Thursday January 27, 2022 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Service challenges continue in Victoria Regional Transit System.
BC Transit is advising riders of potential service disruptions in the Victoria Regional Transit System due to an ongoing labour shortage further impacted by COVID-19 effects on employee wellness.
This is resulting in the need to sometimes alter schedules and cancel trips on short notice, which is a challenge currently being faced by many other transportation agencies.
Particularly in 2020 during the first waves of the COVID pandemic, the use of public transit plummeted in the Greater Victoria area, as well as in the TransLink system in the Greater Vancouver area.
Public transit was one of the first public spaces where people wore (or were asked to wear) face masks as a layer of protection against spread of the virus
Impacts on riders:
BC Transit says it understands the impact these disruptions have on riders and does its best to notify customers immediately.
Once a trip cancellation has been confirmed, alerts are issued on BC Transit’s website.
Riders are encouraged to use NextRide, Transit App, and to check for alerts regularly by visiting https://www.bctransit.com/victoria/schedules-and-maps/alerts.
Alerts:
Riders may also sign up for route-specific alerts that will be emailed to them directly. BC Transit and the Victoria Regional Transit Commission work hard to match service with demand, and continue to ensure reliable transportation services are available for customers.
Maintaining service at 98%:
Despite these necessary trip cancellations, BC Transit is able to maintain approximately 98% of scheduled service and our team does their best to ensure the impact to customers is minimized.
When cancellations occur, BC Transit tries to maintain a balanced schedule to ensure all routes remain active, but with slightly less frequency. BC Transit is continuing with driver recruitment to mitigate future risk of service disruptions.
===== RELATED:
BC Transit service changes starting Jan 3 (December 18, 2021)
BC Transit service improvement engagement in Cowichan Valley (October 29, 2021)