Surrey, Delta to see new RapidBus on Scott Road

Transit in Surrey and Delta is going to get a lot faster, as work is starting on a new TransLink RapidBus route.

The Lower Mainland transit provider, along with the City of Surrey and the City of Delta says the Scott Road RapidBus service will see about 30,000 boardings every weekday.

The new R6 RapidBus route between Surrey and Delta is slated to be in service next year. (Courtesy TransLink)

TransLink says the new R6 Scott Road route will make commutes along the corridor up to 10 minutes faster in each direction.

“At 110 per cent, ridership south of the Fraser River is exceeding pre-pandemic volumes and is growing faster than the rest of Metro Vancouver. The R6 will be a major improvement that will help us keep pace with the demand in these growing communities. This upgrade will bring much-needed relief to Surrey and Delta commuters while also providing faster, more reliable service to Kwantlen Polytechnic University,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.

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The $33 million project is being funded through a collaboration between the province and cities. The bus route is expected to be in service by early 2024.

“At a time when other cities across the country are cutting service levels in public transit systems as a result of the pandemic, our government is working with our partners in local government to invest in the public transit that people need. New, faster routes and service expansions like this one will result in a better transit future for everyone who relies on our public transit system,” Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming said.

At the media availability Friday, Delta Mayor George Harvie was with Mayors’ Council Chair Brad West to announce the route. However, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke was a no-show, with her staff citing “scheduling conflicts.”

The R6 route will be an express service with limited stops between the Scott Road SkyTrain Station and Newton Exchange. The bus will run on the same route as Route 319 — the busiest bus route south of the Fraser River, and the fifth busiest in Metro Vancouver.

“Scott Road is one of the most important transit corridors in Delta and the entire Lower Mainland. Improving transit with the new R6 RapidBus will benefit both residents of Delta and the local business community concentrated in this area. We are thrilled this project is now proceeding,” Harvie said.

Expert calls for more investment south of the Fraser

Though an expert says he’s excited about the announcement, he tells CityNews there’s still more work to do to connect the region through transit.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University professor David Sadoway, who is a faculty member in the Geography and Environmental Department, says the new service is great. However, he notes for folks commuting from one suburb to another, existing bus service still isn’t reliable.

“What I want to see is more buses out there so we can induce more riders. We’ve historically tended to do that with automobility. In other words, we’ve built roads and bridges and eventually the cars would come. Why aren’t we doing the same with transit?” he asked.

Sadoway says TransLink’s 2050 plan has a lot of good ideas for improving transit south of the Fraser but notes it’ll take funding and political will-power to get it done.

“We need to build a network — that’s the key. We have a core network but it’s really quite spotty compared to some cities in other parts of the world,” he said.

“To me the biggest issues are still that there is a demand, that there is interest, and that there are the plans in place but they’re not being actualized, they’re not being funded. So what’s the roadblock?”