November 2020 Pandemic Reflections on the Bus - Town of Smithers
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November 2020
Pandemic Reflections on the Bus
Island Health’s newest medical health officer Dr.
Sandra Allison published an opinion editorial
about riding the bus during the COVID-19
pandemic.
NOVEMBER 26, 2020
As a public health physician in the middle of a
global pandemic, some people are surprised I
still use public transit to get me to and from
work. Public transit is responsible, efficient, safe, climate aware and provides medium quality
alone time. I usually listen to podcasts or loud music to gain some therapeutic advantage over
the day’s busy schedule.
The pandemic is such a stressful time for everyone. Riding public transit is a good test of the
community’s fear and resilience and it is overall enjoyable with so much to see on any given
day. I live in a temperate climate on the west coast of Canada, on Vancouver Island in a
midsize city, and lots of people are still riding transit, heeding and disregarding precautions in
their own way. And on this particular day, I sat on the bus, bobbing my head to Black Sabbath, I
watched the masked man across from me curiously.
It wasn’t raining that day, and while I was unzipped in my layers, I was feeling warm in my rain
jacket and fleece, glad the window on the bus was open for ventilation; I was enjoying a bit of a
breeze. This masked man across from me, looked a bit like Kenny from South Park. He had his
rain gear on, hood up, buttoned tight, with his N95 mask, and his nervous eyes, darting side to
side. He looked from his phone to the window, furtively, looking around the bus, at each rider.
It’s still pretty easy to space yourself six feet by six feet on the bus and most people are wearing
a mask. Only a few people wearing only a chin or mouth mask, with their nose particles flowing
freely unimpeded. We have all seen them and wondered why they even bothered wearing a
mask, probably just to ride the bus, I bet.
But the man with the hood seemed nervous, darting eyes, fully zipped. Afraid. Coronavirus is a
tenacious virus that readily infects people who don’t heed the basics. Those that spend time
with someone who is infected, closely putting heads together, without masks, eating, talking,
loving each other, like humans do. You could tell this wasn’t happening easily with the man in
the hood. He was ready for anything, over protected in an N95 mask, nothing was penetrating
his defences.
While he sat there with eyes darting, he seemed to startle himself as he caught his reflection in
the window. He began to unzip his layers: Rain Gear, Hoodie 1, Hoodie 2, all removed. I was
surprised to see a young, university aged man, with a brown ponytail, still N95 masked. He
fixed his hair in the reflection. He settled his multi-layers and hoods. And he smiled with his
eyes at himself. I was smiling. I wonder if he saw.
During times of fear, we can turn into people we don’t recognize. Hopefully if you glance at yourself and find someone else, you will take another look to see what you are afraid of, what you are baring your teeth at, zipping up to protect yourself from. If you find that during these terribly difficult times, that you are reacting in ways you never thought you would, lashing out, consider how fear is playing into your life, and how you might be responding out of fear, and what you could do differently. Being afraid at a time of uncertainty is not unexpected and being empowered with your own agency is important and healthy. Defeating this virus comes with some certainties. You can protect yourself by washing your hands and keeping your social contacts limited to those that are within your bubble. Keep a safe distance from everyone else. Wear a mask when you are out in public, and especially if you cannot maintain safe physical distance from others. Please recognize that we sometimes don’t know other people’s circumstances, there may be good reasons why they are unable to follow guidelines. We need to be generous with others in these difficult times. If you are finding your fear is overwhelming you and taking simple action seriously is not enough, consider whether anxiety is becoming something you should discuss with your primary care provider. If you are in crisis, call 1-888-494-3888 anytime. Fear, anxiety, uncertainty and loss of control. Sounds about right for the midst of a pandemic. Remember that fear makes us act differently, sometimes you may not even recognize yourself or your family members. You just might startle yourself when you look in the mirror. If that happens, take a moment to ground yourself. Peer carefully at yourself and your values. Are you aligned or are you afraid? Peel off those layers of defence and return to yourself and your core values. I hope the bus rider saw me smile with my eyes at him. Connection in society is protective, and with our current defences of masks and distancing, we may feel even more disconnected and fearful of each other. I have started to give a smile and a nod. Hopefully we can feel safe with each other if we all take our basics more seriously. We can control some of the fear that changes us for the worse and negatively affects our health, even if we don’t catch the COVID. If you feel like things are out of control and you are not sure what you can do to protect yourself from coronavirus, try to offset fear by taking control over some small actions in your life. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself that are really simple: Wash your hands Keep your distance from others, more than two metres or six feet Wear a mask in public places, especially if you can’t keep your distance from others, and if you are a healthcare worker always wear your PPE, and do not drop your defences. If you are sick, stay home, and seek coronavirus testing, seek emergency care if you are very sick. If your fears are overwhelming and more likely anxiety, contact your primary care provider
Celebrating the New Operations and Maintenance Facility in Campbell River April 1, 2020, BC Transit opened the doors to a brand new, 10,000 square foot operations and maintenance facility for the Campbell River Transit System. Watch the celebration video here.
