Licence District Conversion Project
Project Introduction
The Board is replacing Passenger Transportation Licence Districts with operating area descriptions that are more meaningful. The Licence District Conversion Project only affects licensees with licence districts ( LDs) in their licence.
The Board will send each affected licensee a new operating area description. The licensee will be able to comment on the new wording before changes are made to its licence.
Before materials are sent to affected licensees, the Board is accepting general comments on the project until October 15, 2010. Project details are provided on this web page.
Background
The originating areas and destination areas in some passenger transportation licences are defined by “licence districts.”
The Board has 22 licence districts (LDs). These are based on mining districts that existed in 1945. LDs are unique to the passenger transportation world. Although they have been in use for many years, it is doubtful that many people know their precise boundaries. For example, the “official” definition of LD 14A is:
That part of Vancouver Mining Division north of Burrard Inlet and south of the southerly boundary of the watershed of Furry Creek and Squamish River, excluding the islands in Howe Sound.
The Board has an Information Sheet that gives the “official” definition of each LD, followed by a list of main roads and cities. For example, the “unofficial” description of LD 14A is:
This district encompasses the Trans-Canada Highway 1 from the north side of Burrard Inlet to Horseshoe Bay, including those roads in the City of North Vancouver, and the District of North Vancouver and West Vancouver, and the highway from Horseshoe Bay to south of Britannia Beach (99).
The Information Sheet notes: “The highways listed are the main roads in the licence district and are included for the convenience of the reader only”. After 65 years, it is time to replace LDs with more relevant descriptions.
Use of LDs
About 100 passenger directed vehicle licences refer to LDs. Of these, 60 are limousines operating in the Lower Mainland and Whistler. Inter-city bus licenses do not use LDs.
Project Phases
Phase 1: Lower Mainland
- Convert licences with LD 14, 14A, 15, 9 or 9A in their originating areas.
Phase 2: Outside the Lower Mainland
- Convert the remainder of the licences with LDs
Timeframes
Steps |
Approximate Dates |
|---|---|
|
Phase 1 August – September 2010 (complete) |
|
Phase 1 September – October 2010 (complete) |
|
Phase 1 October 2010 |
|
Phase 1 November – December 2010 |
|
Phase 1 January 2011 |
Timelines are approximate and may change depending upon Board workload.
Options for Replacing LD
There are no other regional divisions that compare to all LDs
Regional Districts
There are 27 Regional Districts (RDs) in British Columbia. RDs cover the entire geographic area of the Province except for the far northwest corner. Unlike some other organizational units, RDs are relatively static.
Some LDs may be able to be replaced with RDs. For example, LD 21 is roughly equivalent to the combined Northern Rockies and Peace River RDs. LD 13 is roughly equivalent the combined Sunshine Coast and Powell River RDs. LD 5 compares to the Central Okanagan RD; however, Summerland is in the LD and not the RD.
In other areas, LDs do not readily compare with RDs. For example, many limousines in the Lower Mainland refer to originating areas of 14, 14A and 15. These correspond to the municipalities in both the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley RD.
LD |
Municipalities |
Other Areas |
|---|---|---|
14A |
GVRD: District and City of North Vancouver, District of West Vancouver (including Horseshoe Bay), Village of Lions Bay |
Brittania Beach, Furry Creek, Porteau (These are outside of the GVRD) |
14 |
GVRD: Vancouver, YVR, Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, FVRD: Mission, Kent, Harrison Hot Springs |
North of the Fraser River to 13 kilometres west of Hope. |
15 |
GVRD: Richmond, Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley |
10 kilometres west of Hope |
Health Authority Boundaries
There are no health authority boundaries that are exact matches to LDs. Moreover, these boundaries are subject to change. There are 3 transportation regions and 11 districts. Again, none correspond directly with LDs.
Options
- Where possible, replace LDs with RDs
- If it is not possible to replace LD with RDs, then use a “highway corridor” approach or a combination of RDs and highway corridors. (This approach will be used for LD 9, 9A, 14, 14A & 15.
Notes on conversion parameters
- There will not be significant changes in operating areas. The new approach reflects the boundaries of the former LDs. There may be some slight variation. For example, the eastern boundary of LDs 14 and 15 is now the western municipal boundary of Hope.
- Licences that currently have only part of a LD (e.g. “LD 14 west of the Pitt River”) will have the same operating area under the highway corridor approach.
- References to districts, cities, towns or villages are municipal boundaries. For example, “up to but not including Hope” means up to the western municipal boundary of the District of Hope.
- References to landmarks refer to clearly marked landmarks on the highway. For example, “Mt. Currie” is the signage on Highway 99 and “Britannia Beach” refers to the point on Highway 99 where there is a “Welcome to Britannia Beach” sign.