Despite Whistler council members' talk of an "exit strategy" for the Squamish-Whistler commuter bus service, this week they reluctantly approved funding to keep a slightly modified version for the first three months of 2011.
On Tuesday (Nov. 16), after much debate and a couple of moments during which council seemed at an impasse over the options presented, the council members voted unanimously to approve approximately $30,000 from a municipal parking reserve fund to cover Whistler's portion of the cost through March 31.
They also sent a clear message that if Squamish leaders want to see the service continue beyond that, they'll need to cover the entire municipal portion or work out a new funding formula with B.C. Transit, which covers 47 per cent.
"It's time for us to actually put the ball in Squamish's court, not just loft it over the net," said Coun. Chris Quinlan.
For the past five years, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and District of Squamish have jointly covered the municipal portion of the cost of providing the service - most recently $208,000 each per year.
In September, Whistler councillors reduced their share of the cost by raising the cash fare from $5 to $8 per ride.
The service option approved on Tuesday was deemed a Squamish connector service similar to what was provided during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
If approved by the other partners, the temporary service would not go through Valleycliffe as does the current Squamish-Whistler service, but would start in downtown Squamish, stop at Highlands Mall and continue north to Whistler.
"Approximately one-third of existing riders will be inconvenienced by this decision as about one-third of the ridership starts and ends their trips in Valleycliffe," stated Emma Dal Santo, municipal transportation demand management co-ordinator, in a report to council.
The problem with funding the Squamish service, according to council, is it creates unfairness since Pemberton and Mount Currie cover the municipal portion of commuter service costs to their communities.
"If we can't find an equal way to treat these like services [Pemberton and Squamish], then I don't think we can go forward with one that I think is unfairly funded. I don't think we have the funds to pay for 50 per cent of the Pemberton service," said Mayor Ken Melamed.
What's more, Whistler councillors are seeing the cost of transit service within Whistler skyrocket and are struggling to meet those financial demands.
"It's becoming more apparent to me that we've got a monster developing and that is that transit as a whole is expensive and it's getting more expensive really fast," Coun. Eckhard Zeidler said.
Melamed said he thinks the municipal parking reserve fund, from which money for the service is being drawn, would be better spent on Whistler's own transportation needs. Other councillors voiced their uneasiness with funding such a service from a "depleting" reserve fund that currently stands at around $1.03 million.
Before Tuesday's vote, Melamed said he hoped municipal staff would talk to their counterparts in Squamish about covering the entire municipal portion - the 53 per cent of the total not covered by B.C. Transit.
