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By Victor Kaisar

New Bus Route to YKA

Plans for new Ord Road bus route with airport service being welcomed by Kamloops councillor, school trustee

Sep 13, 2025 | 2:37 PM

KAMLOOPS — A plan to add a new bus route along Ord Road with service to Kamloops Airport in January 2027 is being well received by a city councillor and a school board trustee, who have long been calling for this service.

Kamloops-Thompson School Board Trustee Jo Kang, who spearheaded an online petition calling for a permanent bus route along Ord Road, says is “exciting” to see the plans that have been drawn up.

“Every conversation I’ve had with city staff and council members has been very positive,” Kang said. “It seems like everyone is on board and that they understand that Kamloops is growing and that transit services along Ord Road are going to be beneficial.”

City staff are proposing to add 5,000 hours of new transit service along Ord Road, if the Province funds its share of the costs. The expansion is part of a larger plan that aims to add 31,000 hours of transit service in 2027 and nearly 60,000 hours by 2029.

Kang told CFJC the new Ord Road bus route will greatly benefits area residents who do not have access to a vehicle.

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“If we look at Ord Road, it is separated by a train track and the nearest bus stop,” he said. “I think, for most people the closest bus stop would be on Parkcrest Avenue or on Eighth Street.”

“For people that have no vehicle, this opens up the rest of Kamloops to them.”

Councillor Bill Sarai, who is also chair of the Kamloops Airport Authority Society, has also been calling for this bus route to be established. Sarai said the bus route would also benefit people who work at Kamloops Airport, noting work is underway to try and attract a broader range of commercial, industrial and aviation-related businesses to Fulton Field.

“We had our past manager of the airport, Ed [Ratuski], pick up workers on his way to work, and he’d sometimes make two trips, especially in the winter,” Sarai told CFJC.

“It was just heartbreaking to see workers have to walk that whole route.”

A previous bus route that used to run to Kamloops Airport was cut about a decade ago because of a lack of riders at that time, meaning the closest bus stop to the airport is over two kilometres away at Crestline and Tranquille.

Both Kang and Sarai said the Ord Road area has changed quite significantly since then.

“We’ve been asking for expansion for transit for a number of years, ut unfortunately COVID hit and the demand and the workforce sort of put that on the shelf,” Sarai said, noting he’s been approached by a number of residents and businesses along Ord Road.

“We’re just playing catch up, so we’re just going to be at where we should have been two years ago.”

Sarai also said the new route would also benefit travellers who opt to use public transit to get to or from the airport.

“Having a bus service to your airport should be a normal routine in every municipality. You shouldn’t have to walk to your airport,” Sarai added, noting it would also allow bus drivers to use transit to get to work as the BC Transit depot is located on Ord Road.

“I think they finally realized that if we’re going to preach the gospel, we need to step up to the plate and get transit on Ord Road.”

While details around what this proposed bus service would look like or how frequently it would operate have not yet been been finalized, city staff are proposing to use light duty buses similar to what is used on small regional routes and on handyDART buses.

Sarai said those details will be finalized over the next few months, noting provincial support for this expansion should be a “no brainer for the province.”