Lake Country residents will have increased bus service beginning Sunday as B.C. Transit looks to increase ridership on the area’s newest bus line.
Route 32, which had previously linked the Lake’s subdivision with Bottom Wood Lake Road, will begin to service several areas around downtown Lake Country beginning next week including Swalwell Park, the seniors centre, the curling rink and the new Lake Country Food Bank.
“I think this will be a big advantage for the citizens of Lake Country,” said Coun. Bill Scarrow, also a bus driver in Lake Country.
“The ridership on the new 32 route hasn’t been really good and we’re hoping by changing the route we might improve it.”
Since it began last September, the route that connects the Lakes with main street has had a lower than expected uptake in ridership. But Scarrow says adding the new stops will allow people better access to the services around Main street, instead of just going up and down between the Lakes and the Bottom Wood Lake Road.
“Ridership has been spotty since it began but we feel we can serve some of the curlers and hockey and sports activities that occur around that area. We can get some of those people from the trailer parks up the hill that we weren’t servicing before.”
With the new Lake Country Food Bank building expected to open by the end of the year, Scarrow says it’s a perfect fit for people that will need to access the food bank and get a ride there and back.
“We need to get ridership up or we could lose the route,” said Scarrow.
“I believe the biggest component of this is the food bank and the rec. centre. People can access the food bank and then a half hour later the bus will come back and pick them up.”
The new route will run every half-hour from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and then again in the afternoon from 2 to 6:30 p.m.
Scarrow says if ridership increases and they can show demand, the hours of operation could increase in the future.