12/1/2020 BC Transit - Updates
BC Transit
For Partners
BC Transit Unions Presented with United Way
Spirit Award
Nov 20, 2020
From left: Jean Barnes, Dave Ramsay, Tana
Mackay, Kayla De Puit, Kirk Mercer, Chris
Tolhurst, Erinn Pinkerton, Greg Connor
United Way representatives were on hand at BC
Transit headquarters on Monday, November 16,
to present the United Way “Labour Partnership”
Spirit Award to members of UNIFOR Local 333,
CUPE 4500, and MoveUp.
Dave Ramsay, United Way Director of Donor &
Partner Relations, presented the award to Kirk
Mercer, CUPE Regional Vice President,
Vancouver Island, for CUPE, Chris Tolhurst, Tana
Mackay and Jean Barnes for UNIFOR, and Kayla
de Puit for MoveUp. BC Transit President and CEO Erinn Pinkerton, was on hand to give thanks to everyone who was
involved in helping raise the donation.
BC Transit, along with our union partners donated over $37,000 in support of the United Way and their work in helping
children, youth, families and seniors in Greater Victoria. $28,930 of the donation money was raised from the payroll
deductions program staff opted-in to. $8,270 was raised from other fundraising events including the Chili Cookoff, the
online auction, and the food trucks.
BC Transit, Unifor Local 333, CUPE 4500, and MoveUp are proud to have been able to support the United Way. We
thank all of our staff who helped us raise the money for our community.
We encourage all staff to continue participating in our many annual fundraising events and to opt-in to the payroll
deduction program. For just $5 a paycheck, you can help make a difference in someone’s life.
Award presentation.
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Dave Ramsay presenting Kayla De Puit with Labour PartnershipSpirit Award for MoveUP.
Dave Ramsay, presenting Jean Barnes, Tana Mackay, and Chris Tolhurst with Labour Partnership Spirit Award.for
UNIFOR.
Dave Ramsay presenting Kirk Mercer with Labour PartnershipSpirit Award for CUPE.
Erinn Pinkerton thanking staff for their support.
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Labour Partnership Spirit Award.
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BC Transit
For Partners
Smarter routes are key to transit’s future
Nov 12, 2020
It is 7:30 in the morning. Your 8 a.m. appointment
in town was scheduled months ago and you know
if you miss it, you will be waiting several more
months to get in at another time. It’s a different
bus route than the one you usually take to get to
work, but you have looked it up online and are
feeling con dent about your travel planning. As
you stand at the shelter eagerly anticipating the
arrival of your bus, it’s unlikely that your number
one concern is “I hope they have Wi-Fi” or “it
would be great if there was a USB port at my
seat.” In that moment, you care that your bus is on
schedule and gets you where you need to be.
