To the editor:
I wanted to send a note to Capital News regarding our current public transportation system, as today I had an experience that is likely all too common and 100 per cent unacceptable. When I arrived at my connection stop (H20) I discovered that my next bus, that I needed to get home, was not due to arrive for 45 minutes.
My house is approximately eight minutes, by car, from H20. It is a 12-min bike ride. If I were to walk, it would take me roughly an hour.
No one should have to wait longer for a bus than it would take to get to the same destination by car or by bike.
This is 100 per cent unacceptable. It is an absolute failure of the system if a bicycle is faster to take than a bus. Kelowna needs to take meaningful action on this issue and not just keep repeating the same, tired phrases over and over and over again. We in the suburbs are living in them because previous administrations allowed development to happen in those outlying regions. We shouldn’t be cast aside because of someone else’s mistake.
Has Kelowna ever considered drastic action to remove the amount of cars congesting our city streets, suburbs, and highways? I know there have been talks of bringing in a system similar to Vancouver’s sky train, but in the interim, while that is being considered and/or built, what about disincentivizing car traffic, promoting carpools, and bolstering the public bus system (maybe with a re-brand to make public transit fun and exciting)? I wonder if there are others in this city tired and frustrated by this issue and are interested in coming up with some viable solutions; if so, I would love to meet them!
Thank you for reading.
Ryan Cope
Kelowna