Opinion: Metro Vancouver's top 10 bus exchanges that are missing rapid transit | Daily Hive

Opinion: The top 10 bus exchanges in Metro Vancouver that are missing rapid transit

The bus layover facility under UBC Exchange student residence, serving TransLink's UBC bus exchange. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Will Dawson, who is a program coordinator with Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders. Movement is a non-profit organization that advocates for public transit that is faster, more reliable, and more abundant.

SkyTrain gets all the glamour, but the reality right now is that buses move far more people in Metro Vancouver than trains. And those buses range from speedy (the No. 555 Carvolth Exchange/Lougheed Town Centre Station moves at an average of 66 km/h) to glacial (the No. 5 Robson/Downtown and No. 6 Davie/Downtown trolley buses move slower than 10 km/h).

If we want to make it easier for people to get around without a car, we need to make buses faster, but we also need to replace the busiest bus routes with something better, ASAP.

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Here are the top 10 busiest bus exchanges in Metro Vancouver that don’t yet have a faster form of public transit like SkyTrain. These are extremely strong candidates for rapid transit:

10. Kootenay bus loop (Vancouver)

Average weekday boardings: 4,100

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) between the North Shore and Metrotown is in the design stage, but not yet funded by the provincial and federal governments.

This is the eastern endpoint of Vancouver’s classic trolleybus network, right on Boundary Road across from Burnaby.

The big name here is the R5 Hastings Street RapidBus connecting downtown Vancouver with Simon Fraser University along Hastings Street, as well as routes connecting deep into Burnaby and the east side of Vancouver.

Also, North Vancouver’s Phibbs bus exchange is only 10 minutes away by bus, but a lack of bus priority can result in enormous delays in peak times. This will become even more crucial when TransLink extends the R2 RapidBus from its current terminus of Phibbs bus exchange across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, through Kootenay bus loop to Metrotown Station. Following that, the plan is to upgrade the corridor to BRT, like Seattle’s RapidRide on Madison Street.

Kootenay bus loop. (Will Dawson/Submitted)

9. Langley Centre bus exchange (Langley City)

Average weekday boardings: 4,400

Langley Centre bus exchange currently doesn’t have a rapid transit link, but that will change in a few short years, when SkyTrain reaches there through the construction of the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension — now under construction.

Almost every bus serving the Langley region converges on the Langley Centre exchange, with quick access to the Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus and Langley’s downtown core. By 2029, this will become the new terminus of the Expo Line once the Surrey-Langley extension is complete.

Langley Centre bus exchange. (Will Dawson/Submitted)

8. SFU bus exchange (Burnaby)

Average weekday boardings: 4,700

The gondola between Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Burnaby campus and Production Way-University Station on SkyTrain’s Millennium Line is proposed, but unfunded by the provincial or federal governments.

SFU’s mountaintop abode pulls in riders from all directions, but particularly the R5 RapidBus, No. 145 SFU/Production Station, and No. 143 SFU/Burquitlam Station buses — at least when it’s not snowing.

Plans for a gondola connecting the university’s primary campus to the SkyTrain extend back several decades, though it remains to be seen when the aerial link materializes.

Should the gondola finally be built, students would have a considerably more reliable and rapid connection to the SFU Burnaby campus, cutting their existing 15 to 45 minute bus ride, depending on wait times, down to just seven minutes each way.

Buses stuck on slick roads during snowfall at SFU Burnaby Mountain on January 10, 2020. (Daryl Dela Cruz/Submitted)

7. Guildford bus exchange (Surrey)

Average weekday boardings: 4,900

Currently, no rapid transit is planned. The existing R1 King George Boulevard service reaching Guildford bus exchange will be eliminated when BRT opens.

This is the first but certainly not the last appearance of Surrey on this list. This is one of the endpoints of the R1 RapidBus and 10 other bus routes in the northeastern part of the city.

Guildford is one of the densest communities in Surrey, resulting in a lot of public transit ridership on the many routes connecting it to Surrey City Centre. Unfortunately, while the R1 RapidBus is planned to be upgraded to BRT with dedicated bus lanes, the route will be removed from 104 Avenue due to fear of opposition to bus lanes, eliminating RapidBus service to Guildford.

Guildford bus exchange. (Will Dawson/Submitted)

6. Park Royal bus exchange (West Vancouver)

Average weekday boardings: 5,000

Bus Rapid Transit to Metrotown is in design but unfunded by the provincial and federal governments.

Every single bus route that serves West Vancouver stops here at the end of the R2 RapidBus, making it the prime place to transfer, no matter where you’re transiting to in the wealthy suburb.

The surprisingly high ranking of Park Royal probably has to do with the bus priority features that make buses more reliable than cars in rush hour on the Lions Gate Bridge and on Marine Drive. Soon, the R2 RapidBus will be extended from Park Royal to Metrotown, across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge to Metrotown. We’ll have to keep the pressure up to ensure this corridor sees bus priority measures that keep buses moving smoothly.

