transit system founded 1890 1 headquarters 520 gorge road east victoria british columbia v8w 9t5 service type bus service paratransit alliance bc transit routes 55 operator handydart farwest bus service bc transit website victoria an alexander dennis enviro500 equipped with bike rack one of the double deckers servicing victoria . victoria regional transit system provides public transportation in the greater victoria region of british columbia canada . its operations are governed by the victoria regional transit commission in association with bc transit . there were more than 25 million riders in 2010 . 2 contents 1 history 2 operations 2.1 routes 2.2 fares 2.3 accessibility 2.4 fleet 3 expansion possibilities 3.1 light rail transit lrt 3.2 e & n rail corridor 4 board of directors 5 references 6 external links history edit transit service began in 1890 by the national electric tramway and light company with four street cars . on may 26 1896 a packed streetcar crashed through the point ellice bridge and 55 people were killed . the consolidated electric railway company was forced into receivership by the disaster and emerged reorganized as the british columbia electric railway on april 15 1897 . the use of buses started in 1923 for outlying routes . although trolley buses were tried in 1945 the transit system was completely converted to motor buses in 1948 . in 1961 bc electric became part of bc hydro a crown corporation before the transit system was moved to the crown agency that would become bc transit . in 2000 victoria became the first city in north america to use double decker buses in regular public transit service 3 as well as the first city to use hybrid double decker buses . 4 as of august 24 2015 bc transit begins roll out of automated bus location call outs . http bctransit.com victoria news article nid 1403643807681 operations edit the transit system has 260 buses on 37 conventional routes and 18 community bus routes covering greater victoria including 5 victoria saanich oak bay langford esquimalt view royal colwood central saanich north saanich sidney metchosin highlands and sooke . primary bus route destinations are downtown victoria the university of victoria the royal oak exchange in saanich langford exchange in langford and the colwood exchange in colwood . routes edit routes are named for the direction of travel thus each route has two names indicating direction . some routes also change in the evening or on weekends which changes the route name again . many routes are still known by their older fixed names when buses used non electronic signs such as the 26 crosstown now dockyard uvic . 1 richardson downtown 2 2a oak bay willows downtown 3 gonzales downtown beacon hill 4 uvic downtown 6 royal oak exchange downtown 7 uvic gonzales downtown 8 interurban tillicum mall oak bay 10 jubilee songhees 11 tillicum mall uvic 12 university heights uvic 13 ten mile point university heights 14 vic general uvic 15 uvic express esquimalt express 16 uvic express uptown express 17 cedar hill school special christmas hill 19 hillside mall 21 interurban downtown 22 vic general hillside mall 24 cedar hill admirals walk 25 maplewood admirals walk colwood exchange dockyard 26 dockyard uvic 27 gordon head downtown beacon hill 28 majestic downtown beacon hill 30 royal oak via carey james bay beacon hill 31 royal oak via glanford james bay 32 cordova bay 33 uvic from james bay 35 ridge 39 royal roads camosun college uvic 47 goldstream meadows downtown peak hours mon fri 48 happy valley downtown peak hours mon fri 50 langford downtown 51 uvic langford 52 colwood exchange western speedway bear mountain 53 colwood exchange langford exchange via atkins 54 metchosin 55 happy valley 56 thetis heights via florence lake 57 westhills via millstream 58 goldstream meadows 59 triangle mountain 60 wishart 61 sooke downtown 63 otter point 64 east sooke 66 duncan connector to victoria operated by the cowichan valley commuter transit system 6 70 swartz bay downtown express 71 swartz bay downtown via west sidney 72 swartz bay downtown via fifth 75 saanichton royal oak downtown butchart gardens 76 uvic swartz bay express 81 brentwood swartz bay butchart gardens 83 royal oak sidney via west saanich airport 85 north saanich 86 deep cove mctavish interchange 88 sidney airport 99 shawnigan lake connector to victoria operated by the cowichan valley commuter transit system 7 fares edit fare type adult college 2.50 senior youth 2.50 child under age five no charge . daypasses are sold on board the bus for 5.00 . 10 tickets are 22.50 monthly passes are adult 85 and senior youth 45.00 . students at the university of victoria royal roads university and camosun college are part of the u pass program . all students pay for subsidized bus passes as part of their fees 69.25 for four months . only one fare zone exists for the victoria network as in april 2008 the system eliminated the then 3 two zone fare . 8 accessibility edit victoria s transit fleet is fully accessible with either ramps or lifts providing access . some bus stops are considered inaccessible due to their design with inadequate space to accommodate wheelchairs or operation of vehicle ramps lifts . paratransit services called handydart are also available . unlike the regular bus system handydart is contracted out . the system currently has 48 vans with door to door service for people who can not ride the conventional buses . booking is required and restrictions on who can use the system apply . fleet edit new flyer industries d40lf new flyer industries de40lf diesel electric hybrid gm arboc som28d dennis dart slf with plaxton pointer body dennis trident alexander dennis enviro500 nova bus lfs an out of service bus stopped on the side of the road in downtown victoria . expansion possibilities edit light rail transit lrt edit a proposal exists to build a light rail line from downtown victoria routing along douglas street to uptown beside the trans canada highway and the galloping goose bike path to six mile then along the old island highway through colwood to langford . 