Work ongoing to establish a new bus route up Middleton mountain

Sep 17, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The City of Vernon is continuing its work to establish a new bus route in the region and improve service.

At the regular meeting Monday, Sept. 15, Vernon City Council directed staff to request the province support an ask to establish Route 10, which would run from downtown Vernon, up Middleton Mountain, over to the Okanagan College, then back downtown.

“If you’ve been listening, you;ve been hearing about [Route 10] for a long time,” Mayor Victor Cumming told Vernon Matters.

“our expectation was for this to be [established] a few years ago, and we’re still asking for it.”

The request was put forward as the province pays for half of the transit costs, with the municipalities paying the rest but also collecting the fare revenue. Cumming noted the City of Vernon was working with the District of Coldstream and Regional District of North Okanagan in advocating for this route, as they would also have to pay their share for this route.

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The Mayor of Vernon said this new request, if approved, could see the route established in the 2026-27 funding stream.

Along with advocating for the new route, the city requested improved service along other routes.

The city asked the province to support 3,500 hours more service. That would apply to Route 10, as well as Route 3 (North End-Downtown via Alexis Park), Route 5 (South Vernon) and Route 9 (North End-Downtown).

“[We want] to make the service times closer together,” Cumming said.

“Some of them are 40 minutes, and we would move them to every 30 minutes. Those are the kinds of things that we are requesting with these additional hours.”

These requests were also put forward in 2024, and the City of Vernon hoped to see these approved and funded in the coming fiscal year.

The Mayor added the City of Vernon has been setting aside money in the budget for the transit expansions in the past, and will have money ready to be put to use if these requests for enhanced service are approved.

by Liam Verster

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