Kimberley City Council has approved the Annual Operating Agreement for the Kimberley Transit System, and Manager of Planning Services Troy Pollock says that ridership has increased overall in the past year.
Pollock explained that the annual agreement is simply a regular review and renewal of the updated budget, or revenue and expenditures.
In September of 2017 the commuter service between Kimberley and Cranbrook expanded to offer ten trips per week. Before that, the only option for connections between the two cities was through the health connection service.
Pollock says that since the expansion, ridership has increased to 20 riders per service day each month, and the numbers are continually going up.
He says the daytime service numbers have increased, and perhaps it is due to more of an awareness in availability.
With regards to the ski hill shuttle, Pollock says that the numbers overall are good.
“Compared to last year they are not as high, however last year was an exceptionally busy year for that service,” said Pollock. “This year’s numbers are more comparable to two years ago.”
He also explained that taking a look at the expansion, there will be no increase or decrease in the amount of available trips, however the times of the service might change accordingly to ridership needs.