Public transit officials say the connector bus between Nanaimo and Duncan is showing increased ridership.

At the RDN transit select committee meeting Thursday, Dec. 14, Seth Wright, B.C. Transit government relations manager, presented a report with route information collected in late summer and early fall. Route 70 Nanaimo-Cowichan Express saw average daily boardings of 89 on weekdays and 84 on Saturday. The route was introduced in late March and Wright previously told the committee there were 50 rides per day initially.

March isnB次元官网网址檛 normally a time a new route is introduced, Wright told the B次元官网网址 Bulletin, and it has done B次元官网网址渆xceptionally well for being introduced at an awkward time of year.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e usually consider that it takes two years for a route to really develop consistent ridership and five years for it to really maintain and achieve its full success,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎t this point, and then comparing it to similar regional routes across the province, the route is performing very well and better than expected according to those standards.B次元官网网址�

Similarly, the Route 78 Cassidy-Airport bus, which runs on weekdays and began service in 2020, saw 23 average daily boardings.

B次元官网网址淚 think weB次元官网网址檙e happy with where that route is performing,B次元官网网址� said Wright. B次元官网网址淎irport routes tend to be low performers and just the nature of peopleB次元官网网址檚 travel to the airport, while itB次元官网网址檚 obviously a very useful service, people donB次元官网网址檛 travel to the airport every day like they travel to work every day.B次元官网网址�

The route with the most daily boardings during the time frame was the Route 40 Vancouver Island University Express with 3,500 people on weekdays. The VIU bus also saw significant use on weekends, with 2,000 boardings on average on Saturdays and 1,500 on Sundays.

Ridership was hampered due to COVID-19, but regional transit seems to be rebounding, Wright said.

B次元官网网址淛ust in the last couple of weeks weB次元官网网址檝e seen our first multiple weeks in a row of ridership thatB次元官网网址檚 been higher than COVID [times], so thatB次元官网网址檚 a real milestone in the ridership return that weB次元官网网址檙e just seeing now and we expect that will continue,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been fairly consistent steady growth of ridership.B次元官网网址�

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