By Katherine Gibson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 2, 2013
The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) has approved a Chilliwack-Abbotsford-Langley public bus route with a currently-scheduled start of September 2014.
The approval of this future service, which was announced on September 24, comes on the heels of the success of the Student Union Society’s (SUS) shuttle bus initiative.
SUS president Shane Potter explains that the UFV shuttle’s success highlighted the need for transportation between cities.
“There’s no denying that the success of the Chilliwack-Abbotsford shuttle bus has proven the necessity for reliable transportation between Chilliwack and Abbotsford. I believe that this type of success does not go unnoticed,” he says.
The success of the shuttle program gives Potter hope for the future of the proposed FVRD public transit system.
“A future Chilliwack-Abbotsford public connector as an option has always been the goal,” he explains.” So it’s exciting for us to know that we’re getting closer to that.”
However, the ambiguity of the city’s proposal does leave Potter with some concerns.
“There are a lot of uncertainties with this [public] bus,” he notes. “Personally, I see it as a little bit unfeasible for the city to, in 11 months, have a fully functional service.”
Potter goes on to question whether the city connector will serve students efficiently.
“You have to ask yourself whether or not this service will be useful to students,” he says. “Will it provide the options that we need? Will it provide the level of service that the students require? There are so many uncertainties with this potential bus […] that we can’t really say for sure what it will be, or what it will eventually turn into.”
Consequently, Potter still views the upcoming shuttle bus referendum, which will ask students to accept an $11 increase in fees for increased service as an important decision for students to consider.
“The referendum is about now. The referendum is about this semester. The referendum is about next semester, and it’s about the summer semester,” he explains. “The referendum isn’t about the far future.”
Potter maintains that until there is a public option that serves students, the shuttle is necessary.
“I honestly believe that there will be a public option one day and it will be great and it will fit the students’ needs – that’s the whole goal,” he says. “But until [then], we still need this campus shuttle to exist.”
Should the FVRD public transit come into effect on its proposed September 2014 date, Potter reassures students that the SUS shuttle bus service will be re-evaluated.
“I’ve always said that we are going to re-analyse the service once a public option becomes available,” he concludes. “We don’t want a redundant service; we don’t want empty buses going back and forth. The service is there to provide a level of service that’s based on the demand of the students.”
