TransLink partners with developer to learn transit-oriented hub ridership

February 2022 construction progress on King George Hub next to SkyTrain King George Station in Surrey City Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The mixed-use development that immediately surrounds SkyTrain King George Station in Surrey City Centre is one of the most important transit-oriented development projects in Metro Vancouver.

In just six years from now, when the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension reaches completion, King George Hub‘s significance as an anchor along the Expo Line will grow exponentially. King George Station is the starting point for the 16-kilmetre, eight-station eastward extension of the ExpoLine all the way to Langley Centre along Fraser Highway.

However, ahead of that eventual SkyTrain extension, TransLink is now partnering with King George Hub’s developer, PCI Development, to study how effective subsidized public transit fares can be for residents and workers at a transit-oriented development.

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The developer is funding $150 pre-loaded Compass Cards to 250 residents or workers in the King George Hub complex. Participants in this pilot project will be surveyed before and after a three-month period on their transit use, and with their permission, their transit usage will be tracked.

The overarching goal is to determine whether these participants were more likely to use public transit as a result of subsidized costs to access TransLink’s services.

“TransLink is always looking for creative opportunities to promote transit use and build more sustainable, transit-oriented communities. This innovative pilot will give us vital data that can be applied to potential future partnerships throughout Metro Vancouver,” said Kevin Quinn, CEO of TransLink, in a statement.

skytrain king george hub february 12 2022

February 2022 construction progress on King George Hub next to SkyTrain King George Station in Surrey City Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Free transit passes for residents and workers of a new transit-oriented development is not a new concept. For a number of years now, some major developers across the region, especially in Surrey, have been offering free monthly passes — sometimes for a year or even longer — as one of their transportation demand management measures. In exchange, along with other measures that provide alternatives to private car ownership, this could allow a developer to build less expensive underground vehicle parking. But it is believed this is the first time that TransLink is studying the actual use of such initiatives to the occupants of transit-oriented development.

Currently, the multi-tower King George Hub has reached completion on 738 condominium homes, 371 rental homes, 350,000 sq ft of office space, and 130,000 sq ft of retail space, including anchor retail tenants Save On Foods and Rexall. Its anchor office tenants include Coast Capital Savings and Westland Insurance.

A fourth phase currently under construction for a 2025 completion entails 886 condominium homes and 30,000 sq ft of office and retail space.

In early 2023, construction will begin on the fifth phase of an additional 400 rental homes.

When all phases are complete, the $1-billion King George Hub will have a total of 2,395 homes — 1,624 condominium units and 771 rental units — and 370,000 sq ft of office space, and 140,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space.

“By all measures, this land was under-utilized, even though the Expo Line started service in the area in 1994,” said Tim Grant, president of PCI Developments.

The developer is also responsible for Marine Gateway next to SkyTrain Marine Drive Station in South Vancouver and is looking to build a major second phase of the Marine Gateway to the south of the existing development. It is also behind the 39-storey, mixed-use tower currently in the process of rising directly above the entrance into SkyTrain’s future South Granville Station as part of the Millennium Line Broadway Extension.

February 2022 construction progress on King George Hub next to SkyTrain King George Station in Surrey City Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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