Still Running on Empty

 "96% of the seats are empty for the entire run throughout the year. That is less than 1 person on average on the bus for its entire route."

Last summer I wrote about the difficulty in getting meaningful information around the cost of transit and how it impacts Qualicum Beach taxpayers. ( A link is provided below to that article.) Now some 7 months later, I am finally seeing a tiny beam of light shed on the funding around transit and the inefficacies in the delivery of this service.

On February 10th, RDN Director Wallace representing area G which includes French Creek and surrounds, made a motion to amend transit costs levies in the Northern Community Transit Services. Transits costs are currently assessed on a complicated formula of assessment values, population, and kilometers of bus routes. Her proposal was to reduce the contribution from Area G by reworking the catchment area to include only the urban containment area of Area G. Effectively this would move some of the costs from her area to the other communities within the Northern Community Transit services group. As one would expect this was of concern to the other Directors representing communities that would end up taking on this expense. Over all there is no reduction in expense just a redistribution of the expense. Director Wallace reminded the board that Area G had the option to withdraw from the service altogether as transit is not a mandated service. This motion passed and was voted on by all RDN directors with each having one vote. Apposed were Directors, Stanley (Cedar), Rogers (Nanoose Bay ), O'Brian (Parksville), Grenz (Parksville) and Westbroek (Qualicum Beach).

The second motion was for the board to direct staff to prepare a report setting out alternative apportionment methods for northern community transit service; and further that the alternatives apportionment methods include consideration for the differences between urban and rural routes including ridership and bus stop density. This passed unanimously with only the affected communities voting.

I see Director Wallace's motions a critical first step in making transit costs more transparent and hopefully the RDN Directors deliberations will also assess the effectiveness of the method in which we deliver transit throughout the northern communities.

Current ridership numbers in Qualicum Beach

The  RDN staff’s most recent estimated ridership (9/2024 to 8/2025) for just one route (#98) West side of Memorial, shows 2438 boardings per year. When compared to the number of seats we are providing of 63,440 puts usage at approximately 4% of capacity.

(Capacity is calculated as 20 seats on the bus, times 61 runs a week, times 52 weeks in a year)

The budget for transit costs to the QB taxpayer will be $718,349 in 2026 and projected to rise to $1,196,550 by 2030. That works out to $128.66 a year for every man woman and child in Qualicum Beach for our share of transit costs in 2030. This is over and above the 47% transit subsidy contributed by the provincial government paid by tax payers in general. Beyond the financial waste, is the environmental impact of having empty buses driving around our town.

Next Steps

As taxpayers we need to advocate for a transit system that suits our needs and represents a reasonable cost benefit for the taxpayer. When transit was first introduced in Qualicum Beach it was intended to be a trial. I see no evidence of an assessment, merely increasing costs for a service presumed as both necessary and effective.

The communities that participate in this service need to understand who is actually using the bus service and explore alternatives to serve them in a more cost effective manner. Other alternatives might include enhanced HandiDart, taxi saver programs, ride share programs and on demand local shuttles.

I will continue to follow the RDN processes to see exactly how their deliberation's unfold and whether Area G is the only area to benefit from this review. If you think our transit expenses need more scrutiny you can email your Mayor who is our RDN representative at TWestbroek@QualicumBeach.com

Marie Noel

February 26 2026

We welcome your comments and feedback.

You can email us at QualicumBeachInsights@gmail.com

Link to article Transit...no free ride.