BC Transit’s plan to bring new bus routes into Oak Bay and establish a higher frequency of service is drawing closer.
Senior planner Lindsay Taylor presented BC Transit’s Jubilee local area plan to Oak Bay council last week.
The Jubilee plan is one of nine local area transit plans that make up BC Transit’s 25-year action plan to improve and expand services in the region.
Among the proposals are a new bus route, the No. 1 (Richardson/Royal Jubilee), to connect downtown with Oak Bay. It will use the Jubilee hospital as a hub and will actually become the No. 5 and continue on to serve Willows/Fernwood.
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The No. 1 is part of a proposal to create a new hub at the hospital.
In their public consultation and analysis BC Transit identified the difficulty of traveling north to south from south Oak Bay to the University of Victoria – the biggest of the region’s five main hubs – which is difficult to make without having to transfer, Taylor said.
“It’s to not just end routes at the Royal Jubilee, but to make sure that we’re running routes through that area to facilitate transfers there,” Taylor said.
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Among BC Transit's proposals for new routes in Oak Bay /Jubilee area include the No. 1 which then turns into the No. 5 at Jubilee hospital so you can actually just stay on the bus – a transfer without transferring! pic.twitter.com/NQI1Q1HNK0
— travisApaterson (@TravisAPaterson) July 30, 2019
Other changes include tweaking the No. 2, Oak Bay/James Bay. Service for the No. 2 will increase to every 15 minutes and extend it from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will terminate at Oak Bay Marina and loop in James Bay at the other end.
“It will be a a great improvement for Oak Bay Avenue,” Taylor said.
Other changes include rerouting the No. 14 (UVic/Victoria General via Fort Street) off of Richmond Road and onto Foul Bay Road.
However, the No. 7 (UVic/Downtown) will reroute off of Foul Bay and onto Richmond.
The public consultation stage featured support for overall increased frequency, support for late night transit service, desire to maintain service on Cadboro Bay Road and a desire to ensure there is service for students at Oak Bay High, Monterey and Lansdowne. It also identified a desire to ensure service frequency and service are maintained in Fairfield and South Oak Bay.
To align with the City of Victoria’s AAA bike network, BC Transit is considering rerouting from Haultain to Bay and from Richardson to Fairfield, as Haultain and Richardson are identified as cycling corridors.
