New transit owner looms for Kamloops, Kelowna and Vernon
The contract with First Transit to operate the Central Okanagan transit system is in the last year of its nine-year term. It also comes at time when French-based multi-national Transdev has announced it is buying Swedish-based First Transit, which has a contract with B.C. Transit...
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The contract with First Transit to operate the Central Okanagan transit system is in the last year of its nine-year term.
It also comes at time when French-based multi-national Transdev has announced it is buying Swedish-based First Transit, which has a contract with B.C. Transit to operate the bus systems in Kelowna, Kamloops and Vernon along with others in B.C.
B.C. Transit has separate contracts with First Transit in each community. They run for nine years with the option to extend to 15 years.
“B.C. Transit is currently determining the next steps on a possible extension (in Kelowna),” it said in an email to iNFOnews.ca.
Local 1722 of the Amalgamated Transit Union took escalating strike action against First Transit in the Central Okanagan starting in August that culminated in a one-day strike on Oct. 1.
That dispute is heading for binding arbitration but throughout the strike – and for some time before – the union called on B.C. Transit to take over the operation of the system and do things like hire more full-time drivers to reduce staff turnover.
READ MORE: One day Central Okanagan transit strike as both sides head to arbitration
As of publication time, B.C. Transit could not say what stage the contracts are at in Kamloops and Vernon but did say the contracts have staggered end dates.
B.C. Transit says it only operates the Victoria system while the rest are contracted out. Metro Vancouver transit is operated by TransLink.
The email did not explain, as requested by iNFOnews.ca, what the process is to change the operating structure, who approves the contracts and whether local governments have a say in who operates their transit systems.
First Transit was bought by Swedish-based EQT in July 2021.
Transdev, in a press release, says it’s buying First Transit’s U.S. and Canadian operations in conventional transit but not its school bus division.
On its website, Transdev says it operates in 18 countries on five continents where it employs almost 82,000 people working in a variety of transportation fields.
The sale is subject to closing conditions and approvals but is expected to be completed in early 2023.
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