Kamloops eyes massive transit expansion as TRU enrolment falls

Kamloops is gearing up to expand its bus service, but it’s coming just as its ridership dwindles.

Starting next year, a planned expansion for local bus routes would include 11 new buses and nearly 30,000 of transit hours, city council heard today, Sept. 9.

It comes as Thompson Rivers University enrolment falters amid cuts to foreign students across the country.

“I think we have to be nimble. (TRU is) very concerned about the drop in students there,” Coun. Mike O’Reilly said.

If approved as proposed, the first year of the three-year expansion would include a 1.3 percent property tax increase, according to a staff report to council. For the average household that’s $45 over the year.

The university’s enrolment has dropped by around a tenth overall and roughly 25% among foreign students alone, who take up a significant minority of the entire student body.

O’Reilly and Coun. Kelly Hall suggested the city should consider reducing those bus hours in the future if ridership takes a hit by dropping university enrolment, so long as the bus expansion is approved. Coun. Katie Neustaeter said the expansion “comes with a big price tag” and would be a difficult cost to approve.

Some councillors in favour of the expansion saw it as a long time coming.

“I don’t think it’s an expansion, I think it’s a catch-up,” Coun. Nancy Bepple said. “We’ve had some more hours in the last five years, but… this is the first substantive change to service.”

An increase in bus hours and frequency means fewer cars on the road, less congestion and fewer road expansions needed to come out of city coffers, she said.

Before it’s approved, the plan will go through 2026 budget talks and weighed among other projects on the go.