The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District voted in favour of signing a memorandum of understanding on regional transit during its June board meeting.
“The purpose of the MOU is to demonstrate to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure that the First Nations and local governments of the Sea to Sky Corridor cohesively support a specific administration and governance model necessary for the implementation of the regional transit system,” reads an information report presented to the board.
This motion has authorized SLRD chair Jack Crompton to sign the document.
If all goes according to plan, the document will also be signed by representatives from Squamish, Pemberton, Whistler, the Lil’wat Nation, and the Squamish Nation.
The memorandum proposes eight vehicles to begin service in 2019 to 2020, with the addition of four more vehicles over the following two years.
To start, the document suggests the service provides six round-trips per day on the Mt.Currie/Pemberton to Whistler route, which is two more trips than current operations.
It also proposes six round-trips per weekday and four round-trips per weekend day between Whistler, Squamish and Metro Vancouver.
The document also calls for the creation of a regional transit management committee. This group would also be made up of senior staff from local government, First Nations, and BC Transit to act as a liaison between the commission and BC Transit operations.
“We, the undersigned, would like to accelerate further engagement with senior representatives of the provincial government to confirm a funding structure that will be acceptable for all parties,“ the memorandum reads.
The move marks the latest attempt at bringing the long-discussed idea of regional transit into reality.
Funding and governance models, as well as how the money will be divvied up between local government and the province, however, have been constant stumbling blocks in the past.
The call for regional transit has been renewed as of late, as Greyhound announced on July 9 that it will be cancelling services throughout B.C.
