Kamloops transit fare increases moving up a year ahead of schedule

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Transit fare increases scheduled for 2027 and 2029 will now be bumped up to 2026 and 2028, respectively. (Image Credit: City of Kamloops)

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Speaking in council chambers, Councillor Nancy Bepple noted she was in favour of $3 transit fare prior. 

“The government will give us more transit hours. We have to believe in that,” Bepple said. “We have to know that the bus system is heavily used and we need more hours, but when we get those hours we need to be able to afford them.” 

According to the latest annual performance summary from BC Transit, nearly 4.6 million conventional transit trips were recorded in Kamloops in 2025. Ridership is up from nearly 4.3 million in 2024 and 28 per cent higher than the near 3.6 million recorded in 2019. 

(Image Credit: City of Kamloops)

Kamloops council had previously allocated more than $2 million for the expansion that would have seen an additional 31,000 transit hours added in January 2027, although BC Transit had signaled its operating budget from the province will not be sufficient to execute that plan. 

While agreeing that Kamloops will eventually get expanded transit hours based on the service, timeliness and provincial funding, Councillor Hall said he was reluctant to move on from the transit fare plan that council already put together. 

“We have this fare schedule in place and it’s something that we built. We should have thought about that then. We didn’t. Let’s move forward with the fee structure that we have,” Hall said. 

BC Transit’s performance summary also showed the top performing routes in Kamloops for 2025 were No. 1 Tranquille, No. 7 Aberdeen and No. 9 Gleneagles, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The most utilized bus stops in Kamloops for 2025 were Dalhousie Drive at WolfPack Way (Thompson Rivers University), McGill Road at Summit Drive, Hillside Way at Hillside Court (Aberdeen Mall), Columbia Street at Third Avenue (Royal Inland Hospital) and Summit Drive at Arrowstone Drive.