In February, the Whistler Transit System will switch to a modified Late Winter Plus schedule to provide consistency through this season’s labour shortage.

Whistler’s transit system is designed to have two main service seasons, its Spring-Summer-Fall base service and winter-specific service, with a brief ramp up and wind down transition period.

Tuesday evening, Council received a presentation from BC Transit outlining why it must reduce to an enhanced version of the shoulder season levels come February 6, to achieve a more reliable service.

BC Transit has been struggling to meet scheduled winter service levels due to a labour shortage.  There have been instances this winter where routes were not running at full capacity and pickups have been unreliable or missed. 

“We understand the labour shortage is impacting the number of drivers and BC Transit has presented an option to scale back. First and foremost, we want residents to be able to rely on and trust in our bus system, so we’re thankful a reasonable compromise could be achieved,” says Mayor Jack Crompton.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) was approached by BC Transit in the first week of January with multiple options to move forward, including maintaining the regular  winter schedule but with real time adjustments communicated via BC Transit’s Twitter feed and NextRide. Upon a joint review with RMOW staff, it was decided the best possible approach was to strive for consistency and reliability. The schedule has more capacity than the regular Early Winter / Late Winter schedule, but fewer buses than the full winter schedule. The service focuses on work start and end times.

The new service, dubbed Late Winter Plus, will operate from Monday, Feb. 6 through Sunday, Apr. 16, when a transition to the base Spring-Summer-Fall levels is planned.

Decision-making on transit is guided by the Whistler Transit Future Action Plan, the Official Community Plan and 2022/23 Annual Operating Agreement. The Whistler Transit System is operated through a partnership between BC Transit, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW).  BC Transit  contracts the operating company, Whistler Transit Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Western Transportation and the PWTransit group, to provide the drivers.

In February, the Whistler Transit System will switch to a modified Late Winter Plus schedule to provide consistency through this season’s labour shortage.

Whistler’s transit system is designed to have two main service seasons, its Spring-Summer-Fall base service and winter-specific service, with a brief ramp up and wind down transition period.

Tuesday evening, Council received a presentation from BC Transit outlining why it must reduce to an enhanced version of the shoulder season levels come February 6, to achieve a more reliable service.

BC Transit has been struggling to meet scheduled winter service levels due to a labour shortage.  There have been instances this winter where routes were not running at full capacity and pickups have been unreliable or missed. 

“We understand the labour shortage is impacting the number of drivers and BC Transit has presented an option to scale back. First and foremost, we want residents to be able to rely on and trust in our bus system, so we’re thankful a reasonable compromise could be achieved,” says Mayor Jack Crompton.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) was approached by BC Transit in the first week of January with multiple options to move forward, including maintaining the regular  winter schedule but with real time adjustments communicated via BC Transit’s Twitter feed and NextRide. Upon a joint review with RMOW staff, it was decided the best possible approach was to strive for consistency and reliability. The schedule has more capacity than the regular Early Winter / Late Winter schedule, but fewer buses than the full winter schedule. The service focuses on work start and end times.

The new service, dubbed Late Winter Plus, will operate from Monday, Feb. 6 through Sunday, Apr. 16, when a transition to the base Spring-Summer-Fall levels is planned.

Decision-making on transit is guided by the Whistler Transit Future Action Plan, the Official Community Plan and 2022/23 Annual Operating Agreement. The Whistler Transit System is operated through a partnership between BC Transit, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW).  BC Transit  contracts the operating company, Whistler Transit Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Western Transportation and the PWTransit group, to provide the drivers.