©

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - A3

BUS passengers rise again»

as useage keeps growing |

By KAT LEE
THE PEOPLE of Terrace
and area certainly know how
to use the bus.

Recent statistics from -
B.C. Transit show that the
number of people -using
public transit has gone: up

- 70.3 per cent over the past

five years; from April 2000
to Marciv 2001, the number
of people taking the bus. was
102,025, while the 2004-

2005 year saw 173,708 rid-

ers.
There have been a lot of

things that have happened’ ,

to make the ridership in-

“crease possible, said Tania

Wegwitz, the senior transit
planner for the municipal
systems program of B.C.
Transit. .

“Terrace has done really
well,” she said, adding that
a70 per cent increase in five
years is what is expected -
out of brand new _ transit
systems, not ‘systems like
Terrace’s which have been
around since 1980,

The 2002-2003 year saw.
Terrace claim the highest
level of ridership increase
In the province, up 28.1 per
.cent over the previous year.

One of the reasons for the
ongoing increase is because
the’ transit system was re-

vamped in. 2001, Wegwitz.

said.
The four partners of the”

‘regional transit system, the

City of »Terrace, the Re-
gional District of Kitimat-
Stikine, B.C... Transit ‘and
Coastal Bus Lines Ltd., got*
together to see how to better
serve the public’s transpor-
tation needs.

“It’s been a really great

team effort with all the part-
ners involved,’. Wegwitz
said.

Bus drivers and manage-

ment staff at Coastal Bus..

Lines were instrumental in

suggesting ‘improvements, .
and Wegwitz attributed the -

drivers had a big part of the
success.

. Atransit committee made

up of people from the re-
gional district, city officials
and community residents
was put together to look
over the system as well.
New routes and sched-
‘ules were implemented in
August 2001 and ridership
went up 20 per cent. ,
Ever since then,
partners have made small
changes to the schedule ev-

ery year.

For example, some. years a:

they aimed at improving
service for. certain schools,

commuters from Thornhill, ©
new service to Wal-Mart, or .
tiny increases to make sure:

buses were running on time.

The buses ms¢
may be part of the reason for
“success. ;

Two buses are’ wheel-
chair-lift equipped and two
are low-floor, which are
helpful
scooters and strollers.

‘The handyDart system
was introduced to the city in
1990, and it provides door-
to-door service for people
with disabilities. Use of the
handyDart system is up 22
per cent over last year.

Wegwitz . admits’ there

-may be other factors con-

tributing to the ridership in-

the :

themselves

with wheelchairs, ;

buses for five years.

.BUS DRIVER Skip Guthrie welcomes people onto his bus daily. He’s been driving

KAT LEE PHOTO

crease, some of which may
be economy.

With an. adult ‘monthly
pass going for $26 a month,

transportation costs are rela-

tively low compared to the

cost of.a car; according to the
Canadian Automobile As-
sociation, a car owner pays
an average of around $7,000
per year to operate their car,
or around $20 per day. .

“If people haven't tried
the transit system yet, they.

- Should, because it’s a jewel
_of a transit system and they

should be very proud 0 of it,”
Wegwitz said. |

‘Chinese buy into Stewart gold play

CHINA’ S LARGEST publicly- -traded mining corporation has’ a stake i ina

gold play near Stewart.

The Zijin Mining Group has bought $1.95 million worth of Pinnacle’
Mines shares, giving it access to the Silver Coin property 24km north of
Stewart. Zijin is also contributing its mining expertise to the property at
’ which a drilling program began last year and continues this year. :
“Andrew Bowering, president of Pinnacle Mines, explained that while the
| coinpany has half a dozen mining properties in northern B.C., it is currently
- focused on the Silver Coin deposit.

He said drilling will continue as long as the weather holds and will re-

sume next year. .
“Our results have been very good to date,” ‘said Bowering. “Based on the
results of next year, we are looking at a prefeasiblity or scoping study.”
Prefeasibility examines the best way to actually start production at the
mine. The area has resources of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.
“It’s there in sufficiently high grade to be economical. The question is, is
there enough there to be economical,”
Zijin, ‘which operates mines across China as well’as 14 subsidiary com-

said Bowering.

panies and had a gross profit $124 million in 2004, has four geologists at the .

Silver Coin site.

You didn’t protest when he got his new

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News In Brief

_ by a little and not enough

_ Of 2,211 people from the |

. period in 2004.

Drunk numbers steady

THE NUMBER of people arrested for causing distur-
bances while publicly intoxicated remains similar to the

last two years.
Terrace RCMP inspector Marlin’Degrand said from

January to the end of July 2005, 558 people were ar-—

rested for public intoxication.
Last year, police arrested about 494 j in the same pe-

. riod, and in 2003 the number was 587.

Degrand said the police don’t generally arrest people
for having a few too many drinks, rather, they have to

be causing a disturbance, bothering others, posing arisk
- to themselves, others or property.

“3

Passengers dip é a bit_

PASSENGER * TRAFFIC
going through the airport
here has declined, but only

(o alarm airport officials.
‘To the end of. July,

55,421 people either land-

ed or flew away, a drop

57,632 total for the same

' The biggest drop took
place in February when
6,937 people used the air-
port compared to. 7,686
users in February 2004.

~ Airport manager Lau-
rie Brown said. the 2005 :
total remains healthy when considering the 51 580 peo-
ple who passed through from January to the end of July’
2003 and the 51,051 people who used the airport for the.
first seven months of 2002.

_ “We're down a bit,. but still: very healthy,” ‘said
Brown. ;

In addition to the runway extension project complet-
ed.in July, the airport is spending $550, 000 to improve
its electrical supply. :

That contract, financed through a federal airport
grant program, is being undertaken oy T.L. and Ta.
Kitimat company. ° ,

Laurie Brown

Time to slow down -
STUDENTS -ARE back. in class and that means it’s.
time to slow down around schools, says the Insurance,
Corporation of B. C.

Motorists are reminded to travel no faster than 30.

km/h between 8 a.m. and” 5 ‘p.m. when travelling in.
school zones.

And they’re also being reminded to stop for school”

buses when their red lights are flashing.
, ICBC. research indicates that when a vehicle is trav-

: elling at'30 km/h, it takes 13 metres to stop. But.that

distance expands to 27 metres if a vehicle is travelling |
at 50 km/h.
Local Autoplan brokers are helping drive home the

- slow. down message by distributing 12,000 bright yel- -
low ‘signs to 1,500 élementary schools around the prov-

ince:Police will’also be keeping an eye out for errant
drivers around schools.

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