Transit Service Alerts

During adverse weather, many factors can impact bus routes such as accidents, detours and changing road conditions. To ensure the safety of passengers, drivers and the general public, bus routes are changed as needed. Changes to routes can happen many times over the course of an adverse weather event and every effort is made to update transit users as information becomes available. Please visit this webpage for the latest bus route information and impacts to services. These same updates are also shared on our X (formerly Twitter) feed at @RDN_Transit.

Please note: During adverse weather events where routes are heavily impacted and changing, defer to updates posted here on the transit service alerts webpage and not on the NextRide app which will not have the most current information.

SERVICE ALERT UPDATE

The issue with the Google transit trip planning feature has now been resolved, thank you for your patience. For further scheduling information, and to stay up-to-date on transit alerts and advisories, please visit https://alerts.bctransit.com/ or https://www.rdn.bc.ca/regional-transit.

Fall Schedule and Route Changes

Seasonal service on select routes that include stops at District and private schools and Vancouver Island University will resume on September 3, 2024. Trips servicing post-secondary students are in effect until April 2025 and routes servicing primary and secondary schools are in service until June 2025.

For trip planning, including the new fall schedule, visit bctransit.com/nanaimo

To help transit customers adjust to the route changes, the RDN is rolling out the changes in stages over the next few months. Changes will be noted on this alerts page once in place. Notable upcoming route changes include:

• Route 50 will no longer be interlined with Route 7 Cinnabar/Downtown at all times of the day due to plans to transition the 50 into a rapid line in January 2025.
• More Route 20 Hammond Bay/Dover Bay trips will go through the Country Club Exchange, with reduced connections at Brooks Landing to the Route 1 Country Club/Downtown.
• Route 30 will change slightly on September 24 and will no longer connect between Rosstown Road and Bowen Road. Instead, it will cross over Bowen Road and onto Meredith Road and service along the new connector, Powder Works Road.

Front Street at Esplanade Stop Closure (near the Downtown Nanaimo Exchange)

The bus stop at Front and Esplanade is closed. To ensure consistency and improve traffic flow, all riders will be dropped off within the main part of the exchange in bays A-G when arriving on an inbound 1, 5, 6, 7, 20, 30, 50, 70, or 78.

Front Street at Esplanade STOP CLOSURE

Seat Belt Implementation

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has begun installing seatbelts on all light-duty buses. This change is at the direction of BC Transit to standardize light-duty buses within the province. 

This change will affect, Routes 88, 97, 98 and, at times, 25.

B.C. Law requires passengers to wear seatbelts if they are provided in a vehicle.