Public Transit in Kelowna

[khutchi]

Yesterday, I got the pleasure to head down to the newly redesigned Queensway Bus Exchange to attend BC Transit’s open house on the future of Kelowna’s public transport network. I got to see some neat bus upgrades, new routes, and what was my first look at how Kelowna is going to benefit from the Trudeau Government’s $3.4B Public Transport Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) announced late last year. One of the key projects is an improvement of UBCO’s bus exchange starting in Fall 2017. The price tag: $5.1 Million. The city’s contribution is about $2.1 Million with the Federal and Provincial Governments picking up the rest. This will give headspace for more buses to serve new and existing routes going to and from the university as transit in the Okanagan expands.

Is this really needed though? Absolutely.
Why? Because, dear reader, your council and BC government has devasted public transit in our city in the last 10 years.

3%. That’s the percent of all trips that Kelowna residents use public transit for (otherwise known as a mode share). Move to Vancouver? It’s 22%. By 2035, BC transit demands our number get up to at least 7%. I have two words for city council: Good Luck.

Kelowna’s public transit system is one of the worst in Western Canada, and it’s not hard to see why. Take my sister for example. She is an instructor at UBCO and lives in the Glenmore suburbs. She can afford a car but likes to take transit to and from school. She’s got two options. Take the #6 Glenmore/UBCO express or take TWO buses (#7 and 97) to go to the mall then up Glenmore road home. Obviously she prefers the #6, So when she picks up her handy bus schedule to see when it runs, she sees this: 8:20 AM 3:30 PM 4:39 PM 5:45 PM 6:40 PM.

Movies play more than that many times a day.

Again, go to Vancouver, and some buses run every 3 minutes at peak service (#99,9). So when her class ends at 1pm or a lab runs late to 7pm, she has to take two buses. Sorry. And in the summer? The #6 doesn’t even exist! Remember, this is a 10 min drive by car that the city requires you take TWO buses for 98% of the time. But she (with more patience than me) still does it. So when she gets on the 97 (our premier rapid high volume bus line) the bus is jam packed. Why? I mean didn’t the city spend $200,000+ on 6 double decker buses a few years ago. We did! But they don’t work at any of the 4 major bus loop exchanges. What do I mean “don’t work”? The doors won’t open because the curbs weren’t built correctly for buses. They just hit the curb and re-close again! Currently, we use the smallest buses for the busiest line. BRILLIANT.

Is this just my sister’s misfortune in the world and the price we all have to pay sometimes? Not at all. Take ANY route or trip in Kelowna and it’s a disaster. You’re lucky if your bus shows up and the driver hasn’t been assaulted in the last 24 hours.

What are we doing in this city? Why does nobody care?

So on second thought…. I’ve got one piece of advice for Kelowna City Council: Cancel the UBCO exchange expansion. Save your money. Write Justin Trudeau’s cabinet and say thanks for the offer but no thanks, we are just going to mess it up anyways.

[kgcayenne]

...What are we doing in this city? Why does nobody care?...

There is not enough ridership here to make it sustainable.

Unfortunately, a disproportionate number people here are emotionally attached to their automobiles, which are sometimes... okay, often... seen as an external/public expression of their level of prosperity. Mmmmm okay, sometimes it is just an expression of how much debt they are allowed to carry.

Since the inception of public transit in this area, the ridership has been limited to students/youth, seniors, and those who cannot operate a vehicle due to disability, finance, or driving prohibition. Think of the term "Loser cruiser" that has been used around here for decades. Add to it the number of assaults being reported in news media, and you have a public that would rather drive their own cars around... and subsequently pitch-a-fit and moan about parking.

I know people in Vancouver who take public transit to/from the office; they're wealthy enough to make our Yoga Moms here choke on and spill their lunchtime rose. You would NOT see someone who owns a late-model Range Rover take public transit to work or the gym here in Kelowna; that is simply the reality of our community.