The reality is, most of our customer feedback, and
the concerns we hear from our local government partners, are about our routes and the frequency of our buses. The
added value of technology is insigni cant if our customers cannot get where they need to be, when they need to be
there. But here is where the magic happens—by using the technology available to us, we are able to gather the data we
need to ensure that our customers are getting that fast, frequent and reliable service that they desire and deserve.
In BC Transit’s Strategic Plan, the focus is on making transit “your best transportation solution”. Key to that is making our
transit systems smarter by harnessing the data we are acquiring through our Smartbus technology to create routes and
schedules that respond to the needs of our customers, while implementing customer-facing amenities that enhance the
overall transit experience. On the back end, Automated Passenger Counters (APCs) and the data collected from
NextRide, allow us to know how many passengers we are seeing on routes, what times are busiest, and how the actual
timing of the buses aligns with what is on the schedule.
Using data, we can design optimal service that takes people where they want to go, enhances schedule reliability and
limits bus bunching. This, in turn, will help to boost our ridership and build the support we need for new investments and
expanded service. As we work collectively to rebuild ridership, it is important we are nimble and exible in how we
respond to changing demand and travel patterns. A great example of this occurred recently in Victoria. We were in the
middle of a service period and noticed that our buses were running extremely early due to reduced traf c and
improvements at a major intersection. We were able to act on these ndings right away, and make a service change to
accommodate a quicker trip for our customers. The data acquired from APCs and NextRide enabled us to understand
the run time variability, and provided us with the ability to push this new schedule data to our front facing platforms in a
timelier manner.
With smarter routes at the forefront, we can implement those additional enhancements that contribute to making
transit accessible and enjoyable for our customers. To do so, we need to understand our transportation competitors and
offer products and services that are both attractive and feasible. For example, taxis and ride share options like Uber and
Lyft all offer the ability all see where your ride is at any given time and provide the convenience of electronic payment
options. NextRide, and the implementation of electronic fare payments on board our buses, will bring us closer to our
competition in those areas.
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I touched on Wi-Fi and USB chargers earlier, and while they are not essential to getting customers to their destinations,
they could have a large impact on the customer experience and be a factor when choosing a mode of transportation.
Everyone is used to these conveniences being readily available—even my new e-bike has a USB charger—so it is
important that we deliver on those expectations where we can. Our new eet of double deckers will soon arrive with
USB ports, so that will be a nice boost for our regular commuters. But these types of technology touches will be even
more appreciated if they are layered upon consistently reliable and convenient service.
Transit of the future relies on smart routes that are useful, dependable and on time. By engaging with our customers and
communities, and by integrating innovative technology, I believe the future of transit looks very bright right across our
province.
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BC Transit
For Partners
Planning for the Future
Nov 24, 2020
As we become busier and busier in our own work,
the old adage ‘walk a mile in their shoes’ becomes
more dif cult to relate to every day. It is
important to realize that it takes many people to
ensure BC Transit, as an organization, can run
ef ciently throughout the province.
From mechanics, operators, planners and
schedulers to our local government partners,
many different individuals from departments all
across the province help us connect people to
communities.
Day in the Life is a monthly Q & A highlighting of
one of these individuals that makes what we do
possible. This month we are highlighting the City
of Prince George's Transit Planner Michael Coulson, on his day-to-day tasks and his motivations.
Can you tell us a little about yourself (interests, hobbies, etc.)? How did you end up in your current role?
I’ve always been a bit of a transportation nerd, since I was a kid I would pour over the details of different ferries or
airplanes my family would travel on, and I took a keen interest in the SkyTrain and transit buses.
I would utilize the then-revolutionary Sim City 2000 to work out subway systems and road networks (while avoiding
obscure “natural” Sim City disasters like alien invasions). After earning my bachelors in planning from the University of
Northern B.C. (UNBC), I went on to ll planning roles in a couple of small towns before moving into my current position
at the City of Prince George.
