Agenda Package - City of Vernon

TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE: JANUARY 14' 2O1O
fiscal year and will not be allowing any new particìpants in the
prográm. The Taxi Saver Program provides Handy DART clients
with a 50% subsidy towards the cost of taxi rides when Handy
DART cannot accommodate their travel needs.
. Handy Darl services has increasingly been requested from group
homes it was stated that this service is detrimentalto seniors
and people on disabilities and questioned what the alternatives
are for seniors that cannot book the Handy Dart.
. The purchase of smaller busses was discussed. lt was advised
that the cost to purchase the smaller busses is the same as the
larger busses with limitations to their use.
. John Peck advised that Routes 2 and 3, Pleasant valley and
Alexis Park, are in an overloaded situation and has advised that
BC Transit will be investigating this in their service review.
. The BC Transit Service Review will be creating master plans for
alt areas; once the city of Kelowna's review is completed in the
fall of 2010, the review will move onto the North okanagan and
Vernon.
. There have been issues with dropping Handy Dart customers off
at the Medical Centre on 30th Avenue as there is no where for
the bus to pull of to allow the passenger's time to get off.
. Vernon Transit has signed a behavioral contract with a problem
traveler who has assaulted two bus drivers in the past. BC
Transit will be monitoring this passenger.
BC TRANS¡T
Steve Harvard, BC Transit reported on the following:
Fairs received were down 5% for this time of year which seams to
be a trend across the province. lt was noted that there was a huge
increase in ridership when the price of gas went up. when gas
prices dropped again transit didn't loose a lot of the riders, transit
was able to attract riders and keep them. lt was also commented
that expenses were 5.5o/o lower than normalfor the same period last
year.
The Taxi Saver program is a separate entity and program which
was meant to supplement the regular Handy Dart service when the
service isn't available. The Taxi Saver programs offers half price off
the regular taxi fair; the problem is that users don't bother to try
booking the Handy Dart and just proceed to call a taxí. lt was
explainãd that this is a big issue that takes away from the spirit of
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