Fares will be collected once more on BC Transit buses on the Sunshine Coast starting June 1.
Passengers will also be able to board from the front door of the bus once more. The change applies to all buses, including handyDART services.
BC Transit announced the changes in a May 4 release.
No changes to the current schedule have been made, according to Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) infrastructure services general manager Remko Rosenboom. He said they staff are “working with BC Transit to evaluate the consequences” of the restart plan proposed earlier this week and to date “haven’t determined the need to make any schedule changes yet.”
Sunshine Coast buses have been operating on a Saturday schedule seven days a week since April 6. Fares stopped being collected and rear-door loading was put into effect March 20.
To mitigate risk of spreading COVID-19 when front-door loading and fare collection starts, temporary vinyl panels will be installed “to allow for physical distancing for the operator and customers on all buses without a full driver door,” according to a release. The safety measures align with the direction from the provincial health officer.
Other safety measures will stay in effect, including enhanced cleaning, communicating physical distancing procedures to staff and bus riders and limiting the number of passengers on board.
One service that has ended on the Sunshine Coast is scheduled bus rides for health-care workers.
For a month, Sechelt Hospital staff were able to schedule bus rides to work as a way to mitigate the effects of the reduced schedule for those reliant on transit. The arrangement was discontinued Friday. “This decision was a joint decision between the SCRD and Vancouver Coastal Health and was made because of an ongoing low ridership,” Rosenboom told Coast Reporter.
