Buses will now leave from downtown Nanaimo to the Duke Point ferry terminal three times a day. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

transit expansion

RDN Transit buses now leaving downtown Nanaimo to Duke Point ferry terminal

Apr 15, 2020 | 7:11 AM

NANAIMO — A long sought-after bus route is now in service, linking Nanaimo to the only operational mid-island ferry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RDN Transit buses will now leave the downtown Nanaimo transit exchange on Front St. at 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., stop at South Parkway Plaza (near Country Grocer) and arrive at the Duke Point ferry terminal. Return trips are scheduled 45 minutes later.

Daniel Pierce with the RDN said the service came together shortly after BC Ferries decided to completely halt sailings from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, which then no longer required the number 25 route to the Departure Bay terminal.

“(BC Ferries) had data showing where passengers would most likely be trying to leave the Island, at which times of day. That’s how we determined those three specific pickup spots.”

The schedule is designed to sync up with when ferries leave the Duke Point terminal.

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“We will be working continuously on a daily and weekly basis,” Pierce said. “If there’s adjustments needed to the schedule for any reason, we’ll be able to make those.”

Transit service from Nanaimo to Duke Point was often on the table of the RDN’s transit select committee but never came to fruition.

A proposed route from the former Prideaux St. transit exchange to the ferry terminal was first deferred by the RDN board in October, 2017 and rejected outright several months later in favour of expanding an existing route.

Pierce said he believed the route will be back before the RDN at some point in the future.

“I do think it’s something which is needed for our community and we’ve heard that. It really comes down to a priority our board will have to set. We have quite a few priorities and competing interests.”

RDN Transit is currently on the summer schedule, which reduces buses to essential routes.

Transit is currently free to all riders, since passengers load at the rear doors to avoid contact with drivers.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit