Prince George, B.C. – As of September,  buses in Prince George will  be  offering expanded service.

BC Transit is  rolling out 2,500 new hours of  service in Prince George,  that will see  additional service on Sundays and  statutory holidays.

The plan also tweaks some  routes  to improve efficiency,  and  reduce travel time.

The consultation  with  riders, revealed  that while  54%  say they  are  satisfied overall with  transit service in Prince George,  50% said they were dissatisfied with the availability of bus shelters and benches,  while  25% said they were satisfied, and the rest were neutral on the issue.

There is work underway with  UNBC  to develop  a shelter  at the university,  a project that  expects to see  a shelter  built  there by  the end of this year. The design of shelters  is a  concern to Council, as  the comment was made that the current bus shelters are more reflective of a lower mainland climate.  Here,  the weather is different, and  as has been  the experience  just this week,  the wind can be bitterly cold.  Mayor Hall  noted Winnipeg has a specific shelter design that may be more appropriate for  Prince George  winters.   However, specially designed shelters are a capital cost,  and won’t be  up for discussion again until the 2018 budget  is under discussion.

When it comes to route demand,   there has been a call for  service to the Blackburn area, but this  expansion of  service  doesn’t address  that request.  BC Transit is looking at  service to Blackburn  for 2018.

Forty five percent  indicated  travel times on transit were “inconvenient”,  compared to  35% who said the travel times were convenient.

Connections to major destinations,  and reliability of service both scored well,   at 50% and 54% respectively.

The expansion of service is being funded in a cost sharing agreement  between the City of Prince George and BC Transit.