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4 minutes ago, Dane said:

Yesterday an older generation Nova passed me on Yates. I'm bad with Nova generations, but one with the half back window unlike every other Nova in Victoria. I didn't catch a fleet number, unfortunately.

It wasn't a Cowichan Valley unit. 

I knew for a while we had 3 (?) Of these older Novas but I hadn't seen one in months. Has this unit been here all this time, or is it a recent arrival? 

Might have been 9308, it's hanging around Victoria after short assignments in Vernon and Powell River. It's the only 2nd gen Nova I'm aware of in Victoria at the moment.

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33 minutes ago, Dane said:

Yesterday an older generation Nova passed me on Yates. I'm bad with Nova generations, but one with the half back window unlike every other Nova in Victoria. I didn't catch a fleet number, unfortunately.

It wasn't a Cowichan Valley unit. 

I knew for a while we had 3 (?) Of these older Novas but I hadn't seen one in months. Has this unit been here all this time, or is it a recent arrival? 

Was it in service? It may have been coming from another system for maintenance... I have seen them being shuttled between systems before. 

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5 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

Was it in service? It may have been coming from another system for maintenance... I have seen them being shuttled between systems before. 

Yeah. I'm figuring that 9308 answer above had got to be it. Forgot the route number now, but did have a number displayed cruising down Yates. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've asked the trusty Gus on Twitter, but I'll ask here too: the 26 Crosstown service started in 1975. Does anyone know what exact route it followed? Is it the same as the 26 we have today? At the time there was also a 16 Cadboro Bay, which wasn't included in the normal Victoria timetables.

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28 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

I've asked the trusty Gus on Twitter, but I'll ask here too: the 26 Crosstown service started in 1975. Does anyone know what exact route it followed? Is it the same as the 26 we have today? At the time there was also a 16 Cadboro Bay, which wasn't included in the normal Victoria timetables.

 

 

Route 26 Westbound: From Sinclair at Cadboro Bay Road via Sinclair, Finnerty, McKenzie, Saanich, Vernon, Douglas, Boleskine, Harriet, Burnside, Tillicum, Transfer, Lampson, Esquimalt, to HMC Dockyard.

Route 26 Eastbound: From HMC Dockyard via Esquimalt, Lampson, Transfer, Tillicum, Burnside, Harriet, Boleskine, Douglas, Vernon, Saanich, McKenzie, Finnerty, Sinclair, Hobbs, Penrhyn, Cadboro Bay to Sinclair. 

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On 1/16/2021 at 5:46 PM, CV92 said:

Route 26 Westbound: From Sinclair at Cadboro Bay Road via Sinclair, Finnerty, McKenzie, Saanich, Vernon, Douglas, Boleskine, Harriet, Burnside, Tillicum, Transfer, Lampson, Esquimalt, to HMC Dockyard.

Route 26 Eastbound: From HMC Dockyard via Esquimalt, Lampson, Transfer, Tillicum, Burnside, Harriet, Boleskine, Douglas, Vernon, Saanich, McKenzie, Finnerty, Sinclair, Hobbs, Penrhyn, Cadboro Bay to Sinclair. 

Very interesting that the 26 did a loop for direct service to Cadboro Bay. Pretty sad that the Sinclair hill has thrice daily service now. 

Do you happen to have the routing of the old 16 Cadboro Bay? Was it something like the 13?

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  • 2 weeks later...

The transfers from Central Fraser Valley have started to arrive. 9288, 9301, and 9306 arrived on property earlier this week. This likely spells the end for a significant number of the 9800 Flyers still left in service. 

On 1/19/2021 at 6:10 PM, InfiNorth said:

Very interesting that the 26 did a loop for direct service to Cadboro Bay. Pretty sad that the Sinclair hill has thrice daily service now. 

Do you happen to have the routing of the old 16 Cadboro Bay? Was it something like the 13?

