Public buses saw a swell in ridership during the two-week Canada Winter Games period.
"There as about 40 to 50 per cent (increase) over the course of the Games," said city transportation manager Dave Bradshaw. That increase translates to nearly 78,000 rides, he said.
Transit trips were free Feb. 13 to March 1 thanks to UNBC students' Pave the Way campaign, which raised nearly $40,000 to cover the lost revenue from daily fares and monthly passes.
"We had professional drivers that were great with their customer service so they were able to help out a lot of the new riders, whether it was the athletes or any new residents getting on the bus to help them out as to which buses they need to be on to get to their destination," said Bradshaw.
During the Games, BC Transit added extended evening and weekend service as well as special shuttles. Since school routes were cancelled, there wasn't any extra expense in terms of overtime hours for drivers, said Bradshaw.
"The hours that were in the budget already were reallocated to cover the extended service," he said.
Service extension on a regular basis is something the department is looking at as part of its Transit Future plan, Bradshaw said - provided the necessary budget becomes available. "Those are increases to service we can certainly try and move forward with."
The influx of riders and free fares didn't translate into any security issues, said Bradshaw.
According to the Prince George RCMP, there were nothing unusual about numbers of disturbance calls during the Games period.
