Increased service on bus routes starting next week as Metro Vancouver sees growth
Posted September 1, 2018 2:51 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Starting next week, buses will be running more often on certain routes across the region.
The increased service will take effect on Tuesday, after the long weekend wraps up.
“Labour Day week we’re going to be rolling out a lot more transit service right across the region,” Chris Bryan with TransLink says. “So there will be about 30,000 additional bus hours out there. What it means for customers is about 100 more bus trips each day.”
Bus routes that will benefit from the changes include the number 25 between Brentwood and UBC, as well as the 229 on the North Shore.
“The number 25 between Brentwood and UBC — in the morning, peak of the peak, it usually runs every six minutes. In September it’ll start running every four minutes during that real busy time in the morning.”
Meantime, the 323 from Surrey Central to Newton will run every 15 minutes, down from 20 minutes, during peak times in the morning.
Buses are going to be running more frequently on about 20 routes, he explains.
“The other 17 routes or so are also going to have these kind of improvements in order just to help move people.”
Bryan says the increased service comes at a good time, as ridership typically spikes in the fall as students head back to school. Transit users are reminded to plan ahead to see if there are any changes to their trips. They are also asked to give themselves extra time getting to their destinations over the next few weeks as others figure out schedules and get back into routine.
He adds there is an unprecedented growth in transit use across Metro Vancouver, and believes increased service will help “close the gap” a little bit and reduce crowding.
“The improvements are really tied to the Mayors Council’s 10-Year Vision. We started rolling this out in January last year, additional service, and since then we’ve put about 250,000 additional bus service hours.”
TransLink makes changes about every quarter, and Bryan adds service adjustments are normally made to accomodate the end of or back-to-school seasons.
“But this has been permanent increases to transit service, so it means our system is growing, we’re providing more service to people right across the region.”
Extra TransLink staff will be on hand over the next few weeks to monitor crowds on bus routes as well as the SkyTrain, and help out.