Route 16 outbound: From Yates and Douglas via Broad, Johnson, Douglas, Hillside, Lansdowne, Cadboro Bay, Telegraph Bay, Arbutus, Finnerty to Sinclair. 

Route 16 inbound: From Finnerty and Sinclair via Finnerty, Arbutus, Telegraph Bay, Cadboro Bay, Lansdowne, Hillside, Douglas to Yates.

Present day, the 11 covers this portion of the route. However, at this point in time, the 11 did not continue beyond the Uplands. 

There are only 2 stops on Sinclair that are not served by other routes, and these 2 are in relatively close proximity to other routes. It's fine to point out the limited nature of the current Route 13, but you shouldn't neglect to acknowledge that Cadboro Bay has a far higher level of service now than it did in the past. The current setup allows far more residents in the area to have access to a higher level of transit service than the system of the 1970s did. 

Edited by CV92
Mistakenly referred to it as Route 13 instead of 16
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On 1/28/2021 at 1:39 PM, CV92 said:

Route 13 16 outbound: From Yates and Douglas via Broad, Johnson, Douglas, Hillside, Lansdowne, Cadboro Bay, Telegraph Bay, Arbutus, Finnerty to Sinclair. 

Route 13 16 inbound: From Finnerty and Sinclair via Finnerty, Arbutus, Telegraph Bay, Cadboro Bay, Lansdowne, Hillside, Douglas to Yates.

I was asking about the 16 Cadboro Bay in 1976, but thank you for that information. Good to know as always. (CV92 updated- thanks!) Is there any chance you could share some of your collection of timetables?

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5 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

I was asking about the 16 Cadboro Bay in 1976, but thank you for that information. Good to know as always. Is there any chance you could share some of your collection of timetables?

My mistake. That was the Route 16. Brain fart because I had Route 13 on my mind ?

I've edited the original post. To clarify, there was no Route 13 in 1976. Regarding the timetables, some day I would like to digitize them although I'm short on time and resources right now. 

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14 hours ago, CV92 said:

My mistake. That was the Route 16. Brain fart because I had Route 13 on my mind ?

I've edited the original post. To clarify, there was no Route 13 in 1976. Regarding the timetables, some day I would like to digitize them although I'm short on time and resources right now. 

Well if the pandemic wasn't going on I'd volunteer to help you (I know how time consuming digitizing timetables can be) but, you know, "no interactions" and all that. I'd be happy to donate a bit to have access to those. No institution (I've contacted every university, archives, and library to ask) in BC has an archival record of BC Transit's historical timetables, and BC Transit refuses to make them public (which bothers a lot since they are publicly funded). Again, I've asked politely, and been told no politely. On multiple occasions. The last time I asked I was told that the only way to access them would be to submit a Access of Information request and then I would be on the hook for funding the time it took to digitize any non-digital documents if they even accepted the request. 

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On 1/16/2021 at 5:46 PM, CV92 said:

Route 26 Westbound: From Sinclair at Cadboro Bay Road via Sinclair, Finnerty, McKenzie, Saanich, Vernon, Douglas, Boleskine, Harriet, Burnside, Tillicum, Transfer, Lampson, Esquimalt, to HMC Dockyard.

Route 26 Eastbound: From HMC Dockyard via Esquimalt, Lampson, Transfer, Tillicum, Burnside, Harriet, Boleskine, Douglas, Vernon, Saanich, McKenzie, Finnerty, Sinclair, Hobbs, Penrhyn, Cadboro Bay to Sinclair. 

February 1974 was the start date for the 26 Crosstown, 927 Gordon Head, and 28 Majestic.

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On 1/16/2021 at 5:46 PM, CV92 said:

Route 26 Westbound: From Sinclair at Cadboro Bay Road via Sinclair, Finnerty, McKenzie, Saanich, Vernon, Douglas, Boleskine, Harriet, Burnside, Tillicum, Transfer, Lampson, Esquimalt, to HMC Dockyard.

