A seven-month wait for intercity bus service for Powell River may be coming to an end soon if a Sechelt-based company is approved by the provincial government.
Lana Zanazovsky and her partner Dmitry Tyunin have filed an application to start a bus line between Powell River, the Lower Sunshine Coast and Vancouver. They’re calling their company Sunshine Coast Connector Ltd.
“We’ve got quite a few support letters, so we submitted them to the [BC Passenger Transportation Board],” said Zanazovsky. “Now we’re just waiting to hear what they are going to decide.”
The company is aiming to start service as soon as May if their licences are approved, she said.
The process for applying to the transportation board for a licence to operate can be lengthy, so the company has asked for letters of support from the local governments.
The letters are required for the passenger transportation board to fast-track applications that are based on urgent public need.
So far the company has received letters from Powell River mayor Dave Formosa, Sechelt mayor Bruce Milne, Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons and the Powell River and Sunshine Coast regional district boards.
“There are a lot of people who simply do not have their own private transportation, and yet they have to get down to the city for business or medical appointments,” said Patrick Brabazon, Powell River Regional District board chair and Electoral Area A director. “The regional district has agreed in principle that we will support a bus service. We don’t know if this is the one that will succeed, but we have informed the government by resolution that we support such a service.”
Zanazovsky said the company has applied for two routes and will provide service from downtown Powell River to Vancouver a few times per week, and daily service from Earls Cove to Langdale ferry terminals.
“It won’t be getting on the ferry, it’ll basically be a connector between the two terminals,” she said.
Meanwhile, BC Transit recently announced it would be looking into expanding service as outlined in last year’s service review and that expansion might include improved service to Saltery Bay terminal. Currently, the only transit service to the terminal is by special request.
Zanazovsky said she and Tyunin have a paramedic background but decided to start the transportation company when they discovered the need.
“When we saw there was an issue of transportation between Powell River and Sunshine Coast, that’s when the idea basically came up,” she said.
The company does not have any buses currently, though they do have them lined up if their licence is approved, said Zanazovsky.
That’s the last step for the company to start operating once they are approved, she said.
“It’s not easy to get those licences, but once you get them, then you can get the buses,” said Zanazovsky. “I don’t know what the chances are. We’re just waiting to see if they say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
