How Greater Victoria can fix its buses before rapid transit arrives

Passengers depart from a Route 72A bus in downtown Victoria. The recently introduced service provides direct connections between downtown Victoria and Victoria International Airport during early-morning and late-night hours. The Victoria Regional Transit Plan identifies similar incremental improvements as a way to enhance transit service before higher-order transit arrives. (Josh Hylden/CFAX 1070)

When BC Transit announced new early morning and late night service between downtown Victoria and Victoria International Airport, the change may have seemed modest.

Route 72A adds only a handful of direct trips each day.

But that small change points to a much bigger question for Greater Victoria: What can be done to make transit better while the region waits for higher order transit?

Quite a lot, according to the Victoria Regional Transit Plan.

The plan lays out a series of changes that could make buses faster, service more reliable and connections easier long before a major transit line is built.

For passengers, those improvements could mean less time waiting, fewer missed connections and a more predictable trip across the region.

And unlike a major transit project, many of them can happen incrementally.

Give buses a better chance to move

One of the biggest problems facing transit in Greater Victoria is not necessarily a shortage of buses.

It is what happens to those buses once they hit the road.

BC Transit says average bus speeds across the Capital Region have fallen by about 10 per cent since 2010 as congestion has increased.

That slowdown carries a substantial cost.

Congestion now accounts for roughly 150,000 lost service hours each year, equivalent to more than one sixth of the system’s annual service.

BC Transit says those hours could instead be used to provide significantly more transit. The agency estimates the service currently lost to congestion could support roughly three times as much Rapid Bus service.

For passengers, slower buses can mean longer trips, missed connections and less confidence that a scheduled arrival time is actually when the bus will show up.

For BC Transit, the problem is even broader. More time spent sitting in traffic means more resources are needed simply to maintain existing schedules, leaving less room to expand service.

The regional plan identifies transit priority measures, including bus lanes, transit signal priority and queue jump lanes, as some of the most important investments that can be made in the short and medium term.

Projects on Douglas Street, Highway 1, Island Highway and McKenzie Avenue are already intended to help buses move more efficiently through some of the region’s busiest corridors.

Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, said improving frequency should remain a basic priority.

“The starting point is just more frequent service,” he said in an interview with CFAX 1070.

But frequency becomes harder to deliver when buses are spending more time stuck in traffic.

Giving buses priority can help existing service run more reliably while also making better use of the service hours already available.

Rethink the network, not just the routes

More buses are only part of the answer.

The regional plan also calls for a significant rethink of how those buses are connected.

“Network modernization” is identified as one of the first major actions expected after approval of the Victoria Regional Transit Plan.

That work could include expanding the Frequent Transit Network, improving connections between routes, reducing duplication and exploring OnDemand transit in lower density communities.

For some passengers, that could mean making more transfers.

At first glance, that may sound like a worse experience.

But a direct bus that comes infrequently is not necessarily more convenient than a frequent bus that connects reliably to another route.

That is particularly important as Greater Victoria’s population grows and travel patterns become more complicated.

Litman said transit does not need to offer a one seat ride between every pair of destinations to be useful.

A network built around frequent service and dependable connections can give riders more flexibility and reduce the amount of time they spend waiting.

The shift is less about preserving every existing route and more about making the entire network work together.

Start improving regional connections now

The airport service offers a small but tangible example of that approach.

Victoria International Airport, the Swartz Bay ferry terminal and Sidney are identified in the regional plan as important destinations on the Saanich Peninsula.

The long term vision includes Regional Express service and, eventually, Rapid Transit along Highway 17.

But passengers do not have to wait for those projects to see changes.

“It’s really that first incremental step,” Levi Megenbir, BC Transit’s manager of service planning told CFAX 1070.

Megenbir said the service responds to concerns raised during public engagement, particularly around when transit is available and how easily passengers can reach the airport.

“It solves some of those key challenges we heard through engagement around service span and starting to provide easier connections to the airport,” he said.

That philosophy could apply well beyond the airport.

A few additional trips, longer operating hours or a better timed connection may not make for a dramatic ribbon cutting.

For someone catching an early flight or trying to get home after a late shift, however, those changes can make the difference between transit being an option and transit being impractical.

Make the wait part of the journey better

A transit trip is not just the time spent on a bus.

It also includes the minutes spent standing at a stop, changing buses and finding a way to continue the journey on foot or by bike.

The regional plan calls for continued investment in transit hubs, exchanges and passenger amenities.

Projects include the Sidney Transit Hub, mobility hubs at Uptown and Six Mile Road, additional West Shore Rapid Bus stations and continued expansion of the regional shelter program.

The aim is to make transfers easier and waiting more comfortable while creating stronger connections between transit and other ways of getting around.

Litman said the physical experience matters, too.

“It would be really nice to have attractive stations,” he said.

That can mean better shelters, clearer information, more comfortable waiting areas and facilities that make transfers feel like part of a functioning network rather than an interruption to the trip.

Make the system easier to use

Some of the most meaningful changes may be less visible.

The plan calls for continued modernization of handyDART booking systems, dispatch technology and electronic fare systems.

It also calls for a closer look at bus stop spacing and the harmonization of stops along major corridors.

Those details can have a direct impact on travel times.

Every additional stop adds time to a bus trip. Better spacing can help buses move more efficiently without simply adding more vehicles.

Improved dispatch technology can also help the system respond to disruptions and keep service moving.

Other transit systems have introduced measures such as all door boarding and off board fare collection to reduce the time buses spend stopped at stations.

Litman said Greater Victoria has room to make the experience more seamless.

“We could have much more convenient information and payment systems,” he said.

For passengers, that could mean spending less time figuring out how to pay, when the next bus is coming or whether a connection will still be there when they arrive.

Better transit does not have to wait

Higher order transit remains a major long term goal for Greater Victoria.

But the regional plan makes another point that could matter just as much to passengers in the years ahead: the system does not have to stand still while larger projects are planned.

Buses can be made faster by giving them priority on congested roads. Routes can become more useful through better frequency and connections. Stations and shelters can make waiting more comfortable. And technology can make the system easier to understand and use.

None of those changes has the visual impact of a new rapid transit line. They can, however, change what it feels like to take the bus every day.

A faster bus means less time on the road. A reliable connection means less time waiting. A better shelter makes a rainy transfer a little easier. A simpler payment system removes another small barrier from the trip.

Those improvements may not grab headlines in the same way as a major transit project.

For the passenger standing at a bus stop on a dark morning, they may matter just as much.

Greater Victoria’s transit future may eventually be defined by higher order transit. But it does not have to begin there.

It can begin by making the buses already on the road faster, more reliable and easier to use.