Kamloops Transit

[GeneralDirection]

Those are just the old-style bus stop signs, they all used to look like that until a few years ago when they replaced them all with the new ones you see today. As you mentioned in your post, that street view is from 2012 so it makes sense to be seeing that there. If you went there today I'm sure it would have been replaced by now. Why they were this way is not something I know, I just assumed they were like this everywhere else.

[CV92]

In earlier days under previous leadership, there was a lot more encouragement for the individual funding partners to take ownership of their systems (they do provide the majority of funding for conventional systems after all). One of the ways this was done was that BC Transit allowed individual systems to design their own bus stop signs. Some of the systems that had custom designs and/or specific sizes of sign include Kamloops, Kelowna, CFV, Whistler, Penticton, and Revelstoke. This all went the way of the dodo bird when the current branding came in.

[InfiNorth]

On 10/1/2020 at 8:55 PM, Matt Dunlop said:

Maybe someone added a bus stop in front of their house? Lol. There used to be a bus stop on the #11 route in Victoria (near the Uplands I believe) where somebody added a home-made bus stop sign and expected buses to pick them up. I think transit took it down though. 

Nope, this is what every stop sign along the route looked like at the time of StreetView Photography. I'm truly wondering whether it was a private commuter service put in by the company that developed the neighbourhood to entice potential buyers from Kamloops. @CV92 That's good to know. My main confusion is the fact that Kamloops (as far as I know) also had the classic BC Transit BUS (RED LINE) STOP vertical signs, which would not at all match these signs. I'll check the Kamloops Archives for photos that might show old bus stops that will lead to better insight. I also don't recall any green-diamond branding on the outside of buses or on signs when I lived there in 2013 and they still had some red/white/blue livery buses running. 

Edit: I'm an idiot, you're absolutely right. It's just Kamloops' old design. Anyone have a photo of it? I'm curious what it actually looked like. Thanks to @GeneralDirection for leading me in the right, uh, general direction.

[InfiNorth]

Puttering around OpenStreetMap I noticed Bus Stop placemarks along Ord Road, which didn't seem accurate. However, when checking Google Streetview, in 2009 there appears to have been service of some level along Ord Road. Does anyone have a map or schedule from that far back? I know that Kamloops hasn't been great for keeping service around (they also cut the Airport variation of the Number 1 shortly after I moved there in 2013), so I'd be curious to see what Kamloops' service looked like at its peak. I'm going to go on a hunt for other areas no longer served. 

Edit: Another bus stop that doesn't line up with any service that I'm familiar with (2009).

[CV92]

35 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

Puttering around OpenStreetMap I noticed Bus Stop placemarks along Ord Road, which didn't seem accurate. However, when checking Google Streetview, in 2009 there appears to have been service of some level along Ord Road. Does anyone have a map or schedule from that far back? I know that Kamloops hasn't been great for keeping service around (they also cut the Airport variation of the Number 1 shortly after I moved there in 2013), so I'd be curious to see what Kamloops' service looked like at its peak. I'm going to go on a hunt for other areas no longer served. 

Edit: Another bus stop that doesn't line up with any service that I'm familiar with (2009).

Route 15 Ord Road. The route started in 2004 and was discontinued in September 2009 due to low ridership. The route was a coverage route and only ran sporadically. IIRC correctly it utilized deadheading buses from the Route 2. 

[InfiNorth]

43 minutes ago, CV92 said:

Route 15 Ord Road. The route started in 2004 and was discontinued in September 2009 due to low ridership. The route was a coverage route and only ran sporadically. IIRC correctly it utilized deadheading buses from the Route 2. 

Isn't Route 2 a loop service that begins and terminates at the same point? Was it not at the time?

[CV92]

4 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

Isn't Route 2 a loop service that begins and terminates at the same point? Was it not at the time?

With the exception that the route no longer services the former Thrupp Manor, the route hasn't changed.

In the AM, the bus would leave the yard and go into service as a Route 15 from Ord and Singh, continue down Ord where it would make a left on to Tranquille, and another left on to Crestline, from which point it would continue as an inbound Route 2 from Crestline and Fleetwood.

In the PM, the route would do the opposite. The bus would depart Lansdowne Exchange as a Route 2 as far as Crestline and Fleetwood, but from Fleetwood would turn left (instead of right) onto Crestline and continue as a Route 15 to Tranquille where it would turn right and follow through to Ord and Singh, and back to the garage.

The PM Route 15s only operated when the 1/2 Tranquille Parkcrest Night Route was operating. This way, coverage to the Crestline and Briar portion of the Route 2 was ensured. During these times of day, if a passenger needed to go to Briar, they would board a Route 1/2. Passengers disembarking along Parkcrest Ave would continue to board a standard Route 2. After the last Route 15 departed, the Route 1/2 replaced the Route 1 and Route 2 for the remainder of the evening, which essentially covered the two daytime routes as part of a one way loop: Tranquille on the outbound, Parkcrest on the inbound. 

