BC Transit has cancelled a total of 11 bus trips across 7 routes in Victoria for this evening.
The advisory was activated as of 4:11 p.m. on Monday afternoon and will expire at 9:59 p.m. tonight.
Bus routes 6, 16, 30, 14, 27, 75, and 39 have been hit with the following cancellations:
- 6 – Leaving Douglas at Veiw 4:07
- 16 – Leaving UVIC 4:11 p.m.
- 30 – Leaving Government at Superior 4:15 p.m
- 14 – Leaving Vic General 4:10 p.m.
- 6 – Leaving Douglas at View 4:17 p.m..
- 16 – Leaving Carey at Ravine 4:35 p.m.
- 6 – Leaving Douglas at View 4:37 p.m.
- 27 – Leaving Blanshard at Fairfield 4:38 p.m.
- 75 -Leaving Government at Superior 4:40 p.m.
- 6 – Leaving Royal Oak Exchange 4:55 p.m.
- 39– Leaving Camousun at 4:55 p.m.
According to BC Transit, these cancellations have primarily been caused by a lack of available vehicles as they undergo various forms of maintenance due to age.
“The average age of the fleet in Victoria is 12 years old and we’ll have new vehicles start to come in in January 2020. By the end of 2020, the average age of our fleet will be 6 years,” says BC Transit spokesperson Jonathon Dyck.
He added that the crown corporation is internally looking at options to address these challenges, but the majority of the problems they face will be fixed once new buses are available.
Other delays
Transit delays have also been caused by a protest happening in the downtown core this evening.
Members of climate activist group Extinction Rebellion is currently protesting climate inaction by closing off Johnson Street bridge to motor traffic.
While demonstrators are allowing buses and emergency vehicles to pass by, only one lane has been opened to these vehicles forcing BC Transit buses to travel in one direction at a time with the help of police on either side of the bridge.
“We do expect there to be delays, and we recognize that traffic will be shifted to other roadways, so we expect congestion. We ask that customers are patient with us as we work to get them around the community this evening,” says Dyck.
At the @ExtinctionR protest on Johnson Street bridge this afternoon. One lane has been cleared for buses and emergency vehicles to pass by as protestors block traffic however buses can only travel one direction at a time, which will cause delays. #yyj #yyjtraffic @victoriabuzzes pic.twitter.com/lrOUm5qNFu
— Brishti Basu (@brish_ti) October 7, 2019
