Kelowna

If you build it, they will come. Or, in the case of students at UBC Okanagan, "they will ride."

Students at Kelowna's UBC campus have been taking public transit in increasing numbers over the past several years.

Dr. Nancy Knight, head of campus and community planning, says part of the increase is due to better service and part to long term planning.

"From before the U-Pass to today, our transit mode share has gone up from about 10% to the current 34% which is a terrific achievement, which I think our students deserve a lot of credit for as well as the administration, the city and the transit providers," Knight told City Councillors Monday.

"It is a joint effort. You have to have the service there to encourage people to use the transit, but when you do put it there and you give them the right kind of incentives, they will use the transit. It has been very popular with our students."

Along with the introduction of the Universal Bus Pass, Knights says the university has been looking at different initiatives to encourage people to get out of their cars and onto transit.

Knight says that included an increase in parking rates which she admits did meet with some negative feedback.

She says they school is also working with the city in an effort to improve cycling access to the campus.

Currently, only about 50 people cycle to and from UBCO, partly because of the safety factor.

"It's just really, really dangerous to come up Highway 97. In particular there is one small bridge as you come to the campus that you can't negotiate safely. We need to find a safer way."

At present, about 1,800 of the 6,200 students at UBCO live on campus. Of the 4,400 that commute to school, Knight says 16% of those come from south of Kelowna (Penticton to West Kelowna) while about 20% come from the north.

She says ideas such as a Park and Ride system for some of those coming from further away may help those students in their commute to the campus.

The Bus Rapid Transit system, which will transport students from West Kelowna to the UBC Okanagan campus is expected to be introduced in September.