[khutchi]

1000% agree. Great Reply.

At some point, it's got to change though. The great part of government is that if social attitudes and pretentious "Yoga moms" (love that part of your post haha) is the only think preventing meaningful change for our world... there's a tax for that.

[khutchi]

I know people in Vancouver who take public transit to/from the office; they're wealthy enough to make our Yoga Moms here choke on and spill their lunchtime rose. You would NOT see someone who owns a late-model Range Rover take public transit to work or the gym here in Kelowna; that is simply the reality of our community.

Also love that part. when i was a student in Vancouver, I took the bus from Drake Street to Georgia Ave. The windows of the bus were blocked out by every lawyer and businessman's dry cleaning, and the look i got was "Where's your suit you bum? Go drive your 97 sunfire in dt congestion with the rest of the homeless. Buses are for winners son, sorry...."

And people say Kelowna is the best community, lol.

[coolwaterwave]

There's definitely social pressure here to not ride the bus. It's see as something degrading and that only the 'poor' would do. Even walking can be at times seen by drivers. Not sure how more money and upgrades is going to change that heavy judgement that comes with transit.

[MAPearce]

I love the bus ... The problem is that it doesn't go where I want to go when I want to go there..

I think people should consider that fact as well as the upper crust and their unique wavering love affair with their cars.

[spooker]

The transit system here needs to be convenient. As OP said, more runs. Better routes that take people where they need to go. Connections that are consistent and schedules that are kept.

If they take the equipment they have and rework the schedules to promote the most populated routes to show that ridership will go up then that pressure can be used to get funds for more equipment to promote the secondary routes.

Society can change, but someone has to blink first ...

[lesliepaul]

The anti-car people have spoken...........I am glad many have their jobs located a reasonable distance from a bus stop/route and that their residences are also closely served. The problem in Kelowna is it is too large to be adequately served by transit in its current state. For me to go to the store on Harvey from North Glenmore it would take close to 3 hours including the almost 1 mile walk to the bus stop and back. This round trip is done in 45 minutes in a vehicle and I really do not want to carry a 36 roll of Kirkland brand toilet paper on the bus.

Now we have the anti-car people calling people with cars "upper crust" or that it is an "external/public expression of their level of prosperity".........now I have heard it all. If having cars (vehicles) around in your life Pi$$'s you off..........I am sure there's a pill for it.

[khutchi]

The problem in Kelowna is it is too large to be adequately served by transit in its current state.

Exactly. This is know in community planning as "urban sprawl" and its the #1 quickest way to screw up a city in so many ways including transit. Our current council is so good at it too. When i went to the open house, one of the city staffers says the biggest threat to transit is Land use and not anything to do with the transit system itself. The best systems in the world thrive on densely populated urban centres where people basically live atop of one another in compact blocks. This was supposed to be one of Colin Basram's number one priorities; smart use of land and zoning but the term "density" lost political favour somewhere in the last 4 years.

[Dizzy1]

She’s got two options. Take the #6 Glenmore/UBCO express or take TWO buses (#7 and 97) to go to the mall then up Glenmore road home.

Two buses? Oh my God! The horror! Do you honestly think thats exclusive to public transit in Kelowna? Come on, lets get serious here. Transferring between two or three or more buses is an everyday occurrence for the majority of transit users worldwide.

Why? I mean didn’t the city spend $200,000+ on 6 double decker buses a few years ago. We did! But they don’t work at any of the 4 major bus loop exchanges. What do I mean “don’t work”? The doors won’t open because the curbs weren’t built correctly for buses. They just hit the curb and re-close again! Currently, we use the smallest buses for the busiest line. BRILLIANT.

Why put a double decker bus on a run its not suited for in the first place? Its called the rapid line for reason, its supposed to be rapid - streamlined. efficient. As soon as you throw on a double decker and then sit and wait for people to go up and down the stairs before you can leave, you've just eliminated the reason for a rapid line. 40ft Nova's are perfect for such a run - simple to operate and get in and out fast. The Enviro 500s are better suited for other runs around town.

