BC Transit / Victoria

[Dane]

Service starts on the 2nd of September for the heavily revised #70 from Swartz Bay ferry terminal to downtown Victoria. The service is very limited stop express. There has been a lot of discussion in another thread about whether it was fair of BC Transit to use to highways network this way given Pacific Coach Lines' [PCL] existing service; I am of the opinion it quite obviously is a very effective use of public assets.

The routing is:

70 Downtown Express: from Swartz Bay Ferry Foot Passenger Terminal via Pat Bay Hwy, L-Beacon, R-Fifth, R-Bevan, L-Beacon, L-Pat Bay Hwy, R-McTavish, R-Canora, R-into McTavish Park & Ride, L-Canora, L-McTavish, R-Pat Bay Hwy, Royal Oak Exit 11 off-ramp, Pat Bay Hwy, McKenzie Exit 7 off-ramp, Pat Bay Hwy, Blanshard, R-Hillside, L-Douglas, R-Belleville, L-Government to Superior.

Signage: 70 Downtown Express
Stopping Policy: Limited stops on the Peninsula: on Fifth at Beacon, McTavish Park & Ride, Pat Bay Hwy at Sayward, Royal Oak off-ramp, McKenzie off-ramp. Stops at all stops after McKenzie.

So basically a very direct route compared to what it's replacing.

Route map: www.bctransit.com/regions/vic/schedules/map.cfm?p=thumb.pic&line=70&v=u

Service is every half hour 6am-7pm M-F, hourly on the weekends leaving on the hour (this is where PCL has an advantage, they're half way to Victoria when the #70 leaves).

All in all this is a great change for the transit riding public, and a great opportunity to get more people onto public transit.

[Scott]

So it appears that the long scenic route will be completely replaced? While it's nice that there will be an express route, the long one was quite nice if you got the front seats on the upper level of the double decker bus.

[CN2972South]

About time they axed the 70's milk run. Looks like route 72 will do the milk run. PCL has one advantage that I can see, they can handle people with a lot and or large luggage. Can't fit much on a transit bus.

[Kahloke]

That's excellent news! I've been thinking of doing a special trip some weekend to ride the Queen of Saanich, and I've been contemplating on how I could do such a trip on the cheap - that is to say, without my car and the added expense that goes with it. The cheapest solution for me is to drive to Port Angeles, park my car there, and walk on the Coho, then take public transportation from downtown Victoria to Swartz Bay. A more express bus to Swartz Bay will really help, so thanks for the heads up!

[Retrovision]

John: Never fear, like bcrcndr was mentioning, the 72 - but also the 73 - will basically be the exact same as the old 70, running via 5th and W. Sidney respectively along with all the rural routing of before, and in fact they will, combined, maintain half hourly service still with the 70 Express running above and beyond that. Although the 70 Express will only operate from around 8am to 7pm half hourly on weekdays and hourly on weekends, so any late evening trips will have to be made on either the 72 or the 73.