The Christmas weekend gave us a great many examples of how unpredictable travel in B.C., especially in winter, can be, as well as how inadequate our rural cellular infrastructure is.
Numerous road closures in extremely poor weather left many motorists stuck in ditches or snowbanks, or waiting in long lines for hours, in some cases with no option to detour or backtrack. A great many of these people were in areas where cell coverage isn’t available.
My personal experience was of arriving upon a fresh accident (sadly with a fatality) near the Alberta/B.C. border on Highway 16 on Dec. 23. The closure lasted the better part of eight hours, in an area with no cell signal. No one was even able to report the accident until someone made it to the Jasper gate. Fortunately, I was able to turn around and head back west, but many did not have that option due to the narrow, snow-covered road. There were truck drivers and an uninjured accident victim who had no way to contact family or dispatchers. I was able to take a few numbers and make some calls for these folks on their behalf once I got back into a serviced area, but that’s not always an option.
A traveller unable to reliably summon help is a traveller already in danger. I often imagine myself running into trouble in one of these dead zones and I’m not sure what I would do, especially if I were off the road and possibly injured, unable to get out to flag a passing vehicle. As a transportation manager responsible for a huge geographic area in Northern B.C., this also impacts me far beyond my own personal safety. It impacts my drivers who get stranded and my customers who can’t keep abreast of delays.
The CRTC and other regulatory authorities need to hold the major cellular networks to account in ensuring gapless coverage along major routes, especially in the corridors between Jasper and Prince Rupert, and Kamloops and Highway 16. The cost may be high for these companies, but Canadians in general pay disproportionately high rates for cellular services, and we should be demanding more reliable coverage in rural areas.
Matt Wilkins
Prince George