In my free time, you’d nd me skiing, cycling, behind my camera, and exploring the back roads of northern B.C. While
visiting with my family and friends in my hometown of Delta, I’ll often make time to take a ride on the SkyTrain or SeaBus.
Can you tell us a little about your role? What do your day-to-day tasks look like?
My title at the city is transit planner, but my role goes a bit beyond that. I work on the different aspects of transit service
planning and delivery that the local government is typically responsible for under the BC Transit model. This includes the
management of fare product sales, liaising with the transit operating company, our roads and utilities crews on road
closures and detours, as well as working with BC Transit on the planning and delivery of an effective transit system.
Recently, with BC Transit, we’ve been progressing through the nal stages of our Transit Future Action Plan, which
explores and plans for the implementation of speci c expansion and service delivery goals. The great work on this
project by BC Transit has excited our council and our regular riders. I’ve been lucky enough to support the development
of this document since its’ early stages.
What is the most interesting aspect in your role? What excites you to come in and start your day?
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Two things stand out to me:
I enjoy being out in the eld and working with our city crews to ensure the smooth operation of transit service and
access to bus stops. When we need to establish a detour route, being out on the road and understanding how our riders
access our service is critical to ensuring that we are able to provide reliable and concise information to our riders and our
operating company.
Planning the future of our system is also an exciting exercise, and certainly captures my imagination as a planner. I’ve
been very fortunate to work with BC Transit to identify opportunities for improvements in routing and connecting that
to the development of the city, and really reimagine the system on the whole for the future to ensure it meets the needs
of Prince George.
What is the most challenging aspect in your role? How do you overcome these challenges?
Unplanned road closures like watermain breaks and utility repairs can severely disrupt transit service if they occur in the
wrong spot at the wrong time. To counteract this, I’m fortunate in my role that I can be nimble and have access to the
resources I need to ensure the delivery of that information to our riders and operating company. PWT has also proven to
be highly adaptable in these situations, being able to deploy and navigate their buses along detour routes at a moments’
notice if necessary.
What is a common misconception about your role? What is it in actuality?
The job title of transit planner infers that I primarily stick to the planning side, however in reality it is many different
aspects of the local government roles of transit delivery. While route planning is certainly one thing that I do, the reality
is that most of my days are spent either in the eld or doing day-to-day of ce work like fare product sales and reporting.
What was something that surprised you when you rst started working in your role?
There is a great deal of community curiosity and interest in the transit operation in Prince George – more so than I’ve
seen in other cities. From service changes to eet renewal to special free fare days, the media and community at large
are very much engaged in transit issues. This kind of interest is motivating for me to ensure that we can return the favour
of providing reliable service and good communication to our riders. I think that public interest gives us a bit of inertia to
run with on both the engagement side and gaining community support for improvement initiatives.
Lastly, what gives you a sense of accomplishment on a regular basis in your role?
Every time I’m able to provide a rst time rider with the tools and information they need to try our system, or give a
former regular rider the con dence to use our system again, comes with a great deal of satisfaction. Stress is heightened
as we progress through this global pandemic, and any time we are able to help relieve some of those anxieties is
rewarding.
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BC Transit
Battery Electric Bus Request for Proposals
Released
Transit System: Global Nov 18, 2020
BC Transit is pleased to be proceeding with the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for our rst 10 battery electric
heavy-duty buses. Heavy duty buses are the regular 40’ transit buses you see in communities across the province.
We’re excited to take this step after gathering responses from industry through a formal Request for Information that is
supporting and informing the continued project and program development.
The RFP will allow BC Transit the option of purchasing more heavy duty battery electric buses, along with the associated
infrastructure, from the successful proponents to support the replacement and expansion of the heavy duty eet.
The procurement of these 10 battery electric buses will help us on our path to:
Exceed the Province of BC’s greenhouse gas reduction targets;
Never buying further diesel heavy duty buses;
Buying only zero-emission buses in all eet classi cations after 2028; and
Having a fully zero-emission provincial eet by 2040.
