West Kootenay Transit

[Blake M]

Didn't see a thread for this system so I created one.

Seems they've been having issues with overcrowding, so bad that it prompted Selkirk College to buy a school bus to shuttle students between their Nelson and Castlegar campuses

 

https://www.castlegarnews.com/news/missing-the-bus-transit-planners-trying-to-fix-overcrowding/

[Matt Dunlop]

Wow. That is over the rated capacity for a Vicinity bus, even a 35-footer. They should be putting a 40-foot Nova on that route (if the system has one) 

[InfiNorth]

Thanks for making a thread, I'm not a West Kootenay resident but I love that the West Kootenays have such a massive system (even if it's infrequent). I hope their system can expand to be more frequent and have larger vehicles, and act as a model of what BC Transit needs to become province wide in terms of inter-regional services.

[Blake M]

18 hours ago, Matt Dunlop said:

Wow. That is over the rated capacity for a Vicinity bus, even a 35-footer. They should be putting a 40-foot Nova on that route (if the system has one) 

When I visited the area for a week last year, each time a 33/98 arrived at Castlegar Community Complex, it was full. I believe the system only had like three novas and three full size Aero Elites (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that are used exclusively on the 99, which also I remember getting very decent ridership. Each time I rode the 98 to/from Castlegar and Trail, it was full. And it only has like 7 trips on a weekday and 3 on a Saturday, with zero Sunday service. More service on the 98/99 would drastically improve the system overall I feel.

[Articulated]

2 hours ago, Blake M said:

When I visited the area for a week last year, each time a 33/98 arrived at Castlegar Community Complex, it was full. I believe the system only had like three novas and three full size Aero Elites (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that are used exclusively on the 99, which also I remember getting very decent ridership. Each time I rode the 98 to/from Castlegar and Trail, it was full. And it only has like 7 trips on a weekday and 3 on a Saturday, with zero Sunday service. More service on the 98/99 would drastically improve the system overall I feel.

Here is your correction. On the Nelson side, they have 4 Novas (not 3) and two Vicinity buses.

The Aero Elite buses belong to the Kootenay Lake West side, meaning they mostly do the long-distance trips like the 20 to Slocan and the various Health Connections. West Kootenay has received more Aero Elite buses since my last visit in 2017, so I am uncertain whether those now run on the 99.

The Kootenay-Boundary side runs things in Castlegar and Trail, including the 33/98. They only have Vicinity buses (and Arbocs as paratransit/local backup in Castlegar), as the pair of D40LFs have retired or moved elsewhere.

[Blake M]

1 hour ago, Articulated said:

Here is your correction. On the Nelson side, they have 4 Novas (not 3) and two Vicinity buses.

The Aero Elite buses belong to the Kootenay Lake West side, meaning they mostly do the long-distance trips like the 20 to Slocan and the various Health Connections. West Kootenay has received more Aero Elite buses since my last visit in 2017, so I am uncertain whether those now run on the 99.

The Kootenay-Boundary side runs things in Castlegar and Trail, including the 33/98. They only have Vicinity buses (and Arbocs as paratransit/local backup in Castlegar), as the pair of D40LFs have retired or moved elsewhere.

Thanks for the info.

As of April 2019, the Aero Elites do specific trips on the 99

[SidneyTransitfan]

34 minutes ago, Blake M said:

Thanks for the info.

As of April 2019, the Aero Elites do specific trips on the 99

The trips on the 99 that the Aero Elites do are the short-turned trips between Nelson and Playmor Junction. They then become Slocan-bound buses (and similarly in the obverse direction, 20s become 99s at Playmor to Nelson.

[Articulated]

Some sad news out of Castlegar; a courier van crossed the centre line on Highway 3A and collided with a BC Transit bus on June 30th, with a student from Quebec sustaining fatal injuries in the collision. The victim was seated next to the window where the van collided with the bus.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8965373/quebec-student-life-support-courier-van-collides-bc-transit-bus/

[RZ350]

13 hours ago, Articulated said:

Some sad news out of Castlegar; a courier van crossed the centre line on Highway 3A and collided with a BC Transit bus on June 30th, with a student from Quebec sustaining fatal injuries in the collision. The victim was seated next to the window where the van collided with the bus.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8965373/quebec-student-life-support-courier-van-collides-bc-transit-bus/

Damn, that is Sad news.