In Nelson we are celebrating BC We Need a Bus Day on Friday, June 7th with a roadside sign-waving rally. Rural BC needs a full functioning public transportation system as an affordable, emission-busting alternative. That means MORE public buses, more routes, more frequency and more convenience.
We also need a public intercity coach network, better than Greyhound, to allow people who don’t drive, seniors, disabled, youth, to travel for work, to holiday or to see family.
The BC and federal governments need to step up and fully fund a complete BC Bus system.
West Kootenay Transit Action is inviting folks to join us at 10:30 am Friday June 7 in the Railtown parking lot at the bottom of Baker St. We’ll make more “I need a bus to…” signs right there and wave them along side the road. The whole event will wrap up within two hours.
For more information: WestKootenayTransitAction.ca.
West Kootenay Climate Action
hosts webinar on major transit improvements in BC
Noon, Friday March 1, 2024
The West Kootenay Transit Action group is hosting a Zoom webinar on the benefits of a major BC investment in public transit.
Economist Marc Lee from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC office will lay out the plan to make public transit affordable, accessible, inclusive, carbon-zero and a great experience for users.
Nelson City Councillor Rik Logtenberg will offer a local response following Marc Lee’s presentation of his Connecting BC report. Rik has championed major growth in rural transit and chairs the West Kootenay Transit Committee where collaborating local governments oversee transit in the Central Kootenay and the Kootenay Boundary regional districts.
The free zoom event will be Noon, Friday, March 1, 2024. It is a special one from West Kootenay Transit Action in collaboration with the West Kootenay Climate Hub which hosts monthly Friday webinars.
“The crux of the report is how greatly expanded transit can really help people,” says Keith Wiley who is with West Kootenay Transit Action. “A province-wide coach network tied into far better local bus services will provide options for thousands of seniors, youth and others, and can save families a big chunk of their high transportation costs. It can be a great step in tackling the affordability crisis and fairness for people to get to work, to health care and to visit family.”
Read more about the plan here: https://www.policynote.ca/connecting-bc/
The detailed paper was prepared in collaboration with the BC Federation of Labour.
Watch the Connecting BC webinar on a bus network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQLZ-24Jp8&t=70s
NEWS: February 9 2024.
Action group gets better name
Members of our action group voted recently to change the name to WEST KOOTENAY TRANSIT ACTION. Besides being less clunky than our previous name (Nelson Better Public Transportation Action Group), this better describes the geography we work in. In-town transit is crucial but in the Kootenays, many people could save a lot of money and gas with much better inter-community transit. Recent news about changes in BC Transit local systems should pave the way for more reliable local services in the Slocan Valley and all the way to Kaslo. ”Major increases in federal and provincial funding – permanent program funding, not contingent grants – is what it will take to make transit the real convenient and affordable alternative we need,” says Keith Wiley from the action group. The group also of course will continue to push for a full inter-city coach service, frequent affordable buses from the Kootenay to Vancouver, Kelowna, Cranbrook and Calgary. Watch for public events coming up this month!
West Kootenay Transit Action 