BC Transit and the City of Kelowna are announcing a service change and expansion for the region, effective September 1, 2024.
As part of a long-term vision for the Kelowna transit system, changes are being made to Route 4 Pandosy/Orchard Park and the two new routes: Route 84 Academy Way and Route 98 Rutland/UBCO Express.
These changes will help create direct and fast service between three of Kelowna’s Urban Centres (Downtown, Midtown/Orchard Park and Rutland) onward to UBCO.
The new Route 98 Rutland/UBCO Express will provide express service between UBCO and Rutland. As a result, some existing trips on Route 97 Okanagan will shift over to service the route 98. Trips on these routes will increase over time.
These changes are part of the overall vision for the Rutland and area network.
The new Route 84 Academy Way will replace Route 4 Pandosy/UBCO to better service the Academy Way community and help maintain service reliability. This route will travel between Academy Way and UBCO with additional trips to be added over time. Route 4 Pandosy/Orchard Park will continue to provide service between South Pandosy and Orchard Park.
Other changes coming this fall include:
- Route 13 Quail Ridge will be expanded during the school year with more morning and evening trips.
- Adjustments to route 19 Glenmore to serve a densely populated portion of Drysdale Boulevard. Service will be introduced on Drysdale between Kane and Glen Park.
- Mid-day and weekend service will be increased on the following routes:
- Route 1 Lakeshore
- Route 5 Gordon
- Route 8 University/OK College
- Route 10 North Rutland
- Route 11 Rutland
To help ease into these changes, BC Transit and City of Kelowna Staff will be on-site to answer questions and provide support to passengers navigating the Kelowna Regional Transit System.
Representatives will be at following sites on Tuesday, August 27 and Wednesday, August 28 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and again from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.:
- Queensway Exchange
- Orchard Park Exchange
- Rutland Exchange (Tuesday, August 27 and morning of August 28 only)
- UBCO Exchange
This service expansion in the Kelowna Regional Transit System has been made possible by an increase in local government and provincial funding. The operating grant provided in the 2024-25 provincial budget will allow BC Transit and its local government partners to continue to provide safe and reliable service and demonstrates that public transit remains a priority in our communities.
We encourage our customers to use the Umo app, Transit App, Google Transit or any other app of their choice for real-time bus tracking and planning your next transit journey.
For more information about trip planning, schedules and to sign up for customer alerts, please visit bctransit.com/kelowna.
Media Contacts
BC Transit Communications
media@bctransit.com
