Victoria airport shuttle service suspended due to low ridership
The Wilson’s Group has suspended the only shuttle bus service to Victoria International Airport indefinitely.
The company says it was forced to make the move after demand for the service dropped due to the ongoing pandemic.
The number of people requiring the shuttle to the airport was less than half of the number needed for the service to operate at the “break-even” mark, the company said.
“The ridership just isn’t there right now to make it a viable service,” said brand manager Samatha Wilson. “In an industry that was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, we just simply can’t continue to run services that aren’t viable and the numbers just aren’t there to cover the costs of running it.”
The service had been shelved at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Wilson’s had relaunched the service in August 2020 as travel restrictions started to ease and more people were choosing to travel by air.
In an effort to maintain the service and reduce operating costs, the company modified its schedule from pre-pandemic levels. It reduced trips to the airport from its Capital City station in downtown Victoria to once every 90 minutes from the pre-pandemic schedule of a trip every 30 minutes.
It also eliminated scheduled pick-up and drop-off service at Victoria hotels to reservation only.
“With restarting the service we needed to change it a little bit due to making the service work the best we could,” said Wilson. “It ran from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m. so for a large chunk of the day it was operating.”
The Victoria Airport Authority says Wilson’s remains a valued partner of the airport.
“We are working with them in terms of providing traveller-number forecasts so that when numbers return to a sufficient level, they will be able to resume scheduled service to/from the airport,” said the VAA in an email.
Wilson says the company is working with its travel and hospitality partners, such as Destination Greater Victoria and VAA, during the winter months.
She says the Wilson’s Group will monitor the numbers of passengers travelling through the airport, with the goal of bringing back the shuttle service in the spring or summer 2022.
“We certainly want to see what we can do to make it work because it’s an important service for the airport, but we can’t make it work right now,” said Wilson. “We all have to make smart business decisions coming out of this pandemic and unfortunately this is one of those decisions we had to make, but we’re hopeful we can bring the service back in the spring or summer.”
Wilson says the suspension of the airport service did not result in any job losses for the drivers who operated the shuttle buses. She says staff we moved to jobs in other divisions of the company.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”