9 several options have been offered for lrt phased implementation with all variations starting in downtown victoria and initially providing service to either six mile colwood exchange or all the way to langford exchange . while the e & n rail corridor was considered as a potential route under this proposal it wasn t selected as the ideal candidate . full implementation of the line between downtown and langford for initial opening is projected to cost 950 million . long term transit network plans outline potential rapid transit corridors for the future including two that span from uptown with a corridor north to the saanich peninsula and sidney and a corridor east following mckenzie to uvic . e & n rail corridor edit the e & n rail tracks from up island provide access into vic west across the inlet from downtown victoria . the e & n tracks used to run into downtown via the johnson street bridge but as the bridge is being slated for replacement due to deterioration the railway component of the bridge was permanently closed in 2011 . rail will not be installed on the new bridge initially but will have provision to allow tracks to be installed in the future . 10 bc transit has studied the e & n rail corridor as a commuter rail link from west shore to victoria . 10 a bike path is being built beside the e & n tracks while allowing rail service to continue . 11 no formal plans have been announced for commuter rail on this corridor . board of directors edit the victoria regional transit system is overseen by a 7 member transit commission . 12 as of 2013 the board members are 13 councillor susan brice chair district of saanich mayor frank leonard district of saanich mayor barb desjardins district of esquimalt mayor larry cross town of sidney mayor carol hamilton city of colwood mayor dean fortin city of victoria councillor marianne alto city of victoria references edit about the transit system http bctransit.com regions vic news newsreleases pdf vic nr1520.pdf a brief history of transit in victoria and the lower mainland transit commission minutes march 18 23 2009 regional map for victoria crd . bctransit.com . retrieved 2012 06 21 . duncan connector to victoria shawnigan lake connector to victoria bc transit to eliminate 2 zone fares victoria news light rail approval gains speed . bclocalnews.com . 2011 05 18 . retrieved 2012 06 21 . a b http www.th.gov.bc.ca publications reports and studies evaluation enrailway final report tp eandn commuter rail analysis.pdf parks e & n rail trail project . crd.bc.ca . 2011 05 30 . retrieved 2012 06 21 . 1 victoria regional transit commission external links edit media related to buses in greater victoria at wikimedia commons victoria regional transit system webpage bc transit 950 million douglas st light rail proposal crd taxpayers association protest aspects of douglas st light rail bc transit lea 1996 report offering rail service using the e & n railtracks v t e public transit systems in canada alberta airdrie banff calgary edmonton fort mcmurray grande prairie hinton leduc lethbridge medicine hat red deer st. albert strathcona county british columbia 100 mile house agassiz harrison ashcroft clinton bella coola valley boundary campbell river central fraser valley chilliwack clearwater columbia valley comox valley cowichan valley cranbrook creston valley dawson creek elk valley fort st john hazeltons kamloops kelowna regional kimberley kitimat merritt mount waddington nanaimo pemberton valley penticton and okanagan similkameen port alberni port edward powell river prince george prince rupert princeton quesnel revelstoke salt spring island shuswap skeena smithers south okanagan transit system squamish summerland sunshine coast terrace vancouver translink vernon victoria west kootenay whistler williams lake for all unlinked systems see bc transit manitoba brandon flin flon selkirk thompson winnipeg new brunswick fredericton miramichi moncton saint john newfoundland and labrador corner brook st. john s northwest territories yellowknife nova scotia annapolis valley cape breton halifax strait of canso area ontario barrie belleville brampton brantford brockville burlington chatham kent clarence rockland cobourg collingwood cornwall deseronto durham region elliot lake fort erie go transit greater toronto guelph hamilton huntsville kenora kingston leamington lindsay london midland penetanguishene milton mississauga niagara falls niagara on the lake niagara parks niagara region norfolk county north bay north glengarry prescott russell oakville ottawa ontario northland intercity orangeville orillia owen sound peterborough port hope russell township st. catharines st. thomas sarnia sault ste. marie stratford sudbury tecumseh thunder bay timmins toronto wasaga beach waterloo region welland windsor woodstock york region prince edward island charlottetown cornwall stratford quebec amt greater montreal chambly richelieu carignan drummondville gatineau granby haut saint laurent lanaudi re laurentides laval l vis longueuil montreal mont tremblant la presqu le quebec city le richelain richelieu valley rimouski roussillon rouyn noranda saguenay saint jean sur richelieu sainte julie sherbrooke sorel varennes sud ouest trois rivi res saskatchewan moose jaw prince albert regina stc intercity saskatoon yukon whitehorse retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title victoria regional transit system & oldid 742351885 categories transit agencies in british columbiabus transport in british columbiatransport in the capital regional districthidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to 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