Zunga Bus service in Powell River will be terminated at the end of the year.
At the March 20 city council meeting, during budgetary deliberations, councillor Cindy Elliott, who had to leave the meeting, said she had wanted to put forward a motion to have the Zunga Bus pilot end at the end of 2025, but had another commitment, and could not make the motion.
After Elliott left the meeting, councillor Jim Palm said Elliott was going to make a motion on the Zunga bus to end that service at the end of 2025.
“I’d like to put that motion on the floor for her and take a vote,” said Palm.
There was no discussion on the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
At the end of the council meeting during question period, now known as public clarification, the Peak sought clarification about the pilot project ending at the end of the year. During questioning, chief administrative office Lisa Bhopalsingh said it meant the service would be discontinued. She said the hope was that BC Transit could be leveraged to continue the service, which provides on-demand busing throughout Westview. She said it would mean city council’s funding for the service would end at the end of 2025.
Councillor George Doubt said council’s intention was that the pilot project, which is the Zunga Bus project, end in December.
“There wasn’t anything I heard in the motion that talked about any hope for anything other than that,” said Doubt.
Councillor Trina Isakson said the city does not know what the results of its transit review will be. She said recommendations will be made to the city based on BC Transit research and it might include on-demand busing meeting the needs of the community.
“We don’t know what that looks like yet, so who knows what council might approve in the future?” said Isakson. “In terms of the city-funded pilot project, the motion that passed is to end it at the end of the year.”
Earlier in the meeting, mayor Ron Woznow brought forward a motion that funding for the Zunga Bus, including operations and vehicle lease in the amount of $373,250, be removed from the 2025 five-year financial plan, effective July 2025, and that council direct staff to reallocate eligible projects to be funded from the climate action reserve fund in order to decrease property taxes.
“This item has been on the agenda and people have indicated that there has been considerable input, and certainly all the input I have seen has said they would like it removed from our budget,” said Woznow.
Councillor Rob Southcott said he was speaking for those who use the Zunga Bus.
“I have had plenty of correspondence and conversations from that sector,” said Southcott. “Transit is widely recognized as contributing to where we must head, because private cars, eventually, are not going to be as commonly used as they are now. There are trends across the western world in this direction. Transit is increasing, not decreasing. On-demand transit has proven effective in various small communities.”
Doubt said one of the reasons he was hesitant to support the Zunga Bus is because of the fact it does not cover all areas of the city, such as Townsite and Wildwood.
“I would have liked to use the Zunga Bus to come to a council meeting and to go home,” said Doubt. “I can’t do it, and the way the bus system works right now, I can’t get on a regular bus in a reasonable amount of time.”
Doubt said BC Transit does not support the Zunga Bus and he can’t see continuing to pay for a limited area service totally out of taxpayers funds.
Elliott said she thought the project needs an end, but it isn’t true that BC Transit decided that Powell River was not appropriate for on-demand transit. She said Powell River is on a short list for on-demand service.
“I can’t support this motion, but I could support a motion that brought an end to our pilot project at the end of 2025,” said Elliott. “Ending the pilot at that time lends us well to transitioning to the BC Transit process.”
Woznow supported his motion, as did Doubt and Palm, but the other councillors did not, so that motion was defeated.
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