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One more to grow on

WaVE ridership continues to increase, but still room for improvement If you rode the Whistler and Valley Express in the last 12 months, pat yourself on the back – you’re one in a million. More specifically, you’re one in 2.

WaVE ridership continues to increase, but still room for improvement

If you rode the Whistler and Valley Express in the last 12 months, pat yourself on the back – you’re one in a million. More specifically, you’re one in 2.6 million, which is the 10th straight annual increase in the transit service’s 10-year history.

According to their annual report on ridership, WaVE carried 2.6 million passengers over the past year, compared to 2.3 million the year before. That’s an increase of 300,000 riders, or 13 per cent.

WaVE had the second highest ridership of the 71 public transit systems operated by B.C. Transit around B.C. Although the Whistler system only has 19 buses on the road during winter, and even fewer during the off-season, it carries more passengers for every hour of service than any other system around the province.

Last year WaVE’s performance rating was an average of 38.6 rides per hour for every bus in service, up from 37 the year before. The transit service also boasts one of the highest cost recovery rates in the province, recouping 43 per cent of operating costs from riders. The provincial average is 33.3 per cent.

Over the past six years, the Whistler system has been one of the top performing transit systems with high ridership increases, high cost recovery rates, and high hourly ridership rates.

According to Emma Dal Santo, the Traffic Demand Management Co-ordinator for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, there is still room for growth on both ends in terms of public ridership and the level of service offered by WaVE. In fact, the two numbers seem to be connected as every increase in service is surpassed in size by a subsequent increase in ridership numbers.

"There’s definitely room for more growth," says Dal Santo. "Transit is successful, but there are always ways to make it better, more attractive."

The system is usually busiest during the winter months, but Dal Santo believes that the service has potential for more growth in the off-season.

"We have bike racks on all of our buses that people can use to get to all of the popular mountain biking spots. For hikers, we go to all the popular trailheads, like the Rainbow Trail, the Interpretive Forest, all those types of recreational areas," she says.

For next season, WaVE, the municipality and local businesses are looking into the creation of an employee pass, which would possibly work with ski passes or I.D. cards. The pass will be available through payroll deduction, with both employee and employer sharing the costs.

Dal Santo is currently discussing options for the pass with Intrawest, Whistler’s largest employer, and whatever system is eventually adopted will be available to other businesses as well.

Another initiative that will increase transit use in Whistler is the expansion of late night services. Buses that used to run hourly to Alpine and Emerald now run every half hour. Buses that ran every half hour to Creekside and Bayshores now run every 15 minutes.

"We now provide service from 5:30 in the morning to 3 a.m the following morning, and while some of the morning buses might be empty, the night buses are packed," says Dal Santo. "We’re working to provide a more regular schedule you don’t have to plan your whole day around.

WaVE, which is jointly funded by the municipality and B.C. Transit, and operated by Whistler Transit Ltd., is in the process of putting together a plan to take the service through its next 10 years of development.

On the books is a plan to expand the service to 24 buses, although with the provincial government’s announced cuts to almost every sector outside of health and education, Dal Santo says WaVE might have to look into other funding alternatives.

According to a B.C. Transit letter to the municipality, the company is seeking input from local governments as part of a revue "that could result in far-reaching changes for both B.C. Transit and our local government partners."

The first goal of the review is to develop a funding and service strategy for the 2003-2004 budget year. The second phase of the review will look at funding for the following year and beyond.

The discussion paper and consultation guide for the B.C. Transit Funding and Service Strategy Review, which is due in November, says that the cost of transit services is already increasing due to inflation. Unless new funding becomes available – and the provincial budget is likely to remain flat for the foreseeable future, B.C. Transit will have to adjust for inflation by decreasing the number of employees and level of service.

There is no word as to how this scenario could affect transit service in Whistler, although Whistler councillors suggested the proposed bus service between Squamish and Whistler may not get off the ground.

Some municipalities will actually see B.C. Transit funding increases to match regional growth, while others will see funding reduced. Some municipalities may choose to increased their own contribution to local transit systems to make up for any government shortfalls.

The proposed Community Charter legislation, which among other things will grant municipalities the power to implement new taxes, could also help to subsidize transit in some areas.

The Whistler plan for the next decade, which Dal Santo hopes to submit to B.C. Transit by the end of the year, will have to take that review into consideration before WaVE can take the next step forward.