B.C. Transit is making major changes to its West Shore bus routes starting in January, to serve new developments and make it easier to connect with the rapid bus to downtown Victoria.
Nine bus routes will be restructured in line with customer demand and “rapidly increasing development” in the West Shore, the transit agency said.
The new routes and services come into effect on Jan. 8.
The goal is to connect some of the smaller West Shore routes with the 95 rapid bus route that links to downtown Victoria, said B.C. Transit spokesman Jamie Weiss.
“It’s about optimizing our service and really making it possible for people to connect from their smaller communities to the larger network.”
The changes include increasing service in areas such as Royal Bay, where there’s been limited service in the past, Weiss said. “That community is just kind of exploding with new developments and new housing.”
Senior transit planner Levi Megenbir said the last change of this size to the West Shore transit network happened about 14 years ago when the Langford transit exchange was moved from what is now Westshore Town Centre to its current location on Station Avenue.
Megenbir said network restructures can be a challenging process with a “limited pot of resources” and “a lot of needs.”
Since B.C. Transit is working with existing funding, service additions will be accompanied by slight reductions in certain areas of the West Shore that have not seen any ridership growth or new developments in the past 10 years, Megenbir said.
Starting Jan. 8, Route 52 will serve the developing Happy Valley, Latoria, and Royal Bay neighbourhoods and will stop at Royal Roads University only during peak-hour trips.
B.C. Transit is looking to eventually upgrade the line to frequent bus route status, which would mean having bus service every 15 minutes or better during peak hours.
Route 39 will now run from Royal Roads University to the University of Victoria, with extra service during peak hours and reduced service during off-peak hours to align with current ridership levels.
Service to Thetis Heights will change as routes 56 and 57 will be combined into a single 57 route that will take a slightly longer time to get to Langford exchange.
The new 49 bus route, which runs from Langford exchange to Skirt Mountain, will serve new developments there as well as residents along Setchfield Avenue and Treanor Avenue, previously served by route 56.
The 95 rapidbus route, which replaced route 50 in April, will also have new stops at the intersection of Goldstream Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway starting in January.
A local transit area plan from the Victoria Regional Transit Commission last year said while West Shore communities are still primarily auto-oriented, with low-to-medium density housing separated from commercial, industrial and service centres, land-use changes are building the foundation for better transit.
Mixed-use development and densification are emerging in key areas such as Millstream Village, Belmont Market, Royal Bay, Westhills, Bear Mountain, South Skirt Mountain and Happy Valley, the report said.
Megenbir said while the network restructure won’t help solve larger regional transportation issues like the Colwood Crawl, the changes coming in January will lay the foundation for future expansion when funding is available.
