Temporary park-and-rides are being considered by directors in advance of the Langdale ferry terminal redevelopment set to start this summer.
Diana Mumford, who spoke on behalf of the Ferry Advisory Committee at a Jan. 24 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) transportation meeting, suggested park-and-rides as a means to relieve parking pressure at the Langdale terminal as construction begins.
There was some “urgency” for them, said Mumford, because construction at the Langdale ferry terminal will be starting in a few months and is expected to reduce parking availability.
“If we could find two or three locations that could be used as park-and-rides to encourage people to take transit, it would relieve the pressure on the parking lot,” she said.
Out of the directors’ ensuing deliberations came an idea from Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish to use school parking lots this summer to test the park-and-ride concept.
Elphinstone Secondary School and Roberts Creek Elementary were both raised as options since they are located on ferry terminal bus routes.
Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers said a recently sold private property in Sechelt might also work, though the owner had not been contacted.
Park-and-rides are identified as a short-term priority in the Coast’s 2014 Transit Future Plan. It was also suggested to directors by BC Transit in 2011 as a means of improving access to increase ridership.
A report looking into options will appear at a future committee.
Earlier that day at an infrastructure committee meeting, Beamish pushed for another feasibility study, this time looking at options for improving bus shelters and stops on the Sunshine Coast.
The motion arose following an overview discussion of transit on the Coast, including the fact that ridership peaked in 2011. He suggested inadequate shelters and stops could be a reason for the drop in service and that improving them is something he would “really like to see some focus on.”
Roberts Creek director Andreas Tize said he liked the idea of an “adopt a bus shelter” program to deal with capital costs and said companies willing to do the work for free had already contacted him.
West Howe Sound director Mark Hiltz suggested advertising on bus benches and Donna McMahon proposed getting solar lights.
CAO Janette Loveys thanked the board for “all the great suggestions,” and said that staff have looked into options as part of an ongoing bus shelter plan and will incorporate directors’ ideas into a future report.
At the same infrastructure committee meeting, directors voted for a draft Annual Operating Agreement between the SCRD and BC Transit to be included in this year’s budget deliberations.
The agreement governs costs and funding associated with bus operations on the Coast. This year’s draft budget is projected to require a tax increase of approximately $57,300. The SCRD had previously budgeted $147,200 for the agreement. The SCRD is responsible for 53 per cent of the share of costs and BC Transit covers 47 per cent for conventional buses.
