Fall schedule leaves 4-hr gap
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The change to a fall bus schedule leaves Fulford resident Lillian Mack in a bind.
On weekdays, Mack must spend more time than desired in Ganges before another bus returns to Fulford.
During the summer, a 1:10 p.m. bus filled the mid-day void, allowing residents and tourists more frequent service to Fulford and the Fulford ferry terminal.
Since the fall schedule came into effect on Sept. 28, buses leave Ganges for Fulford at 11:10 a.m. and then not until 3:10 p.m.
“This four-hour gap is problematic to passengers who live in Fulford,” Mack writes in a Sept. 23 letter to the Salt Spring Transportation Commission.
In response, commission chair Bob Fenske said Monday, “[Eliminating] the 1:10 p.m. route is in accordance with the normal fall schedule.”
Despite this rationale, Mack questions why the Vesuvius route runs six trips per weekday, while Fulford runs only five.
“I attended a transportation meeting in the spring where the ridership was carefully graphed,” Mack writes in her letter.
“The presentation indicated that the Fulford ridership exceeded the ridership on other routes.”
Mack says she is not a “business person,” but she feels “it makes little business sense to eliminate a trip where the ridership is substantial.”
That an additional bus was added to the Salt Spring Transit bus fleet this summer is another pitch for increased Fulford service that Mack states in her letter.
Fenske explains, however, that the extra bus is the fleet’s “backup bus.”
“It allows us to have regular bus rotation for regular maintenance.”
Before the new bus, the “backup” for the fleet was a van.
The commission has drafted an official response to Mack’s letter, but Fenske says the 1:10 p.m. run to Fulford from Ganges will not be reinstated — at least not for fall 2009.
“To reinstate the Fulford run on an ongoing basis would send the current budget [past its limit]. The answer is no.”
Fenske said he would like to reiterate that “the compilation of the schedule is a complex and intricate process and seemingly small changes can have considerable impact on the whole system.”
Commission members encourage the public to participate in their current service plan review, during which they are seeking input on how best to prioritize future bus service on the island.
The commission holds public meetings every other Tuesday. The next one is on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at 118 Fulford-Ganges Rd.
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