Victoria transit plan approved: What riders can expect next

A Route 95 RapidBus vehicle travels through a bus-only lane near Uptown. The Victoria Regional Transit Plan identifies faster service, improved connections and network modernization as key priorities in the years before higher-order transit arrives.

After months of consultation, revisions and public debate, Greater Victoria has a new roadmap for transit.

The Victoria Regional Transit Commission unanimously approved the Victoria Regional Transit Plan this week, giving BC Transit and regional governments a shared vision for how the system could evolve over the next 25 years.

The plan’s long term goal is ambitious: more than double transit’s share of regional travel, from roughly 6.5 per cent today to 15 per cent by the 2050s.

That vision includes higher order transit between downtown Victoria and the West Shore, more transit priority measures, changes to the bus network, mobility hubs and better connections across the region.

But while a future rapid transit system is likely to attract the most attention, some of the plan’s biggest changes could be felt much sooner.

Higher order transit remains the long term vision

The most ambitious piece of the plan is a higher capacity transit system connecting downtown Victoria with the West Shore.

The plan does not commit the region to a specific technology. Options could include light rail, trackless trams or other forms of higher order transit operating along a dedicated corridor.

The current target is for higher order transit to enter service in the 2040s.

That may seem like a long way off, but BC Transit officials say the planning process has to begin years in advance. Major transportation projects can require extensive design work, environmental reviews, land acquisition and funding commitments before construction can begin.

For now, the plan sets a direction rather than a construction schedule.

Faster buses could come much sooner

The more immediate priority is improving the speed and reliability of existing bus service.

BC Transit estimates congestion is costing the regional system about 150,000 service hours every year. Staff have said those lost hours are equivalent to roughly three times the service currently provided by the region’s RapidBus network.

The plan therefore puts a strong emphasis on transit priority measures, including dedicated bus lanes, transit signal priority and queue jump lanes.

During the commission meeting, BC Transit staff noted that buses make up roughly three per cent of vehicle traffic on Douglas Street while carrying about 40 per cent of the people travelling through the corridor.

The argument is straightforward: giving buses priority on busy routes can move more people without requiring additional road capacity.

For riders, the intended result is faster trips, more reliable schedules and fewer delays.

The bus network could look different

The plan also calls for changes to the way the regional bus network is designed.

BC Transit calls the process “network modernization.” It could include expanding the Frequent Transit Network, strengthening connections between routes, reducing duplication and reviewing bus stop spacing along major corridors.

The agency is also looking at OnDemand transit in lower density areas.

For some passengers, the changes could mean making more transfers rather than taking a single bus directly to downtown.

The rationale is that a network built around frequent, reliable service and easy connections can serve more people than one with numerous direct routes that operate less frequently.

It could also allow passengers to travel between communities without having to go downtown first.

Road space remains a point of debate

The plan was approved unanimously, but that does not mean there is agreement on every transportation decision.

Representatives of the Downtown Victoria Business Association and Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce said they support transit investment while questioning whether some transportation assumptions made before the pandemic still reflect current travel patterns and economic conditions.

“We’re very supportive of the plan and we want to see more people taking the bus,” Downtown Victoria Business Association CEO Jeff Bray told CFAX 1070.

Bray called for transportation priorities to be reviewed before further expansion of bus lanes downtown.

“We’re just saying to the city, let’s halt our plans and to transit, let’s just halt our plans and let’s just review where we’re at right now and see whether or not those are still the priorities,” he said.

BC Transit staff pushed back on some of the concerns raised during the commission meeting.

Staff said the Highway 1 bus on shoulder lanes now under construction were not designed to accommodate general vehicle traffic, including high occupancy vehicles.

They also pointed to experience in Kelowna, where transit priority lanes were eventually opened to vehicles carrying five people and later to those carrying two. Staff said allowing more general traffic into transit priority lanes can reduce their effectiveness for buses.

Commissioners ultimately directed staff to report back on why high occupancy vehicles were not included in plans for future Douglas Street bus lanes.

The broader debate remains unresolved: how much road space should be dedicated to transit, and how much should remain available for general traffic?

Funding will determine what gets built

The plan’s approval is only the beginning.

Many of the projects identified in the document will require significant investment from senior levels of government. Others will depend on co-operation between local governments, BC Transit, the Capital Regional District and provincial agencies.

Several commissioners emphasized that the plan’s success will depend on partnerships and funding commitments beyond the commission’s control.

The commission can establish a regional vision, but it cannot independently finance major capital projects.

That means the plan provides a roadmap, but not a guarantee that every project identified in it will be built.

What happens next?

For Greater Victoria riders, the most visible changes may come well before higher order transit arrives.

Bus priority projects, network changes, improved connections and mobility hubs could begin taking shape over the coming years as individual projects move through planning, funding and implementation.

The higher order transit vision, meanwhile, remains a much longer term goal, with service targeted for the 2040s.

The final plan does not settle every transportation debate in Greater Victoria, nor does it provide a construction schedule for the region’s biggest projects.

What it does is establish a common direction for the next quarter century.

The test now will be turning that vision into funded projects and service changes that make transit faster, more reliable and easier to use.