Chris Stedile
Castlegar News
Castlegar’s mayor has high hopes for a new Saturday bus schedule throughout the West Kootenay.
The service, which extends busing from weekedays, should cover Trail, Castlegar, Nelson and connect through Slocan Valley.
“We’ve been dealing [with the route] for quite a while,” said Lawrence Chernoff, who chairs the West Kootenay Transit Committee.
“For us it’s been a progressive process of trying to meet the needs of the community. We saw a need for us to provide the service and we went from there. Now hopefully it will get started.”
Chernoff was certain anyone and everyone will benefit from the service.
“Absolutely everyone. The students at the college, people who want to get downtown and through Nelson on a Saturday. They haven’t been able to do that in the past so it really frees people up to not only make their rounds Monday through Friday but on Saturday as well.”
While the exact details have yet to be ironed out — such as how many buses will be involved and what times they will make stops — Chernoff is optimistic the system could be in place as soon as next month.
“I think it’s a great addition to the transit system,” he added.
In addition, a route from Grandview Heights to Castlegar is on the table.