Monday, January 11, 2016

Longest Possible Trip on Public Transit in BC

Over the last year there have been a number of new transit services that go from one transit system in BC to another which means you travel some significant distances.   I was curious to see how far you could travel with public transit.

Vancouver Island Long Distance Trips
On Southern Vancouver Island because the commuter service from the Duncan to Victoria you can travel from Swartz Bay as far as Ladysmith - 120 km - route #70 Greater Victoria Transit then #66, #6 and #35 of the Cowichan Valley Transit.

There is a 18 km gap between the Cowichan Valley Transit system and the Nanaimo Transit system, I had expected there to be a public bus from Ladysmith to Nanaimo.  I had thought there would be enough demand from south of Nanaimo to get to VIU to warrant a bus, but there is none.

There is also no connection between Nanaimo and Comox transit.   There is a 8 km gap between the last bus stop at Deep Bay and the last stop at Fanny Bay.  End to end the Nanaimo Transit system stretches for over 80 km.

There is a connection between the Comox transit system and the Campbell river one, but the total distance is only 80 km.

It is possible to take a bus from Coal Harbour south of Port Hardy to the Mount Cain ski hill near Woss which is 143 km.   This trip can not be done in one day and can only be done over two days and then only during the ski season.

Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley
It is possible to get from Horseshoe Bay to Harrison Hot Springs via #257, #019, Millennium Line,  #555, #66, #11.  It is a distance of a little more than 160 km.   The transit trip from Tsawwassen Ferry to Harrison is also just around 160 km.

Similkameen/Okanagan/Shuswap
It is possible to take public transit from Princeton to Sorrento for a distance about about 320 km, Though is not possible to make the trip on one day.   The bus from Princeton only runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday.   The bus between Summerland and Peachland only operates on Mondays.   You can only get from Enderby to Salmon Arm on Wednesdays.

For daily service you can only get from Peachland to Enderby which is just around 120 km

Kootenaies
West Creston to Kimberly is possible for a distance of 145 km but this is only possible once a week

You can get from Argenta to Edgewood for a distance of 335 km but it would take a couple of weeks to accomplish this trip.   The longest regular trip possible trip is from Balfour to Rossland for a distance of 125 km

North
You can get from Telkwa to Kispiox by transit for a distance of just over 100 km

Quesnel Transit offers service to both Wells and Nazko for a distance of 190 km but the Nazko bus is on on Wednesdays and the Wells bus on Thursdays

List of Longest Possible trips
  • Longest possible at all: Argenta to Edgewood for 335 km but it would take over ten days to accomplish.  this is also the longest distance possible on a single transit service,   This trip is via Nelson so much longer than it needs to be 
  • Longest possible trip that is reasonably direct:  Princeton to Sorrento 320 km but would take 10 days to complete 
  • Longest possible with daily service with ferries includ3ed: Ladysmth to Harrison Hot Springs (not counting the distance of the ferry) 280 km.   I am not certain this could be done in one day
  • Longest daily service only on public transit - either Horseshoe Bay or Tsawwassen ferry terminals to Harrison Hot Springs.  Both trips take about five hours
If there were no gaps on Vancouver Island, a trip of over 300 km would be possible on the east coast of Vancouver Island

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