Local Area Transit Plans

South Nanaimo Local Area Transit Plan

The Regional District of Nanaimo’s Transit Future Plan (February 2014) provides a 25-year transit strategy for the Region, providing a high-level overview of the resources required to achieve the Regional District of Nanaimo’s transit mode share target of five percent. As a result of strong investments in the Regional District of Nanaimo Transit System, ridership has increased by more than 30 percent over the past five years. The South Nanaimo Local Area Transit Plan details how to realize the goals of the Transit Future Plan within the South Nanaimo area, which spans from the Country Club Shopping Centre in the north to the rural area of Cassidy and the Nanaimo Airport in the south.

The South Nanaimo Local Area Transit Plan includes a proposed investment of approximately 60,000 additional service hours and calls for capital investments that include:

• An additional 25 buses added to the transit fleet;
• New transit exchanges and upgrades to transit exchanges; and
• Improvements to customer amenities at transit stops.

To increase transit ridership, the plan proposes to straighten existing routes, improve frequency and reliability, and reduce service duplication. Short and medium term investments for more immediate consideration are:

1. Restructure routes 7 Cinnabar and 30 NRGH. Introduce routes 8 Cedar and 78 Cassidy-completed January 2020
2. Restructure routes 5 Fairview, 6 Harewood, and 40 VIU
3. Introduce route 70 Duke Point
4. Increase service on South Nanaimo Routes
5. Establish interregional service with the Cowichan Valley Regional District

View the plan here: South Nanaimo Local Area Transit Plan.

How do Local Area Transit Plans relate to other transit and local government plans?