New transit operations and maintenance facility opens in Campbell River, B.C.

The Campbell River Transit System has a new operations and maintenance facility at 1235 Evergreen Road, with the centralized location providing access to key transportation routes.

The 5.7-acre site will be able to accommodate up to 50 buses, an increase from the 16 buses housed at the previous facility.

The new 10,000-square-foot operations and maintenance facility includes an administrative/maintenance building, three maintenance bays, parts storage and shipping/receiving areas. A separate service island and an outdoor covered storage area are also on site. The buildings were designed to allow for future growth, with the ability to add a fourth bay and a second story administration area should they be required.

The sustainable building design will support greenhouse gas reduction targets and other operational efficiencies. Additionally, each building has been constructed to be able to accommodate Compressed Natural Gas buses in the future.

In 2011, the city of Campbell River approved a Transit Future Plan that identified the need for a new transit facility to meet the growing population and to support the increasing popularity of public transit in the area.

This $13.5-million project was first announced in 2016 as part of the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF), from which approximately 83 percent of construction costs are being provided by the government of Canada and the province of B.C. The remaining construction costs were covered by the city of Campbell River, while land and other costs not eligible for PTIF funding were shared by the province of B.C. and the city of Campbell River.

Also effective April 1, 2020, conventional and custom transit services in the Campbell River Transit System will be operated by PWTransit Canada Ltd., a member of the Pacific Western Group of Companies. Pacific Western has acquired Watson & Ash, the company previously operating the Campbell River Transit System.