Is this just my sister’s misfortune in the world and the price we all have to pay sometimes?

Seriously? "Misfortune". While I completely agree with you, that transit, not only in Kelowna but the rest of the Province as well, is archaic, inefficient and in some cases pointless. I've been in the transportation business for over 20 years (ground and air) in various countries on two continents and have never seen such a poorly planned system as it is in BC - and there is one reason for that - Victoria. Everything is run out of Victoria - timing points, schedules, which buses are to be used is dictated by Victoria. But saying that this is your sister's "misfortune" is ridiculous.

[khutchi]

@ Dizzy . appreciate your response. Was interested in hearing from some people with experience in the industry. I do got some comments on what you said

Two buses? Oh my God! The horror! Do you honestly think thats exclusive to public transit in Kelowna?

IMO, just because it's not exclusive problem doesn't mean it's at all acceptable. If the goal is to make public transit more competitive with me driving my Mercedes around town, 2 buses (on simple urban routes like UBCO to glenmore), is not going cut it... Can't we do better?

Why put a double decker bus on a run its not suited for in the first place? Its called the rapid line for reason, its supposed to be rapid - streamlined. efficient. As soon as you throw on a double decker and then sit and wait for people to go up and down the stairs before you can leave, you've just eliminated the reason for a rapid line. 40ft Nova's are perfect for such a run - simple to operate and get in and out fast. The Enviro 500s are better suited for other runs around town.

But, when we bought them, they were only meant to run on the 97 RapidTran run. But the design flaw ruined those plans. http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/51 ... w-bus-bays. My understanding is that, double decker buses are meant for the most frequent, fastest routes, only for the reason that they also always have the biggest volume of passengers

But saying that this is your sister's "misfortune" is ridiculous.

I agree. There are bigger atrocities in the world than riding the bus in Kelowna. But It's disappointing that we as a city can't see to get this right for her and everyone else who uses the bus. It's unfortunate city councillors treat their position like a part-time job and don't even have the decency/commitment/passion/etc to come out to the open houses and talk to the people or their staffers who work everyday to try and fix the situation the created.

[Fancy]

Seems like a catch 22 - not enough people riding the buses and not enough buses running at appropriate times to make it worthwhile for people to take them.

[Jflem1983]

Many years ago I was reliant on the transit system here. I got jumped by about 8 guys at Queensway one night . Lol learned my lesson . No more taking the bus

[Lemmys_76]

First, I'm grateful to have public transit as an option. I don't ride often, so you would think there would be few problems when I do. The last time I tried (Christmas 2016 because I didn't want to battle for a parking spot), the bus drove right past me. I could see the driver's eyes and they were just looking straight ahead and ignoring me. The bus was NOT out of service. Went home and got in my car. Other problems: being in a bus involved in a fender bender so I missed my appointment, having a drunk sit beside me and then proceed to hit on me, foul mouth teenagers yelling back and forth to each other (almost every ride), having a driver yell at me because he thought I didn't pay enough for my fare - he assumed I needed to pay for 2 zones, however I was only riding for 1 zone. AND THE BEST ONE OF ALL - watching a young man that I already thought was strange, pull a large hunting knife out of his backpack! Yes, this happened!!! The driver yelled at him to put it away and he did. I'm not taking the bus again unless I'm forced to. I can only imagine what it's like to ride five or more days a week.

[coolwaterwave]

Many years ago I was reliant on the transit system here. I got jumped by about 8 guys at Queensway one night . Lol learned my lesson . No more taking the bus

Random assault or were they looking for you in particular/did you know any of them?

I work late almost every night and am usually okay with it because it seems like the Downtown core has a good police presence and the Paladin security guys are usually around. Haven't been unfortunate enough to see anything that sketchy or messed up.

Did they catch anything on camera?