Win! Victoria votes to create 24/7 bus lanes on Douglas this year - Saanich decision coming

GVAT’s work to get bus lanes built for BC Transit’s proposed RapidBus network produced another small win from Victoria City Council. GVAT requested that the City speed up both major sections of work. Councilor Dave Thompson successfully made a motion to accelerate the simple work to “transition the current time-limited dedicated bus lanes between Hillside Avenue and Herald Street to be in effect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week” from sometime in 2025 to before the end of 2024.

Our letter, responding to the Times Colonist article Douglas Street transformation set to begin this year, describes the importance of accelerating this work:

We will keep working to get 24/7 bus lanes created faster, on the remaining sections of Douglas and region wide.

GVAT’s work to get bus lanes built for BC Transit’s proposed RapidBus network  also got a boost from GVAT member group Climate Justice Victoria’s campaign for bus lanes on McKenzie to UVic, which GVAT  endorsed. Find out more, and endorse their open letter, on the CJV website. This article which ran on the front page of the Saanich News provides more context on the decision that Saanich Council is expected to make this summer. (Note that the rejection referenced in the headline is apparently from a Saanich staff person. Saanich’s mayor and council will make the actual decision).