its early involvement in the craft brewing movement and is a featured route in BC Ale Trails. The Kettle Valley Rail Trail, with trail heads leading to more than 160 km of flat, railbed trails for hiking and biking, can be accessed from Penticton. This trail is part of the Trans Canada Trail. Infrastructure Transportation Mass local transit in Penticton and Okanagan-Similkameen is offered by the South Okanagan-Similkameen Transit System under the BC Transit label, operating on six routes. There is also a service for people who are unable to use regular transit, HandyDART. The bus transportation system is funded by Penticton, Okanagan-Similkameen, and BC Transit. Its services are provided to points of interest, such as the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre Downtown Penticton. as well as traversing the distance lake to lake. A number of parks and recreation transportation services are offered in the city, including trails, such as part of the Trans Canada Trail, and Kettle Valley Railway; the former runs through Canada, while the latter runs through Penticton, and Kelowna. Headquarters for the trail was chosen to be in Penticton in 1910, but the location burnt down in 1964. The city has access to transportation corridors running north, south, east, and west, while the Highway 97 can also be accessed. It is served by the Penticton Airport, a regional airport located southwest of city centre. In 2018 a $6million upgrade to the facility was initiated to expand the departure and arrivals lounges as well as increase capacity for managing passenger flow. Although it has historically provided flights to several destinations, the airport currently offers flights to the Vancouver International Airport, which are provided by Air Canada Express; these services are provided three to four times daily, while the exception of Sunday, when two flights are available. WestJet Encore flies twice daily to its Calgary hub. The city is also home to the Penticton Water Aerodrome , a water aerodrome situated adjacent to the Penticton Airport and is home base to HNZ Topflight, an advanced helicopter flight training school operated by HNZ. Notable residents Jeannette Armstrong, Syilx Elder, Author, and Professor at UBCO Andy Bell, pro freestyle motocross champion, host of MTV's Nitro Circus George Bowering, poet, first ever Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate Tyler Breeze, professional wrestler Layla Claire, soprano Thomas Ellis, the first European settler in the area in 1866 Brett Hull, National Hockey League (NHL) hockey player,