Kate Maddigan/CCEDA - Recently, the province announced a new rural intercommunity transportation study. Cortes Islanders will be familiar with efforts over the years to explore improvements in transportation options for residents and visitors while reducing the island's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
This new transportation study will address rural intercommunity transportation. For residents of Cortes, Sonora and Reid Islands, this is mainly about finding affordable and reliable ways to get across Quadra Island to access essential goods and services without the use of a personal vehicle.
The focus is on passenger transportation connections between communities, especially in rural and remote areas that are either not currently served or are underserved by buses, ferries, water taxis, float planes, community shuttles, or other ways of getting around. Connections between transportation modes, such as going from a ferry to a bus are also included.
The consultations for this project are being held during the month of June and are intended to eventually help inform the design of a new granting program to fund projects that come out of this study. This is a promising initiative for our island, and I hope you'll participate!
Besides the survey, you can also join in-person community sessions and in online virtual sessions. To access the online survey, go to CCEDAs website under the news and events tab at www.cceda.ca. The online session for Rural Island Communities is on Tuesday, June 27th, from 1 till 4:00 PM. The in-person sessions will be held with First Nations local governments, industry, local research organizations, and community groups across Vancouver Island and on the Sunshine Coast for Cortes Island residents.
The closest in-person community session is Campbell River on June 23rd. If you would like to be included in a session, you must send an email to registrations.bc@mnp.ca. To recognize your time being put toward the survey, five Visa gift cards worth $100 will be awarded at random to those who complete the survey by the deadline on June 30th. There are funds available to help cover travel costs for Indigenous people located in remote areas to attend the in-person engagement sessions.
For more information, please email registrations.bc@mnp.ca. Indigenous participants will be offered an honorarium for participating in these rural transportation engagement sessions.
Thank you for participating in this study, which will help inform better decisions about passenger transportation for our island.
This is Kate Maddigan with the Cortes Community Economic Development Association. You can reach me at kate@cceda.ca.
