By Corey Fischer

Shuttle Service Over Transit?

May 16, 2018 | 3:00 PM

A Vernon councillor would like to see the city take a closer look at other methods of public transit, instead of just buses.

Scott Anderson says he’s not convinced mass transit is the wave of the future due to the cost, the low usage, and the schedules.

“I would like to look at circular shuttle service that is being used successfully in Miami. One town in Ontario is using Uber and is saving lots of money,” Anderson tells Beach Radio News.

Anderson feels change is imminent due to a couple of factors.

“One is cheap, clean energy — in abundance — is not too far down the road. I think self-automated vehicles, autonomous vehicles, are right down the road. I think both of those imminent developments are going to bring a lot of social change with them, and a lot of our transportation needs are going to change,” says Anderson.

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Mayor Akbal Mund says the buses are here to stay.

“Transit — it’s always going to be around. There is a segment of the population that relies on transit. It’s not going away.

Mund says they now use smaller buses, and have better connections.

“I can’t see a shuttle service running in this community. The big issue is not everybody works at the same time, not everybody needs to be at the same place at the same time. The bus stops are where they are, so people can say it’s too far from their place to take. We’ll always find something in the negative form to talk about on transit or any other topic.”

Anderson would also like to see Vernon council put more pressure on the province to approve ride sharing services like Uber.

by Corey Fischer