BC Transit buses along the Yale/Vedder corridor could run as frequently as every 20 minutes as soon as this year, according to a presentation Chilliwack city council heard Monday.

"[This will be] just a really fantastic level of services and it makes it really easy to use," said Michelle Orfield, senior urban transportation planner for BC Transit.

An express bus service between Abbotsford and Chilliwack could also be implemented as early as the end of 2012.

Orfield was at council Monday to present an update to the so-called Transit Future Plan for Chilliwack, which was begun in spring 2011.

There was a period of public consultation followed by a draft implementation strategy, which will again go out for public consultation in late February to early March.

Much of the data used by BC Transit for the study come from a 2008 travel diary.

BC Transit found that the largest number of daily trips within the region was 90,400 from Abbotsford to Metro Vancouver, mostly Surrey. There were 17,900 trips to that region daily from Chilliwack.

From Chilliwack, there were 6,800 daily trips to Kent-Harrison, 4,800 trips to Mission, and 27,200 to Abbotsford.

"An obvious connection that might be missing is Abbotsford to Chilliwack," Orfield told council.

The Abbotsford-to-Chilliwack connection will become more important for University of the Fraser Valley students, according to some instructors.

With the core of the kinesiology department moving to Chilliwack, for example, even more students will have to take courses at both campuses.

The Chilliwack-to-Abbotsford trips account for 14 per cent of Chilliwack work commuting patterns, compared to four per cent to

Langley, three per cent to Kent-Harrison, and three per cent to Surrey.

But 68 per cent of Chilliwack trips are inside the city, which is why improving transit frequency and routes will be the priority, according to Orfield.

Existing transit service in Chilliwack is hourly on most routes from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with limited or no Sunday service hours.

The "near future" implementation strategy includes every-20-minute weekday service along Vedder/Yale roads from Vedder Crossing to Five Corners.

There will be a 30-minute frequency service in a Chilliwack loop that goes from city hall at the south, Broadway to the east, Fairfield Island to the north, and the Landing area to the west.

Sardis and Evans Road routes would run every 60 minutes. In phase one of the implementation strategy those Evans and Sardis routes would be reduced to every 30 minutes and the Vedder/Yale line would run every 15 minutes.

Eventually the plan calls for 20-minute service on Evans, more restructured local service, increased service to Abbotsford and AgassizHarrison, as well as the introduction of Hope connector.

How much all of this will cost is still unclear, as cost recovery for transit in Chilliwack is just 26.5 per cent from an annual ridership of 491,400.

phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com