[InfiNorth]

7 hours ago, CV92 said:

 

Interesting - I can see why that route was barely used at all. Had it been a route that continued through from the yard to 8th and then to the North Shore Exchange (or something like that) I'm sure it would have been used a bit more, but a route that goes away from the population and commercial centre of the North Shore? That seems like the kind of thing any transit planner should have been able to look at and say, "hey, maybe no one will use that and the buses should take a more direct deadhead so the time can be used elsewhere."

Thanks for the information. Are there any other discontinued routes in Kamloops that I wouldn't know about from the last twenty years (other than the 8 - I used to live along its route and use it quite a bit). Also, are you just going off memory or do you have access to old schedules and maps? I really wish that one of the university libraries or at least the provincial archives would keep old transit timetables... but they don't. I've talked to every single local, regional, university, and provincial library and archive and no one considers them important enough to save. 

[CV92]

1 hour ago, InfiNorth said:

Interesting - I can see why that route was barely used at all. Had it been a route that continued through from the yard to 8th and then to the North Shore Exchange (or something like that) I'm sure it would have been used a bit more, but a route that goes away from the population and commercial centre of the North Shore? That seems like the kind of thing any transit planner should have been able to look at and say, "hey, maybe no one will use that and the buses should take a more direct deadhead so the time can be used elsewhere."

I don't think the route was without purpose. I think it was intended to provide service to the multiple mobile home parks along this stretch of the road.

The route looks to be the most logical deadhead route for buses going to/from the garage from Crestline and Fleetwood. The bus would be travelling this route regardless, so they just changed those deadheads to in service trips. It was a no-cost way of providing introductory level coverage service to an area that had no transit service. And again, the route did continue on through to downtown. It's probably better to think of it as an extension of Route 2, as opposed to a standalone route. 

As the system expanded, it probably made sense to cancel those trips in order to allow more flexibility in terms of vehicle utilization by no longer forcing those specific Route 2 trips into a deadhead to or from the yard.

1 hour ago, InfiNorth said:

Thanks for the information. Are there any other discontinued routes in Kamloops that I wouldn't know about from the last twenty years (other than the 8 - I used to live along its route and use it quite a bit). Also, are you just going off memory or do you have access to old schedules and maps? I really wish that one of the university libraries or at least the provincial archives would keep old transit timetables... but they don't. I've talked to every single local, regional, university, and provincial library and archive and no one considers them important enough to save. 

There was the 11 Lorne. The oldest Riders Guide from Kamloops I have is from 2006. 

 

 

 

[InfiNorth]

My last two bits to contribute to Kamloops for now. The 6 City Loop only currently serves the hospital once a day... and did the same in 2014 when I lived there. However, this Google StreetView image from 2015 shows a timetable posted on the bus stop that shows several departures on it. I would assume this stop is primarily in place for HandyDART, Health Connections (as there are quite a few to Kamloops) and the Clearwater 10 Valley Connector but I still find it pretty silly to have a single local bus every day go through Royal Inland.

[Articulated]

46 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

My last two bits to contribute to Kamloops for now. The 6 City Loop only currently serves the hospital once a day... and did the same in 2014 when I lived there. However, this Google StreetView image from 2015 shows a timetable posted on the bus stop that shows several departures on it. I would assume this stop is primarily in place for HandyDART, Health Connections (as there are quite a few to Kamloops) and the Clearwater 10 Valley Connector but I still find it pretty silly to have a single local bus every day go through Royal Inland.

 Route 6 serves the hospital on every trip, with the exception of the last trip of the night on weekdays/Saturdays

[Michael Marriott]

1 hour ago, InfiNorth said:

My last two bits to contribute to Kamloops for now. The 6 City Loop only currently serves the hospital once a day... and did the same in 2014 when I lived there. However, this Google StreetView image from 2015 shows a timetable posted on the bus stop that shows several departures on it. I would assume this stop is primarily in place for HandyDART, Health Connections (as there are quite a few to Kamloops) and the Clearwater 10 Valley Connector but I still find it pretty silly to have a single local bus every day go through Royal Inland.

As stated below, route 6 serves the Hospital on every trip.  What happens once a day is that on the 3pm departure the 6 switches the order it is served, stopping at the hospital first, before doing the rest of its loop.  On all other trips, the hospital is served after the main loop on the way back to Lansdowne Exchange.

[Busmanic92]

 Wouldn't it sound better for the #7 when it routes via Battle Street to actually keep going down Battle to 6th Ave, then into Lansdowne, making the #7 from bestwick go usual down Columbia to 6th. 

 

Or just make a #8 Battle to bestwick via TRU(?) (used to have just Battle). It could start at lansdowne exchange, head up 6th to battle. Battle to Strathcona (like the 7 somewhat does) down Columbia. To bestwick area. (like the 7 now) into tru. 

Making the 18 mount paul "via lorne" route take on the downtown portion of battle Street, head onto lorne to the end (where it ends at highway 5) follows its regular routing. And returns same way. This also helps those coming out from hockey seasons or Riverside park. There used to be the short lived #11 Lorne. 

