B.C. Transit has launched an online survey to gauge public support for its proposed scheduling and stops along Highway 16 West.
The survey is available through bctransit.com/highway16 until Sept. 16.
Opportunities for first-hand looks at the proposed plans will also be available this Saturday at the B.C. Northern Exhibition in Prince George, 4-8 p.m. and at the Nechako Valley Exhibition in Vanderhoof, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
"The engagement process will assist us in designing a system that will meet the needs of our customers and the communities along Highway 16," said B.C. Transit president and CEO Manuel Achadinha in a statement. "It is important that we hear from as many people as possible through the engagement process."
B.C. Transit is proposing to offer four services along the route - between Prince George and Burns Lake, Burns Lake and Smithers, between Kispiox and Terrace and between Terrace and between Terrace and Prince Rupert - with stops at various communities in between.
The proposed fare is $5 cash per trip or 10 trips for $45.
Respondents are asked whether they support those routes, which two days they would like to see them run, whether the proposed schedules work for them and whether they support the proposed fares.
The federal and provincial governments have committed $5 million over three years to an "action plan" to improve transportation along the 725-kilometre stretch.
In addition to bus service along the main route, it includes funding for webcams and bus shelters, a grant program to help outlying First Nations communities to buy shuttle vehicles and to provide driver education to boost the number of Class 4 and 5 drivers in those communities.
B.C. Transit will cover two-thirds of the cost of the bus service and participating communities the remaining one-third. The more typical arrangement sees B.C. Transit cover 55 per cent.
Also known as the Highway of Tears, 18 women have been murdered or have disappeared along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert and adjacent routes since the 1970s.
B.C. Transit aims to have the first inter-city buses in service by the end of this year with the rest on the road in 2017.
