The 90,000.00 will help to offset the tremendous cost of the transit system. 1,000,000 riders a year sounds pretty good if you say it fast, but in fact it works out to approx 22 Passengers per bus per day, assuming they operate 10 buses 12 hours per day 365 days per year. There has to be a better way to move these people.

Smaller buses and more direct routes perhaps??

Not a problem Pal!
If the city does not have enough money they will just consult George, and borrow a bundle to subsidize this transit system.
I see buses running fairly often with one or two persons as supposedly paying passengers.
It really does seem "STUPID" to operate these big buses for so few passengers.
But that is par for the course in Prince George.
No change there either, although it has been discussed.
Keep with the old-just might have to think if a change were to be considered.
Heaven forbid!

I wish people would check their facts before they start criticizing the transit system. City Council has already approved the purchase of mini buses to be used on the 90 Hart Local starting in April. That is the ONLY bus route that regularly carries a small enough load to warrant mini buses. Route 15 to the University frequently overfills a 40 foot bus, requiring an overload bus, during the morning peak times. The same is true of the reverse direction in the afternoon. However, even during the mid-day most of our routes need at least a 35 foot bus, except during summer and Christmas break. A few routes are quieter at night, but as the night shift drivers start between 2 and 4pm, they can't bring out the 30 foot buses with them.

A couple routes, like the 5 & 55 Victoria/5th Ave. have a lot of "short trippers", which means that while a lot of people get on and off the bus over the duration of the loop, each person is only on for a little bit. For example, you might get 12 people on at Pine Centre, and 10 of them would be off before the bus reaches Ferry & Ospika. However, because these routes often have anywhere from 2-5 strollers on the bus at any given time, a mini bus (which have only one door for regular loading and unloading, and much narrower aisles) would still not be practical.

A million riders might not seem like an overly impressive number in some areas, but I remember back in 2000, when I first started riding the bus, we had a few routes that would drive around empty during the mid-day sometimes. However, thanks to a major system overhaul in January 2004, our ridership is soaring sky-high.

The comment "I drive by and see ..." clearly indicates the source of transit's problems right there. A current city councillor told me recently that (and I'm paraphrasing slightly) people in this city have a hitching post philosophy. If their destination is more than one block away, they 'unhitch' their car and drive there. Maybe if people would get off their high horses and out of their fuel guzzling beats and ride the bus once in awhile, they would see that our transit system is not, for the most part, being run impractically.

Are there improvements needed? Absolutely. And there are, in my opinion, 2-3 trips in the system that should be deleted (46 Queesnway after 6pm), and the times given to another route where more people will benefit.

The people of PG have a right to drive their car, but don't criticize a valuable public service that you know nothing about.

Corey