The Victoria Regional Transit System provides public transportation in the Greater Victoria region of British Columbia, Canada. Its operations are governed by the Victoria Regional Transit Commission in association with BC Transit. There were more than 16.8 million riders in 2021.

History

Transit service began on February 22, 1890 by the National Electric Tramway and Light Company with four street cars on two routes. On May 26, 1896 a packed streetcar crashed through the Point Ellice Bridge and 55 people were killed. The Consolidated Electric Railway Company was forced into receivership by the disaster and emerged reorganized as the British Columbia Electric Railway on April 15, 1897. The use of buses started in 1923 for outlying routes. Although trolley buses were tried in 1945, the transit system was completely converted to motor buses in 1948. In 1961 BC Electric became part of BC Hydro, a Crown corporation, before the transit system was moved to the crown agency that would become BC Transit. In 2000, Victoria became the first city in North America to use low-floor buses and double decker buses in regular public transit service, as well as the first city to use hybrid double-decker buses in 2009. Victoria followed other BC Transit networks in late February 2020 with the introduction of compressed natural gas vehicles to their fleet. Until 2019, all BC Transit vehicles in Victoria were equipped with Trekker Breeze+ annunciators to call out streets for the blind. BC Transit's NextRide automated stop and route announcements took the place of the street announcements, along with electronic screens on all buses showing the next stop. In April 2023, BC Transit launched the first bus rapid transit line in the Victoria region. The new line is branded as Blink RapidBus (also operating as Line 95) and makes fewer stops with faster and more frequent service compared to typical bus lines.

Operations

The transit system has a total fleet of 355 buses on 37 conventional routes and 18 community bus routes covering Greater Victoria including: Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Langford, Esquimalt, View Royal, Colwood, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Sidney, Metchosin, Highlands and Sooke. Primary bus route destinations are: Downtown Victoria, the University of Victoria, the Royal Oak Exchange in Saanich, the CFB Dockyard in Esquimalt, Langford Exchange in Langford, the Colwood Exchange in Colwood and the B.C. Ferries terminal at Swartz Bay in North Saanich.

Routes

Routes are named for the direction of travel, thus each route has two (or more, if the route utilizes branches or short turns) names, indicating direction. Some routes also change in the evening or on weekends, which changes the route name again. Routes are divided into four levels: Some routes, such as 15 Esquimalt / UVic meet the requirements of both the Frequent level and the Regional level, but are listed as Regional routes. Route frequency in the Victoria Regional Transit System varies greatly, some routes operate on a commuter-focused schedule, such as the 51 UVic / Langford and the 65 Sooke / Downtown via Westhills, with directional departures limited to morning or afternoon times. Other local routes, such as the 13 Ten Mile Point, operate infrequently due to low demand. Only one school special operates in the Victoria Regional Transit System, the 17 Cedar Hill, which operates once per direction per weekday. Other buses operate variants of their standard routes around the bell schedule of local schools.

Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System

Victoria is also served by two routes in the Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System. While these routes are primarily aimed at commuters, one weekday midday round trip and three Saturday round trips are provided on the 66 CVX.

Late Night Service

On Friday and Saturday evenings, BC Transit extends service on routes 4, 6, 14, 15, 26, 27/28, 61, and 95 until approximately 2:30 or 3AM. Late Night Service operates with headways of 30 minutes (except routes 26 and 61, which have late night headways of 60 minutes).

Fares

Current fares are listed in the table below: Children under age five are required to be accompanied by someone age twelve or older. Until 1 September 2021, children aged five to twelve were required to pay the youth fare. Daypasses (stylized as DayPASS) are only sold on board the bus. Since Daypasses can be bought using two tickets, they can effectively be purchased for $4.50 by purchasing a pack of ten tickets, which have a price of $2.25 per ticket. Students at the University of Victoria, Royal Roads University, and Camosun College are part of the U-PASS program. All students pay for subsidized bus passes as part of their fees ($81.00 for four months). Only one fare zone exists for the Victoria network, as in April 2008 the system eliminated the then $3 two-zone fare.

Accessibility

Victoria's transit fleet is fully accessible, with either ramps or lifts providing access. Some bus stops are considered inaccessible due to their design, with inadequate space to accommodate wheelchairs or operation of vehicle ramps/lifts. Paratransit services, called HandyDART, are also available. Unlike the regular bus system, HandyDART is contracted out. The system currently has 48 vans with door-to-door service for people who cannot ride the conventional buses. Booking is required and restrictions on who can use the system apply.

Fleet

Expansion possibilities

A proposal was made in 2011 to build a light rail line from downtown Victoria, routing along Douglas Street to Uptown, beside the Trans Canada Highway and the Galloping Goose bike path to Six Mile, then along the Old Island Highway through Colwood to Langford. Several options had been offered for LRT phased implementation, with all variations starting in downtown Victoria, and initially providing service to either Six Mile, Colwood Exchange or all the way to Langford Exchange. While the E&N rail corridor was considered as a potential route under this proposal, it wasn't selected as the ideal candidate. Full implementation of the line between downtown and Langford for initial opening was projected to cost $950 million. Long term transit network plans outlined potential rapid transit corridors for the future, including two that spanned from Uptown, with a corridor north to the Saanich Peninsula and Sidney, and a corridor east following McKenzie to UVic. In 2018, British Columbia's Premier John Horgan rejected the idea of light rail service in the Victoria area because the area's low population would not justify light rail.

E&N rail corridor

The E&N rail tracks from up island provide access into Vic West, across the inlet from downtown Victoria. The E&N tracks used to run into downtown via the Johnson Street bridge, but as the bridge has been replaced due to deterioration, the railway component of the bridge has been permanently closed since in 2011. There is no longer rail on the Downtown side of the Johnson Street Bridge. Rail has not been installed on the new bridge, but may be installed in the future. BC Transit has studied the E&N rail corridor as a commuter rail link from West Shore to Victoria. A bike path is being built beside the E&N tracks, while allowing rail service to continue. No formal plans have been announced for commuter rail on this corridor.

Board of directors

The Victoria Regional Transit System is overseen by an 8-member transit commission. As of June 2023, the board members are: