Have you ever been passed up by a bus that’s too full? Being passed up by BC Transit buses is a regular occurrence for many students who travel along the major routes servicing both Camosun campuses and the UVic campus. Having a bus go by them has many negative impacts on students’ lives, including forcing them to be late for or miss their classes.
Last September, over 16,000 bus pass-ups were recorded in the Greater Victoria area, and the actual number of pass-ups is believed to be higher, as many go unreported. There are many reasons why pass-ups happen, but almost all of them are linked to funding and governance.
The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS), the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS), and UNIFOR 333 (Greater Victoria Bus Driver’s Union) are working together through the Make Transit Work campaign, which advocates for a reliable, quality transit system for all public transit users.
The coalition of organizers has been circulating a petition that calls on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission (VRTC) to implement bus-only lanes, ask the province for an increase on local gas tax, and lobby the province to allocate a portion of the carbon tax towards public transit.
Postsecondary students make up the single largest portion of transit riders in the region and provide over $4.5 million in funding to the system through the U-Pass. Students pay more than their fair share, and that’s why we’re petitioning the VRTC to make changes now.
The Make Transit Work coalition will be holding an awareness and appreciation day on Wednesday, December 4 at UVic from 12:30 2:30 pm.
Free hot dogs and coffee will be served and petitions will be circulated. For more information on this campaign, please visit our website at maketransitwork.com or email Simka Marshall at external@camosunstudent.org.
Thanks, Michael. We got those mystery characters fixed up.
Great Article. But something got lost in the cutting and pasting operation and a bunch of mystery characters got inserted into the text which made it hard to read.