Average boardings throughout the Victoria Regional Transit System’s south Island coverage fell by 60% this summer compared to 2019, according to data presented by BC Transit.

 

 

At the start of social distancing measures in March of this year, ridership fell by 78% before gradually rising to 68% in June and settling at 60% by the start of July. The latest available data from BC Transit covers system performance in weeks 13 through 27, or mid-March through early July.

 

In terms of a sub-regional impact on the transit system, the Saanich Peninsula (comprised of North and Central Saanich, and Sidney) saw the largest overall ridership drop for the period between March and July, landing at a 72.1% reduction compared to the same period last year.

 

The core, which includes the City of Victoria, Saanich, View Royal, Oak Bay and Esquimalt, saw ridership levels plummet by 70.1%.

 

The West Shore (comprised of Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, Sooke and Highlands), however, outperformed the peninsula and the core with an average drop of 67.5%.

 

Daily system-wide boardings in late March averaged nearly 25,000, but rose to 39,000 by July. In 2019 average boardings totalled approximately 104,000 and 96,000, respectively.

 

The most impacted route type was a category described as Local Transit - High Demand, which includes routes such as the #10 and #75 with services between 30 and 60 minutes. Ridership decreased by nearly 72% to an average of 8,200 passengers compared to 29,000 last year.

 

Rapid Transit routes, which are comprised of the #15, #50 and #70/71/72, saw ridership levels fall to just under 6,000 daily boardings from nearly 20,000, a drop of 70%. 

 

The Frequent Transit category (which includes routes such as #4, #6, #14, and #28) that represents the largest share of daily ridership, fell to approximately 15,000 boardings from 47,000 a year prior, a 68.5% decline.

 

With the reduction in overall travel across the south Island during the spring and summer of 2020, gas tax revenues, which account for 5.5 cents of every litre of gasoline purchased within the Capital Regional District, fell by 40%. Although this revenue source is not overly large, it represents approximately one-sixth of transit funding.

 

Fare collection, meanwhile, took a hiatus at the peak of the COVID-19 response which provided transit riders with free services in order to maintain distance between occupants on buses and drivers. Ridership itself, down by approximately two-thirds, has also impacted the transit system's finances which relies on fare revenues to fund approximately a quarter to one-third of the annual operating budget. C

 

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