Public transit has been restored to Nelson St. in front of Kiwanis Village. Residents, their family members, staff and volunteers raised concerns when this bus stop was temporarily shuttered. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Transit tiff

Kiwanis Village complaints resecures transit stop in front of Nanaimo care home

Mar 27, 2020 | 6:15 AM

NANAIMO — A more direct bus route near Nanaimo Hospital reflecting public feedback and ridership trends was reversed when concerns were raised long after public consultation.

RDN directors recently unanimously endorsed a staff recommendation to a re-adjust the 30 NRGH route to ensure buses once again access Nelson St.

An RDN staff report showed Kiwanis Village representatives cited a negative impact on the quality of life of its residents when the 30 NRGH bus no longer stopped on Nelson St. directly in front of the care home.

The RDN confirmed Nelson St. is once again serving Nelson St. after the original decision to adjust the route to continue on Boundary Ave. came into effect Jan. 5, 2020.

A lack of consultation was mentioned as another concern raised in a Kiwanis Village letter to the RDN.

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A 1,200 signature petition from Kiwanis Village representing concerns from residents, family members, staff and volunteers was presented to the RDN at a Feb. 10 meeting.

The RDN’s manager of transit operations Darren Marshall told the Transit Select Committee earlier this month extensive public consultation prior to the change included two open houses at Nanaimo Hospital.

Those well attended sessions happened several months before the South Nanaimo Area Transit Plan was approved, which included changes to route 30.

The plan was given the green light by the RDN board in July, 2019.

“We received no opposing comments to Route 30 changes, ridership data supported the change with less than one rider per trip. The distance to the bus stop met our bus stop spacing model of 400 meters,” Marshall said.

He said an extensive promotional campaign on various platforms for both NRGH open houses was done. Marshall said on-bus promotion was established to draw the attention of impacted riders to upcoming open houses at NRGH and a survey.

RDN transit officials met with concerned residents of Kiwanis Village on Nov. 29, 2019 and Feb. 10, 2020.

“At both meetings they expressed that they did not have an opportunity to speak to the changes and were ill-informed. We advised the residents of our process,” Marshall said.

Tyler Brown, chair of the RDN’s Transit Select Committee, told NanaimoNewsNOW he doesn’t believe members of the public who asked for a more streamlined NRGH bus route have been ignored.

He said it wasn’t clear people were upset about an adjustment to the route until after the change was made.

“Sometimes for a variety of reasons you’re not effective with that engagement or people aren’t paying attention to that engagement and you’re not capturing a certain group,” Brown said. “I think in this case that’s what happened.”

Brown said sometimes data around ridership can miss the real story of who’s using the bus.

Route 30 is a major transit route providing service between Woodgrove Centre, NRGH and downtown Nanaimo.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes