Changes were made to local transit after Lake Country Mayor Blair Ireland decided he’d had enough of the operating company at a council meeting in February.
During the Feb. 21 council meeting, an update was given from BC Transit on the Kelowna Regional Transit System (KRTS). The system was operated by Swedish company First Transit and had, at the time, recently been sold to French-based Transdev Group.
The contract for the overseas company with BC Transit was coming to an end March 31 and Ireland said the elephant in the room needed to be addressed.
“The contractor is taking money out of our community overseas which is exactly what happens,” he said. “Anywhere else in the world that money would be reinvested in the infrastructure for that business. It’s not a profit centre.”
The contract between the foreign business and BC Transit is set to expire at the end of 2024. Advocates are calling for transit in the Central Okanagan to be managed locally.
READ MORE: BC Transit contractor needs to go: Lake Country Mayor