It was a uniquely Canadian solution. Last season, staffers with the Revelstoke Resort Shuttle jury-rigged hockey sticks onto utility poles to mark bus stop locations along the morning shuttle’s Victoria Road route.
Alas, it won’t do this season. In fact, the entire bus route is up for adjustment, a Sept. 26 City of Revelstoke development committee heard.
Ministry of Transportation officials have weighed in. In fact, stopping a bus at an unmarked bus stop on a main roadway is illegal, and needs to come to an end.
“The risk is too high in terms of an engineering perspective,” said City of Revelstoke CAO Tim Palmer.
City engineering director Mike Thomas concurred: “The risk to the city is, if there were an accident, we’ve probably got a number of issues that we could be facing.”
So, where to move the bus route if it’s not on Victoria Road? Also, factor in a new, third bus on the route this season to help out the popular service. (Too popular if you ask Southside skiers and boarders; the bus is often packed by the time it gets there on big powder mornings, though it’s hoped the new bus will help that out.)
Palmer explained the city plans to bring together stakeholders in the coming weeks to hammer out a new route.
They’ve already been lobbied by retailers benefitting from a nearby bus stop. The bus crowd is a boon to retailers catering to the morning coffee and sandwich crowd, and it doesn’t hurt if hungry skiers are dropped off by your front door in the afternoon.
Interested in giving your input? The City of Revelstoke’s economic development department oversees the resort shuttle operations.