A new report—The Northern BC Inter-Community Transportation Study—was recently released by Northern Development, looking at the ways people get from place to place in Northern BC, what alternatives there are in the area and looking at what additional transportation priorities should be considered.
The study focuses on the connections between Northern BC communities and in rural areas not served by existing public transportation.
According to the report, “the project also seeks to understand potential roles that Indigenous and local governments and community organizations could play in future transportation improvements, with the goal of continuing to create a more prosperous and connected Northern BC.”
The study collected feedback from communities, organizations and residents from across Northern BC. In addition, the project also looks at how population changes, economic development and other community health and social initiatives may change the needs and opportunities for transportation in the coming years.
Northern Development operates the BC Bus North. They also provide shuttle service within 17 northern communities.
The north, as defined by Northern Development, includes the Northeast, the Northwest, the Prince George area, and the Cariboo-Chilcotin region.
The Northern Development region has a growing population of younger seniors and elders (60 to 74 years),” according to the study. “As this group ages, transportation services will become increasingly important to serve their mobility needs.”
As well, people older than 75 years old and younger than 15 comprise almost a quarter of the population. This represents a significant “transit ridership potential.”
Across the entire region, more than 80 percent of the population gets to work by driving their own vehicle. A much smaller percentage catches rides with these primary drivers, while a very few walk, bike, or take transit (where and when available).
The exception to this is the Central Coast area, where just over 60 percent drive themselves. It has the highest percentage of people who walk to work in the region.
At the other end of the scale is the Northern Rockies Regional District where less than 10 percent either walk or take their bikes to work.
The most common destinations when travelling in the region were Prince George (18 percent) and Fort St. John (18 percent), with Dawson Creek close behind at 15 percent. In the Northwest, Vanderhoof (seven percent) was the most popular destination. In the Cariboo, it was Quesnel, at six percent.
The most common reasons for travelling to other centres included work, medical needs and shopping, but the most common reasons were to visit family and friends as well as for recreation and leisure.
When travelling to other communities, the vast majority of people either drove or were driven.
After the automobile, the next most common way of getting around was by air, followed by the BC Bus.
The best regional service (according to 11 percent of respondents) is the Northern Health Bus, but the next most common answer (eight percent) is “nothing is working.”
There are four main recommendations from the report. The first is to work on communications. “Sponsor an overarching technology at the provincial level to better enable citizens to view and book trips with the many transportation options that already exist.”
Second, is to improve funding for regional transport services, like BC Transit and the BC Bus North.
Third is to look at policy and regulatory framework to see what can be done to improve flexibility for intercity service, including review the BC Rail/CN agreement to see if there is opportunity to prioritize passenger service without impacting freight.
Finally, the study recommends technical studies of Northern Health Connections and Interior Health Connections passenger eligibility policies and outcomes as well as look at ways to make airport taxi services viable.
The full report is available at www.northerndevelopment.bc.ca.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
