Frequently Asked Questions

The Saanich Transit Centre is a planned operations and maintenance facility to support the growing transit needs of Greater Victoria, including the expansion of regional bus service.

Our existing maintenance facilities are reaching their limit and to add more buses to the transit system, we need another facility to park and maintain them. With Greater Victoria’s population growing and transit trips expected to increase by 40%, we are planning the additional infrastructure needed to maintain and expand our fleet and services over the next 25 years.

A new regional facility has been contemplated since 2011 and the existing Victoria and Langford facilities are nearing capacity as early as 2028. A new LEED Gold handyDART facility was recently built in View Royal, freeing up the space at this location for future redevelopment to maintain park and conventional buses.

The Victoria Regional Transit Plan shapes how the Victoria Regional Transit System will change and develop over time. This plan is the foundation used for service design as BC Transit continues to roll out RapidBus and invest in service and infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing community. The plan determines key priorities for service improvements, which informs what new facilities are needed to meet service needs.

The Victoria Regional Transit Plan is currently being updated. Find out more here

There are currently five BC Transit-owned properties between Glanford Avenue and Commerce Circle that will be consolidated into one five-acre property for future redevelopment. Two of the properties were previously used for bus maintenance and parking. All properties are vacant. The site is centrally located, with easy access to the highway and are industrially zoned for use as a transit facility.

Site preparation includes geotechnical, environmental, and archaeological assessments to better understand site conditions as well as building demolition scheduled for early 2026. The technical studies are now complete and posted here. This information will inform future redevelopment plans for the site.

BC Transit is early in its planning for this site and completing technical assessment of the site to inform future redevelopment.

The number of buses that will be parked and maintained here is estimated to be about 150. Historically two of the five sites were used to park and maintain buses. Once the number of buses expected to be parked and serviced at this site is known, a traffic study will be completed.

Community and Indigenous engagement will inform each phase of planning and design. The more we understand about what is important to the community and how best to keep the community informed, the better we can tailor our public engagement approach and the project design.

Two open houses were held on site in August 2025 and there are plans for further engagement opportunities as the project progresses in early 2026. The display boards can be reviewed here. The project team presented to the Carey Area Residents Association and the Royal Oak Community Association. Further neighbourhood engagement is planned for early 2026 prior to demolition activities.

The Saanich Transit Centre is situated on the territories of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Kosapsum) and WSANEC peoples. BC Transit acknowledges their history and contemporary presence on the lands for which their communities have cared for millennia. We are committed to meaningful consultation with First Nations in the spirit of reconciliation and incorporating Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and participation into this site.

Local Nations were consulted in the archeological assessment of the site, and First Nations observers were on site during geotechnical work. Protocols are in place to ensure any archaeological discovery is handled according to agreed-upon procedures and with respect.

Construction activities will follow District of Saanich noise bylaws (7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday). Environmental protection measures are in place, and the site may be used for non-disruptive training activities.

Site investigations and analysis were completed in 2025 . The five buildings on-site will be removed in early 2026. Further details on building demolition will be shared once contractors are confirmed.

The project budget for this preparatory work is $48 million. The Government of Canada and the Province of BC are both investing $19.13 million, and the Victoria Regional Transit Commission is contributing $9.56 million. Future construction will require significant additional investment.

Yes. The new centre is designed to support an expanded fleet of electric buses, aligning with BC Transit’s sustainability goals.

Environmental protection is a key planning principle applied to site design and operational planning. Any future redevelopment will meet or exceed all municipal, provincial and federal standards for environmental protection. McElhanney has been retained as the design consultant and Aqua-Tex Scientific has been retained as the independent environmental monitor to oversee the site preparation and planning for building demolition that will occur in 2026.

To ask the project team a question or receive project updates, contact us at: saanichtransitcentre@bctransit.com