For those who do not drive, transportation in the South Okanagan is about to become even less convenient than at present.
Greyhound Canada is planning to cut its service between Kelowna and Penticton from four trips to two in each direction each day.
The reason for the cut is because of the low number of passengers.
Kelowna’s bus terminal is the ninth busiest in Canada, but the route from Kelowna to Penticton does not have a lot of passengers.
Greyhound’s buses can carry 54 people, but the buses which pass through Summerland seldom carry anywhere near that number.
Still, the service provides an important transportation link for some in our community and in our region.
For a variety of reasons, not everyone in Summerland is able to drive, yet all of us will, from time to time, need to go to Penticton or Kelowna since some services and businesses are not available here.
As fuel prices continue to rise, as they have done in the past, alternatives to driving will look increasingly attractive to motorists.
Over the past several years, the municipality has been working to bring a regional transit service which would connect Summerland and Penticton.
Plans to connect Summerland with Kelowna have also been discussed.
This service still has not become a reality.
Mayor Janice Perrino has said a regional transit service could be a reality in a year’s time, but until then, a link is still needed between Summerland and other Okanagan communities.
So far, Greyhound has been providing the service that a regional transit route will eventually offer.
Reducing the number of buses will be extremely inconvenient to those who need the service the most.