Blink RapidBus
Langford Exchange Phipps Rd Station Ave Jacklin Rd Langford Centre Grainger Rd Kristina Pl Wale Rd Goldstream Ave/Island Hwy Colwood Exchange Wilfert Rd Six Mile Rd Helmcken Rd McKenzie Ave Tillicum Rd Uptown Cloverdale Ave Finlayson St Gorge Rd/Hillside Ave Discovery St Pandora Ave Fort St Courtney St Legislature Exchange
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Blink RapidBus (bus)

Blink Rapidbus Line 95 is a bus rapid transit route in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, as part of the Victoria Regional Transit System. It connects Langford, Colwood, View Royal, Saanich, and Victoria. Its termini are at Langford Exchange in Langford and the Legislature Exchange in Downtown Victoria.

History

Rapid transit has been proposed in the Greater Victoria area since at least 2011 when a light rail line was proposed to link Langford and Downtown Victoria. It was expected to cost $1 billion.^[1] In 2018, Premier of British Columbia John Horgan said that there wasn't a business case for light rail on the abandoned E&N Railway corridor and that his government would focus on building bus lanes.^[2]

There's been transit lanes on portions of Douglas Street, one of the roads Line 95 traverses, since 2014 when curb lanes had been reserved for transit and bikes during AM and PM peak hours.^[3] These lanes have been expanded to all-day dedicated bus lanes that stretch 4.4 km (2.7 mi) from Fisgard Street to the Trans-Canada Highway (which Douglas Street turns into) at the Burnside Road overpass. The bus lanes are predicted to save bus riders 10 minutes on their journey.^[4] There are discussions ongoing with Transport Canada about extending the bus lanes further down the Trans-Canada Highway. There's also plans to add similar lanes to the Island Highway.^[5]

In 2021, BC Transit announced plans for a RapidBus system. It was hoped that phase 1 of their plans, a "West Shore Line" between Langford and downtown, would be implemented within 3 years. In phase 2 there are plans for 2 more lines, a "Peninsula Line", and a "UVic Line". The Peninsula Line will link Downtown Victoria with the Swartz Bay ferry terminal in North Saanich via the Patricia Bay Highway. The UVic Line will link the University of Victoria with Uptown via McKenzie Avenue. There would be connections between the 3 RapidBus routes at an Uptown/Saanich Exchange. The project hadn't been costed yet, but Transportation Minister Rob Fleming noted that there's new funding sources for public transit projects, such as the Canadian federal government announcing a new transit infrastructure fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[6][7][8][9]

Line 95 commenced service on April 10, 2023. It replaced route 50, and follows the same routing but with fewer stops. Only one pair of stops were removed though, as the other stops continue to be used by other routes. Line 95 is branded orange, as will all future RapidBus routes, with new RapidBus signs and stations being installed.^[10][11] On September 5, 2023, BC Transit extended their late night service on Friday and Saturday nights on multiple routes including route 95. Buses now run until 3am on those nights, although it may not run on holidays.^[12][13]

Service frequency

Line 95 runs every 7-8 minutes during peak hours, at least every 15 minutes from 7am-10pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 8am-10pm on Sundays. There's reduced service during early mornings and late nights. This is an 8% service increase on Saturdays, 12% on weekdays, and 18% on Sundays compared to route 50.^[14]

References