Direct bus to YYJ starts Sept. 8, if you're flying at dawn or landing near midnight

A direct bus from downtown to the Victoria airport arrives Sept. 8, running as Route 72A along the existing 72 path with one new stop at YYJ.

The catch is the timing. Weekdays get a single 5:14 a.m. departure from the legislature, then three late-night returns from Swartz Bay at 10 p.m., 11 p.m. and midnight. Miss those windows and you're still transferring at McTavish Exchange like before. Regular fares apply, and if you're hauling a suitcase on a double-decker, you're staying on the lower deck.

This is the cost-neutral version of a route everyone on the transit commission says it wants. Back in May, vice-chair Marianne Alto was blunt about why the trips cluster at the edges of the day: there was no new money, so they re-routed the 72 rather than fund something new. The early and late slots track airport workers, not the midday traveller.

BC Transit calls it a first step and says anything more depends on expansion funding the commission doesn't yet have.