Route 26 Eastbound: From HMC Dockyard via Esquimalt, Lampson, Transfer, Tillicum, Burnside, Harriet, Boleskine, Douglas, Vernon, Saanich, McKenzie, Finnerty, Sinclair, Hobbs, Penrhyn, Cadboro Bay to Sinclair. 

That Crosstown routing via Vernon must have been short lived when the 930 douglas first started..   Found the ad in the Victoria Express newspaper (colonist and times were on strike that week)  and:  The 26, 927, 28 and 928 routes  started Feb. 22, 1974. Have a pic Wally Young took of a 26 waiting to go into service at Gorge at Tillicum from that month.  The original routing  was Boleskine, Saanich  Mckenzie in both driections.  The Vernon routing would have been to make connection with the 930 and 19/919 circa 1975, but when the 919 ended around 1977 the 26 reverted and the 930 routed douglas, Vernon, Carey in both directions meeting the 26 at Saanich and Seymour (now Blanshard)

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33 minutes ago, Les Broughton said:

That Crosstown routing via Vernon must have been short lived when the 930 douglas first started..   Found the ad in the Victoria Express newspaper (colonist and times were on strike that week)  and:  The 26, 927, 28 and 928 routes  started Feb. 22, 1974. Have a pic Wally Young took of a 26 waiting to go into service at Gorge at Tillicum from that month.  The original routing  was Boleskine, Saanich  Mckenzie in both driections.  The Vernon routing would have been to make connection with the 930 and 19/919 circa 1975, but when the 919 ended around 1977 the 26 reverted and the 930 routed douglas, Vernon, Carey in both directions meeting the 26 at Saanich and Seymour (now Blanshard)

Post script: the 930 douglas commenced service Decmeber 12 1975 and the 26 crosstown routing via Vernon commenced at that time.

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3 hours ago, Les Broughton said:

Post script: the 930 douglas commenced service Decmeber 12 1975 and the 26 crosstown routing via Vernon commenced at that time.

Interesting, the general system schedule only included the 927/928, no mention of the 930 or 919. I assume three-digit buses were express routes? 

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15 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

Interesting, the general system schedule only included the 927/928, no mention of the 930 or 919. I assume three-digit buses were express routes? 

Specifically, fastBUS routes, which generally had a limited stop component, at least when they were introduced in the mid 1970s.  If your timetable is pre december 1975,  before the 919 and 930, service on Douglas St was provided by2 baseline routes: 19 CAREY (to town and country, now uptown, and beyond to Carey/Glanford neighburhood)  and 18 DOUGLAS-BECKWITH (Douglas to Cloverdale, then Cloverdale, Calumet, Saanich, McKenzie, Quadra to Beckwith and return)  supplement by the MAYFAIR SHUTTLE, which ran from town to Mayfair... 

 

 

 

 

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Again, for people trying to see how BC Transit worked further on one this information is deleted from the website, here is BC Transit's response to about eight inches of snow. For reference, during last year's "big dump," lots of routes were still operational. The most notable absence of service, being a Saanich resident, is total suspension of the 26, 27, 28 and 39 routes, meaning there is no way whatsoever to access to the transit system from Gordon Head. During the storm last year, I took advantage of the 39 to get to Mount Doug to safely stay out of my car but still enjoy the snow... that being said we weren't in the middle of a plague. At that time there were multiple people on the bus with skis and snowboards heading to Churchill Drive.

