Bus routes travelling through Davis, Foster, and Baker Roads up for Council vote

Prince George City Council will discuss options for a pair of transit routes at Wednesday’s meeting.

According to a report going before Prince George City Council on Wednesday, Routes 88 Westgate and 89 Hart are experiencing demand beyond capacity, and challenges with service reliability.

Routes 88 and 89 form a “north-south spine” of the transit network in the City, serving the College Heights neighbourhood, Westgate Mall, Pine Centre Mall, Prince George Secondary, the College of New Caledonia, Spruceland Mall, and the Hart.

The changes being looked at come at the south end of Ospika Boulevard.

On the current route, buses travelling south along the route travel on Ospika Boulevard, onto Davis Road, Foster Road, Baker Road, and then onto Tyner Boulevard.

Travelling north, buses follow the same route in the reverse direction.

A proposed route would have buses travel to the intersection of Ospika and Tyner, without going through the neighbourhood.

The report acknowledges the new routing would result in reduced coverage for the Davis, Foster, and Baker Roads area, and users would have to walk to either Ospika or Tyner to access transit.

In the fall of 2023, City Staff and BC Transit conducted public engagement, which showed 72 per cent of 263 respondents were in favor of shifting the route.

Of the 28 per cent of respondents voting against the changes, some provided comments expressing concern about the reduction in service.

City staff and BC Transit also came up with alternative service patterns that would maintain coverage in the neighbourhood:

• One-direction is maintained along Baker, Foster and Davis Roads (89), while the other direction routes via Ospika and Tyner;
• Alternating trips serve Baker, Foster, and Davis roads, while the balance of trips route via Ospika and Tyner; or
• Targeted service in this area during specific times of day

At Wednesday’s council meeting, City Council will vote to have administration work with BC Transit on one of three options for the routes:

• All trips travel via existing route, via Davis, Foster, and Baker Roads;
• All trips route via the proposed routing, via Ospika and Tyner Boulevards; or
• Some trips route via the existing routing, while some route via the proposed routing