To ensure we are moving forward with a procurement that provides the highest degree of value and success, we are
anticipating the rst 10 battery electric buses to be in Victoria as of the summer of 2022.
More details about the outcome of the RFP will be available in 2021 once the process concludes.
The 10 battery electric buses are funded by the Government of Canada, the Province of BC, and the Victoria Regional
Transit Commission.
Meanwhile, work continues to replace end-of-life diesel buses in the Victoria eet with new cleaner, more ef cient
Compressed Natural Gas buses. This process will also take place in the Central Fraser Valley in early 2021.
For more information on BC Transit’s Low Carbon Fleet program and transition to zero emission vehicles, please visit
bctransit.com/low-carbon- eet-program (https://bctransit.com/low-carbon- eet-program)
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BC Transit
For Partners
Kamloops transit operator has adorable young fan
Nov 25, 2020
There’s just something special about seeing life
through the eyes of young children. Kids marvel
at the most interesting things, and in the case of
two and a half year-old Ben Crummey, its buses.
And more speci cally, the route 5 Pineview in
Kamloops.
Ben is absolutely obsessed with buses. School
buses, BC Transit buses…he points them all out
wherever his family goes and he has bus toys he
loves to play with. He loves them the way some
kids are into dinosaurs, stuffed animals or Paw
Patrol. Luckily, Ben has an outlet for his passion
right outside his daycare.
Every day at 4:16pm, he and his mom Jennifer are outside waiting on the route 5 to roll past, so he can wave frantically at
the bus and its driver.
It would be pretty much impossible to not be moved by that kind of overwhelming positivity, and Bret Weir is no
exception. Bret has been a Transit Operator for about 8 years, and he loves his job and the people he interacts with every
day. He also happens to drive the Pineview route 5, and has struck up quite the friendship with Ben.
“I love waving at kids along my route, whether they’re in their own cars are on the side of the road, because it makes my
day,” said Bret Weir. “That’s the way it started with Ben, and his mom said now it’s to the point where he gets up on the
bench at the stop and won’t move until my bus comes.”
Jennifer can’t thank Bret enough for the way he has responded to her son, whose face lights up when the bus doors open
and Bret has a quick chat with him.
“The driver always asks Ben how he’s doing, and Ben makes sure to tell him to have a good day,” said Jennifer Crummey.
“There have even been a couple days when we’ve missed the bus, and the next time we see it, the driver mentions how
many days it’s been since we’ve seen him. I know he looks forward to seeing my son too.”
Recently, Ben, his parents and his baby sister all met the driver at the bus stop, and he boarded the bus just long enough
to give Bret Weir a card and some chocolates. Jennifer wanted to make sure he knows how appreciated he is.
“I don’t think bus drivers get recognized enough, and right now their jobs are a bit more stressful than usual. I wanted to
put a smile on his face because he’s put a smile on my little boy’s face for weeks.”
As you’d expect, Bret was really touched by what his little transit buddy and his family did.
“It was the rst time he had actually gotten on the bus, and when he handed me the present, I almost broke down. The
funny thing is I had already planned to get him a toy bus, but they beat me to it! I was able to get a foam BC Transit bus
and gave it to him just the other day. I could tell by the look on his face he was so excited.”
At a time when all of us could use some extra smiles, both Ben and Bret are de nitely providing them.
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BC Transit
BC Transit announces Transit as our endorsed
mobility app
Transit System: Dawson Creek, Kelowna, Campbell River, Vernon, Kamloops, Chilliwack, Victoria, Sunshine Nov 6, 2020
Coast, Cranbrook, Central Fraser Valley, Squamish, Whistler, Cowichan Valley, Fort St. John, Prince George, Nanaimo,
Comox Valley, West Kootenay
To improve the transit experience for customers, BC Transit is pleased to announce Transit as our endorsed mobility app.
