The Nelson BC Chapter of the Council of Canadians has launched a publicity and petition campaign to gather support for publicly-owned inter-community bus service.

Here’s some of what the Council of Canadians has to say about public transit: Public transit is a recognized effective climate strategy. Beyond reducing emissions it can also  reduce road use, congestion, pollution and public highway maintenance costs. 

The Clean BC target is to reduce private vehicle trips (and emissions) by 25% but it is a  completely empty promise without any significant strategy to reach it. The funding and scale  up of public transit so far is too little, too late. 

A major missing piece in transit expansion is the inter-city component. When people require  a vehicle to travel between communities, they are far more likely to use their private vehicles  locally as well. Moreover many people who cannot drive or afford their own vehicle become  second class citizens who face huge barriers to visit family, or to travel for medical needs or  even seek employment. 

Inter-city transit needs to be high quality, frequent, public and subsidized to work. For-profit  services are unable to offer the level of service needed. 

Rapid expansion of transit involves significant investment, but it is less costly than the  alternative: constant traffic expansion and climate disasters. 

You can print their petition below or to download a copy click here: