TransLink's one-seat RapidBus ride between Park Royal and Metrotown starts September | Daily Hive

TransLink's one-seat RapidBus ride between Park Royal and Metrotown starts early September

R2 Marine-Willingdon RapidBus. (TransLink)

A major extension of the existing R2 Marine Drive RapidBus route will launch early next month, creating a direct, all-day public connection between the North Shore and central Burnaby.

In the process, the R2 RapidBus will gain stronger regional connectivity through transfer opportunities at two SkyTrain stations, while reinforcing Willingdon Avenue’s importance as a key north-south corridor linking Burnaby’s Brentwood Town Centre and Metrotown Downtown districts.

Beginning Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, TransLink’s R2 RapidBus will continue beyond its current eastern terminus at Phibbs Exchange — located just north of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. Instead, it will now cross the bridge, and travel south to ultimately reach the Expo Line’s Metrotown Station through East Vancouver and Burnaby.

This is by far the single largest change to bus services on Sept. 7, when TransLink implements its fall seasonal bus service changes, with more service coming to 21 bus routes.

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The extended route, renamed the R2 Marine-Willingdon RapidBus, will allow passengers to travel between Park Royal mall and Metrotown Station without transferring at Phibbs Exchange.

South of Burrard Inlet, buses will travel along Hastings Street and Willingdon Avenue, serving eight new stops: Kootenay Loop, Hastings Street at Gilmore Avenue, Hastings Street at Willingdon Avenue, the Millennium Line’s Brentwood Town Centre Station, Willingdon Avenue at Goard Way at the BCIT Burnaby campus, Willingdon Avenue at Moscrop Street, Willingdon Avenue at Kingsway, and Metrotown Station.

The R2 will also provide connections with the R5 Hastings Street RapidBus, which runs between Downtown Vancouver and the SFU Burnaby campus.

Other major destinations along the combined full existing and extended R2 route include Park Royal mall, Lonsdale Quay and the SeaBus terminal and bus exchange, Hastings Park and the PNE, and Burnaby Heights.

Map of the extended R2 Marine-Willingdon RapidBus route. (TransLink)

translink rapidbus r2 marine drive north shore

TransLink R2 RapidBus in Lonsdale in North Vancouver. (TransLink)

According to TransLink, the extended route will operate from approximately 5 a.m. until 2 a.m., seven days per week. Service will generally run every six to seven minutes during weekday peak periods and every 10 to 15 minutes during off-peak hours.

On regular weekdays, Metrotown-bound service will run every six minutes between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and every seven to eight minutes during most of the afternoon peak period. Buses heading toward Park Royal will run every six minutes between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. and every seven to eight minutes between 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Service will generally run every 12 minutes during most of the operating hours on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with lower frequencies of every 15 minutes during the early morning and late evening.

As the Sept. 7 launch falls on Labour Day, the Sunday and holiday schedule will apply on the extended route’s first day.

The end-to-end trip on the R2 will take approximately one hour to one hour and 20 minutes, depending on the time of day and direction of travel. Much of the corridor — particularly on the North Shore and across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge — is notorious for traffic congestion.

According to Google Maps estimates, passengers travelling between Park Royal and Metrotown could still reach their destination more quickly by taking a bus between Park Royal and Downtown Vancouver and then transferring to the Expo Line. That journey is estimated to take roughly 40 minutes to just under an hour, depending largely on congestion affecting the bus portion of the trip across the Lions Gate Bridge.

Driving between Park Royal and Metrotown can take anywhere from approximately 25 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes, depending on the time of day, direction of travel, and traffic conditions.

The R2 will continue to use the high-capacity, 60-ft-long, three-door articulated buses.

TransLink notes that more than 14,000 bus public transit trips are already made each day along the corridor between Phibbs Exchange and Metrotown using multiple services. The extended R2 will replace the existing 2020-launched No. 222 Willingdon Express bus route, which currently operates between Phibbs Exchange and Metrotown Station during weekday peak periods only. The final day of service for the No. 222 will be Friday, September 4.

No. 130 will continue providing local service along Hastings Street and Willingdon Avenue, although most trips will begin and end at Kootenay Loop instead of Phibbs Exchange.

R2 RapidBus bus stops at Phibbs Exchange. (TransLink)

R2 RapidBus bus stops at Kootenay Loop. (TransLink)

r2 rapidbus bus stop brentwood town centre station

R2 RapidBus bus stops at Brentwood Town Centre Station. (TransLink)

R2 RapidBus bus stop location at Metrotown Station. (TransLink)

Some permanent R2 bus stops will not be ready when service begins due to nearby building development construction. Temporary or existing stops will be used westbound near Kootenay Loop, Gilmore Avenue and Willingdon Avenue, as well as southbound near Goard Way, until the permanent facilities can open.

The permanent R2 bus stop at Metrotown Station will be located along the westbound curb of Central Boulevard, immediately south of the bus loop and Metropolis at Metrotown mall and directly across from the SkyTrain station.

Earlier this summer, crews poured concrete slabs within the roadway to prepare the R2’s Metrotown Station bus stop for the weight of the R2’s articulated buses.

The City of Burnaby also converted the intersection outside the eastern entrance to Metrotown Station into a pedestrian scramble. The change is intended to improve safety and accessibility while accommodating higher pedestrian volumes between the SkyTrain station on the south side of Central Boulevard and the bus loop and mall on the north side.

r2 rapidbus metrotwon bus stop construction july 16 2026

Construction for the R2 RapidBus bus stop on Central Boulevard outside Metrotown Station, as seen on July 16, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

metrotown central boulevard pedestrian scramble june 8 2026

The new Central Boulevard pedestrian scramble to improve accessibility for SkyTrain’s Metrotown Station, the bus exchange, and Metropolis at Metrotown mall, as seen on June 7, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

The R2 extension does not include any new bus-priority or HOV lanes in Burnaby. TransLink is separately studying longer-term rapid transit options between Metrotown and the North Shore, including bus rapid transit on dedicated bus-only lanes, light rail transit (LRT), or SkyTrain.

The existing North Shore segment of the R2 between Park Royal and Phibbs Exchange saw 1.923 million annual boardings in 2025, with averages of 5,700 per weekday, 4,800 per Saturday, and 3,900 per Sunday/holiday. It is TransLink’s 41st busiest bus route out of over 200 bus routes across the Metro Vancouver region.

Moreover, the R3 ranks as the sixth-busiest of TransLink’s seven RapidBus/B-Line routes, including the 99 B-Line.

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