ignore so we can actually get where we are going on the parking lot aka Harvey Ave. We wouldn't have to pay highway robbery prices to the thieving gas stations, we could get into a nice warm bus and not have to worry about all the idiot drivers on the roads - who wouldn't want to sit back, relax and read a book while you sip a nice warm whatever in the winter? Some days you'd have to take your car for grocery shopping etc, but it would go a long way to "reducing our carbon footprint" the right way - not by ignoring everything being said about it and thinking a solution is a gas tax in this town!

Here's an idea, why doesn't Mayor Sugarplum gather up his crew and ride the bus for a day - just do an experiment and try and get anywhere. We could submit point A to point B scenarios and they could try and accomplish the trips.

The bus service in Kelowna will remain a dodgy, dingy, scary, crappy alternative form of transportation that has 3/4 empty buses leapfrogging willy-nilly around this town, missing some neighbourhoods entirely, until the damn City starts listening to what people are telling them they need if it is to become a viable system.

I agree,the bus service here is terrible.Schedules don't match up if you have to transfer,i take transit sometimes and a few weeks ago i got on the Number 10 at Hollywood and Highway 33.I get on the bus and it was full of transients and people with mental issues ( for a moment i thought i was on the bunny bus ) we start climbing the hill on hwy 33 and they are all chirping and going off,a guy gets on by willowpark church with a back pack and some bags.I see him coming up the aisle and he practically sits right on me swinging his back pack around and assembling his dirty bags,he wreaked like booze and whatever was in his back pack was leaking everywhere,all over me,all over the seats ( smelt like wind shield washer fluid ) Bus pulls up at Berezan and Hwy 33 and a guy whose so drunk tries to get on and the driver says NO,dude gets on anyways,driver doesnt stop him.Guy stands in aisle squawking to a bunch of other transients he obviously knows and it's quite apparent that he's *bleep* himself,this short little bus ride was like being on a mobile asylum.

[Jflem1983]

Grade nine i used to ride city bus to school.

Some downtown thug followed me off the bus one day. Got his buddies to beat me up and steal my coat.

Buses here truly are not safe. Have not been safe for a long time.

I broke that skids nose btw.

Still got beat up and robbed tho.

[bjsilent]

Grade nine i used to ride city bus to school.

Some downtown thug followed me off the bus one day. Got his buddies to beat me up and steal my coat.

Buses here truly are not safe. Have not been safe for a long time.

I broke that skids nose btw.

Still got beat up and robbed tho.

Sorry to hear that,i have seen some pretty scary/nefarious looking people on the bus.I'm not worried about myself,i worry about people who can't defend themselves cause that's who these scumbags seek out on transit in order to steal their cellphones or something from them.A few months back one guy in his 20's kept bugging me to use my phone,every few minutes he would harass me saying it's urgent he needs to make a phone call ( ya sure you do ) you honestly think i'm gonna hand over my phone just so you can jump out the back doors with it at the next stop lol.After the tenth or so time i finally stood up and said " look you little stick,you ask me again and you and i are gonna be having a lil discussion outside the bus at the next stop! Now *bleep* and sit down and stop bugging people or get of the bus" He exited the bus at the next stop yelling and swearing,he even kicked the bus as it pulled away causing him to fall down lol,that infuriated him and he started running after the bus shaking his fist and yelling.We all waved to him lol,he was really upset ha ha ha

[dle]

Thanks for this info....is this new? What are the routes? What streets can you catch it from downtown? What streets does it stop at in Kettle? Sorry to sound like like I'm putting you under the bright light for questioning lol but the reason I ask is about 2 years ago we tried to get from the Springfield area of Kelowna to Kettle Valley on a Saturday for a visit. There was only 1 bus the whole day and that left from Gordon/Springfield to KLO at about 1:00 p.m. Then, at KLO you had to get off and transfer to another bus to go to Kettle. It made one stop in Kettle, sorry I can't remember the name of the street it stopped on, then our friends had to drive to the bus stop to get us because it was quite a hoof to their place in upper Kettle. We never tried to bus it again. More recently I asked them if the bus service had improved and they said no - I took that to mean there was still 1 bus, once a day but maybe they meant there are more, just not conveniently so.

It looks like there is a #16 bus every 30 minutes starting from 6:30am on weekdays (8am on Saturday and every 60 minutes) ... starts from H2O and loops around Quilchena Park ... seems to be about 10 stops in the Upper Mission area ...I do suspect that with the way the connections are for bus transfers it might be quicker to go by skateboard....

Maybe things can get better?

Thanks - I'll look into this (still won't be riding it alone myself but should make sure I have my info correct about whether Kettle has a route) - just have to find out where you can get on in the Springfield/Gordon area...then I guess it would take you to H20 where you'd transfer then carry on. Is Quilchena Park in upper Mission or all the way up in the Kettle Valley subdivisions?

[Even Steven]

Does the City of Kelowna even have say in bus service?

[Jflem1983]

Does the City of Kelowna even have say in bus service?

I dont think so anymore. Used to but gave it up to victoria a few years back i do believe

[kgcayenne]

It's a giant circle of 'If'.

If transit were serviced better, more people would ride.
If more people road transit would be funded enough to service the community.
If transit were safer, more people would ride.
Transit would be safer if more people used it.

Additionally, the cool kids in Kelowna don't 'dooooooo' transit, and they never will.

[oneh2obabe]

Kelowna, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and all partners have a say in transit for their particular area. When budget time comes around council decides how much the transit proportion of the budget will receive. This determines how many hours the city/town/village receives and if any routes will receive less or more service.

[spooker]

Thanks - I'll look into this (still won't be riding it alone myself but should make sure I have my info correct about whether Kettle has a route) - just have to find out where you can get on in the Springfield/Gordon area...then I guess it would take you to H20 where you'd transfer then carry on. Is Quilchena Park in upper Mission or all the way up in the Kettle Valley subdivisions?

The #5 runs from Queensway down Gordon to H2O every 30 minutes (even on Saturday) ... Not sure where the KV subdivision is but the #16 goes all the way up S. Perimeter Way to Quilchena Rd ... not quite familiar with that area but it might be a couple minute walk from there to the Lebanon Linear Park (with a small child I know the parks best)

All of this information is available easily through Google Maps ... I just put in the endpoints of "Springfield & Gordon" and "Kettle Valley Village" and selected transit ... it told me to use the #5, transfer to the #16, and then walk a bit ...

Sadly I know that while the directions are quick to be found on the internet the reality is that the local transit authority isn't as consistent/reliable as we need it to be ...

[Bubalouie]

SE Kelowna/McCulloch does not work for many and I'm sure part of the reason you see so many vehicles up there.
Start time for work near Bernard/Gordon is 6:30 a.m. and leaving around 3:00 - 3:30 Monday to Friday. Nothing works that doesn't require changing buses or long wait times.