BC Transit to continue Free travels until end of April; Shares the story behind those Prince Rupert bus hearts

It will be another month of Free Transit for those who use BC Transit services in the region, with the transit operator outlining their plans through an information update on the Prince Rupert Transit website.

BC Transit will be extending our rear door boarding and not collecting fares procedures until April 30, 2020. 

The extension means customers do not need to purchase monthly passes or other fares for the month of April.

Details about refund processes for March and April fare products will be available when we announce the return to regular fare collection.

The notes from the Transit service, posted on Monday also highlight some of the measures that they are taking towards their response to the COVID-19 situation across British Columbia.

We have already implemented enhanced measures in response to COVID-19 including:

Enhanced cleaning on buses and at BC Transit facilities
Communication to staff and customers about physical distancing procedures 
Rear door loading (as available) 
Not collecting fares 
Limiting passenger capacity to support physical distancing 
Enhancing the red line for passengers to stand behind

You can explore more on their measures from the April 6th information sheet here.

In addition to the update from BC Transit, PW Transit Canada the local operator of services in Prince Rupert and Port Edward took to social media on Monday, sharing the story of those colourful hearts that resident of the region see on the local BC Transit buses.

The project is part of the #HeartsofHope campaign, and the local effort came from Tina Prokoopsky, her husband Brad is a Transit driver in the city and Tina created the colourful hearts for the buses of the Regional transit service.

The Hearts are part of the community and province wide salute to essential service workers in British Columbia.

More items of note related to Transit services in the region can be found here.