It’s not you, TransLink bus services are getting slower and slower, a new report confirms.
According to Sarah Ross, the System Planning Director at TransLink, “80% of the region’s bus
routes are slower today than they were five years ago, due in large part to increased roadway congestion and lack of sufficient bus priority.”
“This reduces the overall attractiveness of transit compared to driving, ride-hailing, taxi and even cycling and walking”, the transit operator said.
TransLink Bus Services
Approximately two-thirds of all transit trips in Metro Vancouver are via bus, Ross added. (Bus ridership has also gone up by about 14% in the last three years.)
In addition, TransLink identified the 20 corridors with the highest passenger delay. They were:
- King George Boulevard/104 Avenue
- Highway 99
- 41st Avenue
- Broadway
- Hastings Street
- Scott Road/72 Avenue
- Main/Marine Drive
- Fraser Highway
- West Georgia Street/Lions Gate Bridge
- Granville Street
- East and West 49th Avenue
- Pender/Powell/Cordova/Dundas/McGill
- 152nd Street
- West 4th Avenue
- Main Street
- Willingdon Avenue
- No. 3 Road
- Lougheed Highway
- Burrard Street
- Lonsdale Avenue
To address the delays at these corridors, TransLink said that 4 of the 20 corridors will be receiving improvements as part of the RapidBus service, which is set to launch in 2020.
“Many such hot spots at key intersections, at bridge approaches, and at the entrance to transit hubs are locations where targeted interventions can make big improvements to bus speed and reliability”, TransLink noted.
TransLink also added that while it plays a large role, local municipalities do as well.
“The critical levers for bus priority are under local control. […] TransLink has control or direct influence over some levers, such as stop location, boarding and fare payment, and route design. All other levers are under the control of municipalities and the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure through their authority over roadways.”
In the report, which was presented to the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, TransLink also mentioned that nearly 700,000 service hours, about $75 million, are lost, annually, due to delays.
Earlier this month, the union of TransLink bus drivers voted in favour of a strike. Further developments about the strike have not been released.
For more local Metro Vancouver news, stay tuned to 604 Now News.
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