Prince George, B.C.- Council  for the City of Prince George meets this evening  and  one item on the agenda calls for approval of  improvements to  the  transit system .

Specifically, the  matter  calls for  service on statutory holidays and improved weekend service, as well as the addition of another community bus.   The report to Council  says the new community bus wouldn’t be available  for 18 months,  so  that  feature wouldn’t start until  September of 2019.   The stat holiday and weekend service upgrades would start  September  2017.

The transit piece fits nicely with the  white paper on student  needs in the City.   That  presentation  is the work of  the Select Committee on Student needs.  The Committee had representation from students at UNBC,  CNC and School district 57  and  presents about  two dozen recommendations for  consideration.   Transportation   was noted as the number one priority  by the Committee,   which calls  for:

1. Provision of statutory holiday service
2. Improved weekend service frequency
3. Increased span of daily service
4. Development of a rapid and frequent transit service network

The Committee  also set forth a number of recommendations on issues of housing, recreation, employment and  culture.

City Council will also be called upon to grant  the first three readings of  a bylaw that will boost the  hotel room tax from 2% to 3%.  The proposal to boost that tax  is being supported by  67% of the  accommodation owners in the City representing 74% of all available rooms.  The threshold to  move forward on this issue  required 51% approval.