West Vancouver Blue Bus outside Park Royal mall. (TransLink)

5. Scottsdale bus exchange (Surrey)

Average weekday boardings: 7,200

Currently, no rapid transit is planned for this bus exchange.

A total of 11 bus routes come together in this hub on the edge of Surrey and Delta. Many of these routes have seen explosive ridership growth, and TransLink has been left scrambling to add capacity without enough funding to do riders justice.

While Scottsdale bus exchange is an important transfer point for many riders, it is held back by its isolated location, tucked behind Strawberry Hill Shopping Centre’s Home Depot. The R6 Scott Road RapidBus notably does not deviate from the main arterial roads to enter Scottsdale bus exchange, instead providing a direct and more convenient service to the various retail and cultural destinations in the bustling heart of the South Asian community.

Perhaps Scottsdale Exchange can be relocated closer to the corner of Scott Road and 72 Avenue to reduce walk distances and bus detours.

Scottsdale bus exchange. (Will Dawson/Submitted)

4. Phibbs bus exchange (North Vancouver)

Average weekday boardings: 7,500

BRT to Park Royal and Metrotown is in the design stage, but unfunded by the provincial and federal governments.

The first stopping point on the North Shore for travellers crossing the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge is at Phibbs bus exchange, which also marks the eastern endpoint of almost a dozen North Shore bus routes, including the R2 RapidBus. That’s not to mention Phibbs bus exchange acting as the gateway to Capilano University.

Phibbs bus exchange was recently overhauled to improve its configuration, layout, and passenger amenities. Commuters going through Phibbs bus exchange have a lot to look forward to with the planned extension of the R2 RapidBus across the bridge to Burnaby, and eventually BRT, but there’s a risk that these expansions may not come with additional bus lanes.

May 2024 completion of the new Phibbs bus exchange in North Vancouver. (TransLink)

3. Lonsdale Quay bus exchange (North Vancouver)

Average weekday boardings: 12,000 (if you count the SeaBus ridership) or 4,000 (not including SeaBus)

BRT to Park Royal and Metrotown is in the design phase, but unfunded by the provincial and federal governments.

Is the SeaBus really a bus? If we include the SeaBus, Lonsdale Quay is the third busiest exchange that has no rail.

If we only count “LandBus” routes, North Vancouver’s Lonsdale Quay drops to 10th place. It doesn’t help that the No. 228 and No. 229 bus routes — both taking different paths between Lonsdale Quay and Lynn Valley, travelling north up Lonsdale Avenue — are in the top 10 slowest bus routes in the region, really diminishing the competitiveness of public transit.

If the SeaBus were counted as a bus route, it would be the 14th slowest, travelling at an average of 16 km/h. A train would beat that handily, but the extreme depth of the harbour in this area makes a direct, north-south underground train almost impossible. This is why rail links are more likely to cross Burrard Inlet at either the First Narrows or Second Narrows.

Renovated Lonsdale Quay bus exchange. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

2. Newton bus exchange (Surrey)

Average weekday boardings: 16,400

Bus Rapid Transit between Surrey City Centre and Semiahmoo Town Centre is in the process of being designed, but it is unfunded by the provincial and federal governments.

Newton bus exchange is where we start to get into truly incredible territory, with more than twice the number of people getting on a bus here on an average day compared to Phibbs bus exchange. A total of 13 very well-used buses pull in here, including the R1 RapidBus and the R6 RapidBus, with more boardings than all but five SkyTrain stations.

This bus exchange is practically bursting at its seams, trying to handle all the buses that terminate here.

TransLink will undoubtedly have to figure out how to either expand Newton bus exchange or shift buses to terminate in another location.

One of TransLink’s three BRT projects will pass by Newton bus exchange on King George Boulevard between Surrey Central Station and Semiahmoo Town Centre, although it remains to be seen whether the buses will divert into the bus exchange or simply stop at a station built in the median of the street.

Newton bus exchange. (Will Dawson/Submitted)

1. UBC bus exchange

Average weekday boardings: 22,000

The extension of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line from the future Arbutus Station to the University of British Columbia (UBC) is proposed, and the business case and detailed technical design are being developed by the provincial government. But it is still unfunded by the provincial and federal governments.

This result probably won’t surprise anyone who’s had to wait in line for the R4 41st Avenue RapidBus on an afternoon after class, but the numbers speak for themselves.

The sprawling UBC bus exchange is the western anchor for almost every east-west route in Vancouver and is a massive destination in its own right. UBC bus exchange’s buses move more people than Commercial-Broadway Station does by train (19,000 boardings). The difference between UBC and Newton bus exchange’s ridership statistics is almost as far apart as Newton’s is from Phibbs bus exchange.

An increasing number of groups, including Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, Vision Zero Vancouver, the Alma Mater Society, and UBC itself are urging for the SkyTrain extension, but it remains unfunded. It is baffling that this wasn’t built decades ago.

UBC bus exchange. (Dialog)

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