 

4 UVIC/Downtown -  Regular Route
6A Emily Carr Drive/6B Chatterton Way– stays on Quadra Street in both directions – Not servicing Emily Carr Drive or Chatterton Way
14 UVIC – from Victoria General Hospital, right Helmcken, left Trans Canada Highway, right Admirals, left Craigflower to regular route 
14 UVic - from Richmond, right Lansdowne, left Foul Bay, follow onto Henderson, to University Dr., to regular route
14 Vic General - from Craigflower, right Admirals, left Trans Canada Highway to Helmcken,  Watkiss Way, left into Victoria General Hospital
14 Vic General - from UVic, right University Dr, follow onto Henderson to Foul Bay, right on Lansdowne, left Richmond to regular route
15 UVIC/Esquimalt – Regular Route
50 Langford/Downtown -  Regular Route
61 Sooke/Langford – Sooke Rd is closed in both directions.  
70 Swartz Bay/Downtown -  Regular Route
72 Swartz Bay – from Patricia Bay Hwy, left Mt Newton Cross, right East Saanich Road to regular route
72 Downtown – from East Saanich Road, left Mt Newton Cross, right Patricia Bay Hwy to regular route

Where ya goin buddy?

6Downtown.PNG

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Proposed service changes to 53 Atkins in June 2021. I don’t really see any downsides to the change, apart from the removal of service along Goldstream Ave west of Leigh Rd, which gets you close to the Langford Lake boardwalk and trail (north side):

- no backtracking to Colwood Exchange; can transfer to the frequent 50/future RapidBus if needed

- year-round service to Thetis Lake

- direct service to VGH and Eagle Creek, with some weekday trips to/from Victoria (a new VGH-Downtown express service!)

Engage survey available for next couple of weeks.

https://www.bctransit.com/victoria/news?nid=1529711621950

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1 hour ago, ygk said:

Proposed service changes to 53 Atkins in June 2021. I don’t really see any downsides to the change, apart from the removal of service along Goldstream Ave west of Leigh Rd, which gets you close to the Langford Lake boardwalk and trail (north side):

- no backtracking to Colwood Exchange; can transfer to the frequent 50/future RapidBus if needed

- year-round service to Thetis Lake

- direct service to VGH and Eagle Creek, with some weekday trips to/from Victoria (a new VGH-Downtown express service!)

Engage survey available for next couple of weeks.

https://www.bctransit.com/victoria/news?nid=1529711621950

I'm all for streamlined, more usable services, and I know old 1A doesn't have that many people living on it, but it's always a little disappointing to see services discontinued. In general, the West Shore needs way better coverage and this could be a start. 

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https://www.vicnews.com/news/regional-district-directors-ask-province-to-connect-public-transit-across-the-island/

They heard our pleas! Now if only there was even an inkling of a chance of this being realized, then it would be great.

Quote

BC Transit has facilitated the connection between the RDN and the Cowichan Valley Regional District – service should commence in September 2022.

Does anyone have more information on this claim?

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Wesbild's plans for redevelopment of University Heights Mall (which lies at the intersections of routes 16, 17, 26, 27, 28, 51, 39 and acts as the terminus for routes 12, 24, 27X and 28X) include the following quote: 

Quote

The redevelopment would update the 1980s-era shopping mall with 598-permanent rental homes, 60 affordable rental suites, an up to 11,000-square foot daycare, cycling infrastructure, public plaza, community spaces, B.C. Transit hub, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and modern, new commercial space.

https://universityheightsvictoria.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Wesbild-Media-Release-UH-October-7-2020.pdf

Does this mean that sometime in the next five years we're going to see University Heights becoming a major player in the transit system like Uptown has become? There is already one bus which has the destination board "University Heights" (12), and one that, according to naming policy, should have the same destination board (24). Does anyone know if these plans are for anything more than what are effectively just "deluxe bus stops" like we have at Uptown?

 

On another note, yesterday I was working up in Sidney and saw a 72 with a destination board reading only McTavish Exchange. It didn't cycle through Downtown/via McTavish Exchange or anything, just purely locked on 72 McTavish Exchange. Is there a school special for the middle school up there that isn't in the timetable? I dumb

Edit: Just noticed that in the inbound schedule there is a very short turn 72 that operates between Parkland School (McDonald Park at Bayfield SB) @ 3:28 and arriving at McTavish @ 3:34. That must be, in terms of the percentage of the route that is cut off by the alternate routing, the shortest short-turn in all of Victoria.  

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