Bus service between Sechelt and the Langdale ferry terminal will be expanded by 1,250 hours this September, BC Transit confirmed March 6.
"The added service hours begin in September. Those extra hours will be for non-peak times," said corporate spokesperson Meribeth Burton. "We are still looking at fleet impacts and have not determined if another bus is required for our service expansion."
The changes will not affect the already expanded summer service.
Brian Sagman, the manager of transportation and facilities with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), presented the March 1 infrastructure services committee with a draft schedule for the expansion of route one later this year.
A third bus will service the route between 10:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., extending three existing trips from Gibsons to Langdale and adding two additional round trips from Sechelt.
The preliminary schedule means that weekday service to the ferry will see a bus depart no more than 25 minutes after the arrival of each ferry.
On the other side of the equation, buses will arrive at least 15 minutes before each ferry's departure.
According to Sagman, the change will create an initial demand for the equivalent of .64 full-time service hours for transit drivers.
Sagman and the SCRD are also optimistic that further additions in the future could lead to a regional, half-hour service between Sechelt and Langdale.
A regional bus could be fed by a handful of local 'feeder' buses operating in areas like Roberts Creek and Gibsons.
How to create such a system without forcing regional buses to sit idle at transfer points will be a challenge to grapple with in the future, Sagman said.
"I think if we put it in a nutshell, that would be our ultimate plan," Sagman said. "We've got a lot of work to do to get to a concept for this."
