Fewer trips will be made into Elphinstone by the Sunshine Coast's bus system until June 25, when the summer schedule comes out and the overall operation is expanded.
Coast Reporter received an email recently from a concerned resident who wondered why a transit program that was recently approved for extra funding could be cutting back its service in Elphinstone.
It's "totally unacceptable in view of funds for bus service from the provincial government doubling," the resident wrote.
Transportation manager Brian Sagman said the change was necessary in order to ensure the efficiency of the transit network, as well as to accommodate new provisions in the Sunshine Coast Regional District's (SCRD) collective bargaining agreement, approved April 5.
"Some of the parts of the contract that apply to transit drivers have changed. We try to take advantage of the savings we can make by adjusting the schedules; essentially it involves the driver's breaks and such," he said.
On June 25, the Sunshine Coast transit system will enter its summer scheduling. During this time, all the busses will make trips to the ferry and one round-trip will be added to the total.
Officials with the SCRD are consistently "tinkering" with the scheduling to find ways to maximize the usable service available to Coasters, Sagman said.
Throughout the day, bus trips into Elphinstone are scheduled alongside the more direct trips to the ferry terminal in Langdale. Presently there are four in the morning, three in the afternoon and one at night.
The last bus to stop at Chaster and Pratt Roads during the weekday schedules lands at 9:07 p.m. or three hours after the bus before it. Before the recent change, there was another trip.
"We couldn't accommodate it because we had other constraints on the schedule that just did not allow us to do that," Sagman explained.
