In the Spring of 2019, the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) asked the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) for funding to hire a transportation coordinator, to look into a number of potential initiatives. Their application appears to have been caught up in some of the SRD’s Board’s internal politics and turned down. One of the committee members, Kate Maddigan, is also a member of the BC Community Bus Coalition. I recently asked her, “What’s happening with the Cortes Transportation Committee?”
She replied, “We are volunteers and getting this off the ground requires quite a team of committed people. We are not there yet. For now we will:
- see what the Vancouver Island University masters student [& Transit Planner at BC Transit], Ericka Amador, comes up with in her report on the feasibility study she did for a shuttle across Quadra, to be released sometime this year
- see how far the Community Bus Coalition gets with the province in implementing change to make these buses viable for rural areas in the province
- see what happens with the current political climate on Cortes and Quadra, as so far there are efforts to thwart any efforts Cortes or our regional director makes on almost everything, including the Quadra shuttle, in none-too-kindly a way.
- ride hailing services just came into being this week – let’s see how that goes and if it takes off on our islands!”
No Plans For A Cortes Connection
The Cortes Connection ran a successful shuttle service between Cortes Island and Campbell River for more than 20 years. They made the return trip three times a week during the slack winter months and increased this to five trips during the summer. This service was discontinued in 2017 but, given the problems of increasing BC ferry waits, a number of car owners would seriously consider using it today. Are there any immediate plans to go forward with something like the Cortes Connection?
“I think we are all happy with Klahoose’s efforts with their bus, which they managed to pull off, again despite the efforts made to block them,” said Maddigan.
What About A Cortes Community Bus?
“A community bus on Cortes or Quadra is just one option for transportation alternatives to personal vehicle use. We dont know how well a community bus could work for Cortes or Quadra, but given the community bus has worked well so far for Gabriola and Pender, we can use their pioneering work to explore ideas for our own. While they have defied the odds and gotten it to work for them, they have identified areas where the province, through regulations and policy, could make it much easier for other rural communities all over the province.”
Are There Other Transportation Initiatives?
“I believe there is an application underway to get electric vehicle chargers put in at at least one of the community halls. I believe that hall is Whaletown. As for the rest of the ideas that came out of the 2017 transportation demand management study for Cortes, these are difficult to pursue and achieve with only-volunteers and without a paid coordinator in some capacity or another, so progress will be as slow as molasses.”
In their funding application to the SRD, last Spring, the Transportation Committee indicated a paid coordinator could help research initiatives like wider shoulders for walkers or cyclists, a number of cycling options, designated car-stops for hitchhikers, ride-sharing and E-bike/ moped rentals.
Top photo credit: First meeting of the Cortes Transportation Committee. Photo left to right: Sonya Friesen, Don Tennant, Kate Maddigan, Max Thaysen & Director Anderson. – Courtesy Noba Anderson