 

Darn my mind wants to take over the planning department...

 

Anyone remember 8084? I spotted it in tru as a donation! 

[Busmanic92]

Update. 9840 spotted as a school special sitting at north shore exchange. Now doing a #1 from lansdowne not even 15 min later. 
 

Cptdb kamloops page does not show 9940 as active. But kelowna page does. Will it be a loaner? 
 

**Does not have nextride capabilities so must be a loaner
 

Did we lose another cng?

[InfiNorth]

34 minutes ago, Busmanic92 said:

9840 spotted as a school special sitting at north shore exchange.

Does Kamloops have regularly scheduled school specials currently or do the schools sometimes contract BC Transit? I remember that my high school contracted a BC Transit bus to act as a school bus in Powell River many years ago (we were visiting from Vancouver). I'm surprised that there are school specials when Kamloops has a fairly large bus fleet run by the district (I would know, I used to live next to it).

[Orion6784]

1 hour ago, Busmanic92 said:

Update. 9840 spotted as a school special sitting at north shore exchange. Now doing a #1 from lansdowne not even 15 min later. 
 

Cptdb kamloops page does not show 9940 as active. But kelowna page does. Will it be a loaner? 
 

**Does not have nextride capabilities so must be a loaner
 

Did we lose another cng?

I'm thinking 9840 was brought in to replace 9705 as a contingency bus.

[M. Parsons]

1 hour ago, InfiNorth said:

Does Kamloops have regularly scheduled school specials currently or do the schools sometimes contract BC Transit?

Google is your friend. This an example of a query you could use:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bc+transit+kamloops+school+service

[InfiNorth]

30 minutes ago, M. Parsons said:

Google is your friend. This an example of a query you could use:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bc+transit+kamloops+service

Or... you could help answer the question since some systems have regularly scheduled school services that are neither in print schedules nor on signs, but are announced to school populations. Google did nothing to answer the question. Your sarcastic remark did nothing to further my knowledge, I didn't appreciate it. Kamloops Transit lists nothing about a school special anywhere in their documentation.

[M. Parsons]

21 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

Or... you could help answer the question since some systems have regularly scheduled school services that are neither in print schedules nor on signs, but are announced to school populations. Google did nothing to answer the question. Your sarcastic remark did nothing to further my knowledge, I didn't appreciate it. Kamloops Transit lists nothing about a school special anywhere in their documentation.

My fault, wrong link.

None the less, you're quite incorrect that they don't have anything listed. See the screen shot below where I have highlighted the page on school service. 

 

[bardak]

Transit in Kamloops, including HandyDART service, will expand

 

Quote

Council has approved adding one new HandyDART bus at a cost of $94,092 annually and gave the nod to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BC Transit for the next three years of further proposed expansions to conventional and custom transit, which is the city’s HandyDart service....

 

2 buses and 4,500 hours in January 2023 for the 1, 7, and 9

2 buses and 4,500 hours in 2023 for the 4, 3, and 18 

2 buses in 2024 for increased services on the  4, 16, and 17

and there is evaluation for 2024-2025 for 3 buses and 5000 hours for a new route 8

There is also new funding for handydart services as well

 

[InfiNorth]

On 9/23/2021 at 8:33 PM, bardak said:

Transit in Kamloops, including HandyDART service, will expand

 

 

2 buses and 4,500 hours in January 2023 for the 1, 7, and 9

2 buses and 4,500 hours in 2023 for the 4, 3, and 18 

2 buses in 2024 for increased services on the  4, 16, and 17

and there is evaluation for 2024-2025 for 3 buses and 5000 hours for a new route 8

There is also new funding for handydart services as well

 

Any idea what the new route 8 will be? I used to ride the old route 8 several times a week when I lived just below the university. 

[bardak]

On 9/26/2021 at 6:40 PM, InfiNorth said:

Any idea what the new route 8 will be? I used to ride the old route 8 several times a week when I lived just below the university.

I believe they want to split the 7. The 8 would take the Battle St portion going via Hillside Dr and the 7 would just do the McGill/Bestwick portion. 

[InfiNorth]

11 hours ago, bardak said:

I believe they want to split the 7. The 8 would take the Battle St portion going via Hillside Dr and the 7 would just do the McGill/Bestwick portion. 

That would make the system easier to understand, but will that come with enough extra hours to make the split into two routes with the original frequency of the one?

[XN40G]

9872 and 9878 are still very well in use to this day in this transit, does not have nextride capabilities unlike the victoria d40lfs which do, very rare treat indeed!!!

[SidneyTransitfan]

4 hours ago, XN40G said:

9872 and 9878 are still very well in use to this day in this transit, does not have nextride capabilities unlike the victoria d40lfs which do, very rare treat indeed!!!

Nice. I'll be stopping by Kamloops in about eight weeks time. Pity about the lack of Nextride... Then again though Kamloops is a small system, virtually every route goes Downtown.