Prince Rupert's Friendship House to share in Community Vehicle funding

The Prince Rupert Friendship House is one of 12 communities sharing in
Transportation Funding from the province of British Columbia

While the City of Prince Rupert and other communities in the region may be taking a pass for now on the proposed Highway shuttle plans from the province, some government funding to improve safety between communities along Highway 16 is coming to the North Coast after all.

On Friday, Prince Rupert's Friendship House was listed among twelve primarily First Nations groups that will share in two million dollars in funding through a government program designed to address transportation needs along Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George.

The grant program that the Friendship House will be participating is called the Community Vehicle Grant program and it will pay up to 70 percent or more based on individual need of both the purchase price of a vehicle and its operation. 

Upon receipt of the money, the Friendship House can select what type of vehicle best suits the needs of the community, options include the purchase of a van, mini-van or bus.

The Friendship House Association grant will be put to use on a program known as the 3 sister Community Transportation Service. 

Though, a check of the Friendship House Faceboook page offers no details to this point as to waht the scope of that program may be, or how that service is going to operate.

More background on the funding and the list of all twelve participating communities taking part in it can be found from this information release from Friday.

Late last year, the City of Prince Rupert and local communities on the North Coast bowed out of the province's large scale transportation initiative that would provide shuttle bus highway transportation from community to community along the North Coast.

At that time Mayor Lee Brain noted that the region was going to hold to the current Transition Society transportation plan that is in place for the North Coast when it comes to Highway of Tears transportation issues.

The province launched the first of the shuttle buses in January with service between Moricetown and Smithers, at that time they were still hopeful that at some point the North Coast will sign on to that program as it expands across the Highway 16 corridor.

More notes related to Transportation issues in the Northwest can be found on our archive page.