It's almost time to weigh in with what type of public transit service works best for Chilliwack.
Open house events are slated for next week in Chilliwack and Agassiz to map out reaction to the latest improvements being recommended for the system, being called the largest expansion in the history of the local transit system.
City of Chilliwack, Fraser Valley Regional District and BC Transit are working to design "the kind of public transportation service that works best for you and your region," according to the release about the open houses.
BC Transit is hosting the trio Open Houses. Members of the welcome are invited to peruse the proposed options including extended service hours, added holiday service and expanded bus route coverage.
Ridership is way up in the past year and one of the reasons is Route 1, the express up and down the Yale/Vedder Road corridor.
One of the ideas in the 3-Year Plan is extending the popular Route 1 to the north and south, going as far as Menzies to better serve local school district needs, and down south to Tyson to serve the south side's growing community, development and UFV.
The Chilliwack share of the expansion costs has already been budgeted by city officials.
BC Transit officials worked with the city's transit advisory committee to address specific issues after riders offered comments and feedback during consultation sessions after the route changes were made last summer.
Now they're looking to extend evening and weekend and holiday service hours, making the schedule uniform from Monday to Saturday, and introducing stat holiday bus service at a Sunday level.
The last item being considered for the first year of the plan is to remedy some of the lost service sacrificed in the streamlining by re-establishing service to northeast and southwest parts of the city.
Year two will see the long-awaited Abbotsford/Chilliwack Express, as well as proposed earlier start and later end of service times.
For the Agassiz-Harrison bus, "one of the most successful" routes, they're looking at fixing the over-capacity issues with an added bus, or replacing smaller ones with buses with added capacity.
Chilliwack Transit Open Houses are Wednesday, May 22, Chilliwack Coast Hotel (45920 First Ave.) 6 pm – 8 pm Thursday, May 23 at Chilliwack UFV campus (45190 Caen Ave.) from 2 pm – 4 pm, and Thursday, May 23 in District of Kent Council Chambers (7170 Cheam Ave., Agassiz) 6 pm – 8 pm
Not able to attend the Open House in person? View proposed transit options and fill out survey at www.bctransit.com/transitfuture/ until May 26.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
Twitter.com/chwkjourno