Susan Yates
GERTIE Biographer
As we all prepare for the summer influx of visitors the GERTIE crew is getting ready for 2 new electric buses, whose delivery date has changed several times over the past few months. We hope to have the infrastructure in place, the drivers trained on new procedures and new bus schedules (time for charging batteries between shifts, for example) ready for the summer.
We know tourism will increase, with the province encouraging all of us to visit places in Canada and support as many businesses and essential services as we can with Canadian dollars. And the islands in the Salish Sea, being so close to 3 large urban areas, will get many of those travellers. Hoping to reduce ferry lineups and long waits (because we certainly are not getting any help from BC Ferries), we are looking for ways to encourage foot passengers and cyclists, who can avail themselves of GERTIE and a summer schedule that will include increased bus service.
Schedule changes for the summer will also include a couple of cuts based on rider use: removing the Wild Cherry route and the early a.m. trip down Malaspina Drive because of low ridership, in order to add an extra trip on the busy Silva Bay route.
Please watch for these changes on the GERTIE alerts and the website, scan the QR code to check out GERTIE.ca
GERTIE has several charter trips already booked for spring and summer: weddings, reunions, parties, and two that give me extra pleasure to report on here. First, a special birthday trip, ending at the village bus stop for little Gus’s 6th birthday. During a kindergarten field trip I learned that he had never been on the GERTIE bus so we made a date for his birthday in February. It was a morning to treasure, going past familiar roadside attractions that all look different when you’re on a bus. And a special surprise for both of us – Gus’s grandma joined us as GERTIE rolled past her house on the B route! More recently, on May 7 fifteen librarians and their guests hopped on the GERTIE bus as part of the BC Librarians Association annual gathering, which was in Nanaimo this year. The conference sessions usually include interesting field trips, and we know it couldn’t get better than a tour around Gabriola, ending at the Gabriola Library.
A big GERTIE thanks to Librarian Kendra Runnells for organizing the tour along with bus driver/coordinator Trevor Gear, and to Ranza Clarke for showcasing Gabriola’s impressive library statistics and services (circulation and programs, especially). Special thanks also to Dana Lewis for the north end tour (I think it’s the east end but I’ll never win that argument), to Mad Rona’s for providing a praiseworthy portable lunch, to several artists for displays and music, Susan Hudson for her remarkable ‘Canadian Library’ installation, and Alison Douglas for relaying the impressive work that Friends of the Library does to help fund extra programs and materials for our very busy library.
On April 28 GERTIE provided free rides to the Community Hall for voting day; a great example of democracy in action, courtesy of a Democracy grant offered by the Gabriola Sounder.
Hurray for our (independent) community newspaper and to everyone who voted with the help of GERTIE.
By now most islanders have probably noticed the spiffy new bus pull-outs where we most need them: North Road near Bertha; South Road at Stokes; and at Twin Beaches. The GERTIE crew thanks Ministry of Transportation and Transit for these 3 very welcome improvements to our bus routes.
We also have special thanks (I’m silently thanking our grant-writing Board members) to the United Way Transportation Supports and Innovation Fund, for a substantial grant that will allow us to add Monday and Friday mid-day service for a few months.
The main purpose of this grant is to help seniors (we all know the demographics here) get to programs and services when and where they are most likely to use them. Of course those extra mid-day runs will help everyone who wants to get around the island, and we will do our best to maintain the extra mid-day service when the grant runs out.
Last, and this is a good place to end, because when we’re short of reading time we look at the first and last paragraph (notes from a librarian’s field guide): to everyone who donates to GERTIE in whatever way: your generosity means so much. It doesn’t just keep the wheels rolling, it lifts our spirits when disappointments hit hard, and any donation in the next few months will make a big difference in how GERTIE is able to introduce those electric buses and the extra infrastructure and training they require.
In June, GERTIE will be 12 years old, and every trip around Gabriola is thanks to the enduring commitment of residents and businesses who believe in community transportation. Thank you all!
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