Tag Archives: rural transit

Reprise: Highway 16 Transit and Fundamental Mobility

From the Vault: The following post was originally published on June 28, 2015.  It was one of the first things I ever wrote here at Connecting Dots, and for good reason.  The people and transit systems of northwest BC taught me much since I first started working with their region as a newly-minted transit planner in 1999.  And in particular–as… Read more »

Gertie’s a Go! Islanders Vote “YES” to Transit

The results of today’s vote are in.  Residents and property owners on Gabriola, Mudge and De Courcey Islands have said a resounding “Yes!” to their community bus GERTIE and transit in their community. As reported previously in the post Taking GERTIE to the Polls, Islanders were voting today on whether to fund Gabriola’s pilot community bus system on an ongoing… Read more »

Taking Gertie to the Polls: BC’s Next Transit Referendum (& One You’ve Likely Never Heard Of)

Gertie lawn sign

We all know what happened with that rather unfortunate (insert additional adjectives of your choice here) transit referendum that occurred last spring in Metro Vancouver. What you may not be aware of is that there’s another transit referendum happening right now on Gabriola Island, BC, a 20 minute ferry ride from downtown Nanaimo in BC’s Gulf Islands archipelago. Between now… Read more »

Why the Odds are Usually Stacked Against Transit Schedulers (and Why They Deserve our Thanks More Often)

Transit Schedulers as Superheros

As I write this, over this past week, transit systems across North America have been gearing up for the big show: the Tuesday after Labour Day when schools and colleges again crank into full swing and travel patterns hit reset after the summer. Trains and buses will get crowded, new and revised services will roll, and many, many transit operators… Read more »

Taking “Gertie” on a Tango Through Transit Planning Basics

An interesting question from Gabriola Island’s community bus group the other day seemed like a great leading off point to go over some transit planning basics.*  Let’s then go hand in hand with GERTIE and step our way through some elemental aspects in transit decision making. But first, some background: Who is this “GERTIE” anyway? GERTIE (Gabriola’s Environmentally Responsible Trans-Island… Read more »