It's that time of year again, when TransLink makes big changes to their bus service. For fall, there's a mix of back-to-school transit volume being accounted for, along with multiple changes stemming from larger-scoped plans to improve transit across the region.
In all, there are dozens of TransLink bus routes that will see service changes of varying natures as of September 3, 2018.
Photograph By Dan Toulgoet
"Ridership here is growing faster than anywhere else in North America and this is due in
part to the fast paced roll out of new service in places that need it most," said
TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond in a media release.
"We are making taking transit easier and more comfortable and that’s attracting new customers. I hope these new bus service hours will allow the trend to continue."
Two of the broader kinds of changes are the aforementioned school-route service additions, as well as the ongoing shift to remove the "C" (Community) designation from routes in order to put buses of different sizes on those routes to meet demands.
TransLink breaks down the nearly 30 specific bus lines affected by changes this fall, with full details for each route available online here:
Over 20 routes are receiving improvements as part of the 10-Year Vision in order to:
- Reduce overcrowding
o 23 Beach/Yaletown/Main Street Station
o 25 Brentwood Station/UBC
o 43 Joyce Station/UBC
o 100 22nd Street Station/Marpole Loop
o 116 Metrotown Station/Edmonds Station
o 123 New Westminster Station/Brentwood Station
o 319 Scott Road Station/Newton Exchange
o 320 Surrey Central Station/Guildford/Fleetwood
o 321 Surrey Central Station/Newton Exchange/White Rock Centre/White Rock South
o 337 Fraser Heights/Guildford/Surrey Central Station
o 402 Two Road/Richmond-Brighouse Station
o 403 Three Road/Bridgeport Station
- Reduce wait times
o 181 Moody Centre Station/Ioco
o 229 Lonsdale Quay/Lynn Valley
o 323 Surrey Central Station/Newton Exchange
o 555 Lougheed Station/Carvolth Exchange
- Provide better connections
o 743 Meadowtown/Haney Place/South Haney and 744 Meadowtown
Haney Place will now serve Meadowtown for all trips Monday-Saturday
o C41 is changing into 719 Meadowtown/Fraser Way and 722
Meadowtown/Bonson and going to Maple Meadows Station for all trips
Six routes are changing as a result of the new Southwest Area Transport Plan including:
- 104 Annacis island/22nd Street Station
- 401 Richmond-Brighouse Station/One Road
- 406 Richmond-Brighouse Station/Railway (NEW)
- 408 Richmond Brighouse/Ironwood/Riverport (NEW)
- 410 Richmond Brighouse Station/22nd Street Station
- 418 Richmond-Brighouse Station/Kingswood (formerly C98)
And a few more changes to note:
- 145 Production Station/SFU: more consistent scheduling to reduce overcrowding and all-door boarding to speed up service at the SFU tunnel stop
- 257 Horseshoe Bay Express/Vancouver: more consistent 20-minute scheduling and extended hours to better serve ferry-bound customers
