Sooke and the West Shore can expect a boost in bus service, with eight buses and 20,000 additional service hours, starting this fall.

The move is to address the growing transit needs in the region.

In the expanded transit plan is a crosstown bus service running from West Hills in Langford to the University of Victoria and Victoria General Hospital.

B次元官网网址淲ould that be a benefit to our residents? Maybe, maybe not. It provides an option for someone who wants to drive maybe drive part of the way and just catch that bus,B次元官网网址� said Mayor Maja Tait, who represents Sooke on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.

Every community has a local transit area plan thatB次元官网网址檚 developed and refreshed, taking in the changes of whatB次元官网网址檚 occurring in each area and which bus connections make the most sense. Sooke is scheduled to have the local area plan developed in 2018.

B次元官网网址淭hat would be good timing, because weB次元官网网址檒l have a sense of our [official community plan], process and changes to zoning and the like,B次元官网网址� Tait said, adding it takes about a year and a half for anything the commission does to come into effect, since buses need to be ordered, funding needs to be put in place and operations need to be done.

Still, putting more buses on the road will do little to help the regionB次元官网网址檚 biggest transit problem of all: congestion.

B次元官网网址淓ven though you add service hours, buses are still running slower, because of the amount of congestion on all the roads,B次元官网网址� Tait said.

Tait said sheB次元官网网址檚 interested to see the what kind of impact the West Shore connector will have on the No. 61 bus route in the future, such as its access to the West Shore Parkway and the Trans-Canada Highway and how much faster it will take to get to downtown Victoria by bus.

It certainly hasnB次元官网网址檛 been a smooth journey so far. When the commission received the bus corridor pricing, it came in 30 per cent over budget, which didnB次元官网网址檛 matter anyway, since staff collapsed the tender before it even got to the commission.

B次元官网网址淲e didnB次元官网网址檛 even get a chance to debate it, accept it or reject it, because it was already collapsed,B次元官网网址� Tait said.

In 2011, the transit future plan aimed at revealing any added interest from South Island users in public transit, which sat last time at around 12 per cent. At the moment however, that number is in the air.

B次元官网网址淭here are gradually more people using transit, but is that from growth, or is it people choosing to take the bus. ThatB次元官网网址檚 still a question thatB次元官网网址檚 unanswered,B次元官网网址� Tait said.

Tait said the big move that would help transit move along is to have a , but the province , eliminating $6 million of funding in the process; a frustration that has lingered with Tait since she entered office.

B次元官网网址淭ransit isnB次元官网网址檛 keeping pace. ThatB次元官网网址檚 part of the challenge. You can only have fares increased to a certain level and property tax payments can only be so much, the rest of the funding has to come from somewhere,B次元官网网址� she said.