Transit is available for use in 18 BC Transit systems. Transit utilizes our real-time technology on buses in seven
communities, in addition to crowd-sourcing through the app, to provide trip information to customers. A list of
communities the app serves is available below.
Upon launching the app, BC Transit riders see nearby options and departure times in big text and bright colours. Users
can easily navigate the region, aided by accurate real-time bus ETAs, trip planning, step-by-step navigation, and
crowdsourced real-time information with Transit’s GO feature.
The introduction of Transit as our endorsed mobility app supports our other customer service channels including
NextRide (where available), information on bctransit.com (http://bctransit.com), printed information, and our customer
call centres. BC Transit’s partnership with Transit offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use and widely-adopted app for
riders.
Under this agreement, BC Transit will also receive anonymized usage data to improve our planning processes and
customizations to better serve the public, such as the ability to send important information directly to riders via Transit’s
home screen.
For more details about Transit, our endorsed mobility app, as well as all of our trip planning options, please visit
bctransit.com/trip-planning (http://bctransit.com/trip-planning).
Systems offering Transit:
Chilliwack including the Fraser Valley Express
Cranbrook
Central Fraser Valley including the Fraser Valley Express
Campbell River
Comox Valley (NextRide real-time information)
Cowichan Valley
Dawson Creek
Fort St Johns
Kelowna (NextRide real-time information)
Kamloops (NextRide real-time information)
Nanaimo (NextRide real-time information)
Prince George
Squamish (NextRide real-time information)
Sunshine Coast
Vernon
Victoria (NextRide real-time information)
Whistler (NextRide real-time information)
West Kootenay
Media contacts
https://www.bctransit.com/victoria/news?nid=1529710800556 1/212/1/2020 BC Transit - BC Transit - News List
BC Transit
250-880-1303
media@bctransit.com (mailto:media@bctransit.com)
https://www.bctransit.com/victoria/news?nid=1529710800556 2/212/1/2020 BC Transit - Revelstoke News List
BC Transit
New Community Buses for the Revelstoke Transit
System and Shuswap Regional Transit System
Transit System: Shuswap, Revelstoke Nov 24, 2020
OKANAGAN/KOOTENAY – New light-duty buses have recently joined the Revelstoke Transit System and the Shuswap
Regional Transit System, providing safe, reliable and comfortable community service for customers.
The 26-foot light-duty ARBOC Spirit of Freedom buses can carry up to 21 seated passengers, and provide exibility for
up to two mobility aids. Four new buses are joining the Revelstoke Transit System and six are joining the Shuswap
Regional Transit System to replace existing diesel buses in the eet that are nearing the end of their service life.
Each new bus is equipped with a white LED destination sign, modern vinyl seating, quiet gasoline engine, increased
interior lighting, and a rear route number. The buses also come equipped with a temporary vinyl panel installed to
protect the health of drivers and passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These features will improve the safety,
cleanliness and customer experience for conventional and paratransit service.
The deliveries are part of a wider plan to add approximately 70 light-duty buses in select transit systems in B.C. in 2020.
An additional two new Micro Bird G5 light-duty buses were added to the Shuswap Regional Transit System in August of
this year.
For more information, please visit bctransit.com (http://www.bctransit.com).
Media contacts
BC Transit communications
250-880-1303
media@bctransit.com (mailto:media@bctransit.com)
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BC Transit
For Partners
Marketing Update for Candy Cane Distribution
Nov 17, 2020
Candy canes have been a staple of BC Transit's holiday celebrations but with the ongoing pandemic, we're doing things a
little different this year.
In previous years, BC Transit has teamed up with its local government partners to celebrate the holiday season and hand
out candy canes to transit customers. Unfortunately, things are looking a little different this year and due to health and
safety reasons, candy canes will not be sent out to any system to be handed out. Safety is our top priority and we want to
ensure that everyone enjoys the holiday season safely.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Julia Coley, Events and Outreach Coordinator, at
julia_coley@bctransit.com
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