Customer satisfaction with BC Transit services

Overall, customer satisfaction with BC Transit has been fairly stable for the past three years, with about a third of people surveyed rating the service as very good or excellent. Satisfaction is higher in Victoria, but has declined from a peak in 2005/06. The highest satisfaction level with transit among the larger communities (“Tier 1” conventional transit systems) in 2011/12 was in Prince George, though it has been decreasing. In the medium-sized conventional transit systems (“Tier 2”), average satisfaction was slightly lower than the provincial average, while in the smallest conventional transit systems (“Tier 3”), satisfaction was higher than the provincial average. 

  •  Non-riders express lowest satisfaction compared with occasional riders and regular riders.

To consider: If demand increases, as a result of policy disincentives to automobile use or other transit incentives or motivating factors, will the quantity, quality and affordability of transit services be sufficient to meet and sustain demand?

In 2012/13, BC Transit used their customer survey to find out how British Columbians feel about the importance of transit in their communities. The result was very interesting. It shows that while only 33 percent of people used transit in the past year on average, 84 percent of people feel transit is important or very important to their community. This was up to 92 and 93 percent in Victoria and Whistler, respectively. See data on the Figure 4 map for more details.