City of Powell River councillors passed two recommendations regarding city transit, including one which may see the Zunga Bus pilot project extended.
At the October 6 city council meeting, councillors carried the first recommendation, which stipulates funding contributions for improved service on two bus routes.
Starting in the 2023 fiscal year, there will be an additional 500 hours of service improvements for routes one and two, at an estimated annual cost of $28,183. Starting in the 2024 fiscal year, the recommendation provides for an additional 1,500 hours to improve the frequency on route one, at an estimated annual net cost of $149,859. Council carried the recommendation unanimously.
The second recommendation was for the Zunga Bus. It stated: in anticipation of the City of Powell River becoming eligible for BC Transit’s digital on demand service in 2024, staff is directed to include continued Zunga Bus service in the 2023 draft financial plan at a cost of $218,176, with funding allocated from the climate action reserve fund.
Mayor Dave Formosa said councillors had struggled with the Zunga Bus recommendation at committee of the whole. He said there was some thought about whether a decision should be made with a new city council coming in.
Formosa said he received a phone call indicating the assistant deputy minister from the provincial ministry of transportation would like to have a Zoom meeting with the mayor about Zunga. Formosa said he had spoken about it at the recent Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention.
“As it turned out, the assistant deputy minister was stuck on a plane, so two of his managers were speaking on his behalf,” said Formosa. “They were asking me about our UBCM meeting and the fact that we had asked for funding to help us with the second phase of our Zunga Bus pilot.
“We wanted to run it for a second year at a cost of $218,000. At UBCM, council pushed hard to say BC Transit is doing a pilot program in Kelowna and we will not be able to get funding because they are not going to have their answers until 2024. Can you help us?”
Formosa said the managers knew that council would be voting on the matter at the October 6 meeting. He said negotiations started.
“They are saying it can’t be a grant, it can be a memorandum of understanding, and basically, it’s just to provide data,” said Formosa. “At the end of the day, it was, how much? I said it would have to be at least half.”
Formosa said BC Transit offered $100,000, but he pointed out that half was $109,000, and BC Transit agreed. He said the memorandum of understanding has not been signed but it sounded positive to him and he is willing to take a chance on it.
“There’s half funding available to run this pilot for another year so [BC Transit] can have the data to add to the data they will receive from Kelowna,” added Formosa.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation to fund the Zunga Bus from the climate action reserve fund.
Formosa said when Zunga was established in the city, BC Transit wanted nothing to do with it.
“They didn’t have any interest and they didn’t want to go down that road,” said Formosa. “When I heard they were doing a pilot project in Kelowna, I knew for a fact it was because of us.”
The next city council will determine how to allocate the $109,000 from BC Transit, including the possible expansion of the Zunga Bus program beyond Westview, where the bus currently operates, to serve other areas of the city.
