How TransLink bus routes could change from Broadway subway opening | Daily Hive

TransLink 99 B-Line articulated bus. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

If all goes as planned, SkyTrain’s Broadway extension to Arbutus Street will open in Fall 2027.

This six-km-long extension from the existing VCC-Clark Station will move the western terminus of the Millennium Line to the new Arbutus Station, adding a total of six new subway stations along the way. This also includes the new stations of Great Northern Way-Emily Carr, Mount Pleasant, Broadway-City Hall, Oak-VGH, and South Granville.

Broadway-City Hall Station will be particularly significant as it establishes a new major regional interchange between the existing Canada Line platforms and the new Millennium Line platforms. The overall subway extension, coupled with this interchange, will fundamentally transform how the SkyTrain network can be used across the region.

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From the existing major interchange of the Expo Line and the Millennium Line at Commercial-Broadway Station, it will take about six minutes to reach Broadway-City Hall Station and 12 minutes to reach Arbutus Station, where the remaining journey to the University of British Columbia (UBC) can be performed by boarding a truncated 99 B-Line service between Arbutus Station and UBC bus exchange — until the UBC SkyTrain extension west of Arbutus Street is built.

Potential major changes to bus routes upon Broadway subway’s opening

It has long been known that the 99 B-Line route — Metro Vancouver’s highest ridership bus route by a wide margin — will be shortened following the opening of the SkyTrain extension reaching Arbutus Street, with Arbutus Station likely to become one of the entire SkyTrain network’s busiest stations overnight.

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99 B-Line at SkyTrain Commercial-Broadway Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The No. 9 trolley bus travelling through the intersection of West Broadway and Cambie Street in Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

But what has been unclear to date is what other bus route changes could be performed as a part of a recalibration of the overall bus network, similar to how the bus network saw significant changes after the opening of the original Millennium Line in 2002, the Canada Line in 2009, and the Millennium Line’s Evergreen extension in 2016.

For its new analysis for the proposed Burrard Peninsula Area Transport Plan, which is scheduled to undergo public consultation starting on February 10, 2025, TransLink is considering to eliminate the existing No. 14 UBC/Downtown/Hastings trolley bus route, which currently runs between Kootenay bus loop and UBC via Hastings Street, Granville Street, West 4th Avenue, Macdonald Street, West Broadway, and West 10th Avenue and University Boulevard.

Instead, the No. 14’s resources would be used to improve other bus routes along West Broadway or those connecting UBC and downtown Vancouver.

The No. 9 UBC/Commercial-Broadway/Alma/Boundary trolley bus — the local bus service along the length of Broadway in Vancouver — would see more frequent service throughout the day between the Boundary Street bus loop and the new South Granville Station and more trips reaching UBC would be extended throughout the day year-round. Over time, the eastern end point of the No. 9 would be moved from Boundary Street bus loop to SkyTrain’s Brentwood Town Centre Station.

The No. 16 Arbutus/29th Avenue Station trolley bus route would be retained, but its routing between Arbutus Street and Granville Street would revert from West 12th Avenue (established to accommodate subway construction) back to West Broadway. However, the No. 17 Oak/Downtown trolley bus would retain its West 12th Avenue routing between Oak Street and Cambie Street.

The No. 44 UBC/Downtown express bus route would see improvements to its weekday service levels, including during off-peak and evening periods. Improvements could also be performed to the No. 4 Powell/Downtown/UBC trolley bus route.

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Map of existing east-west bus routes in the Vancouver Westside. (TransLink)

Map of the proposed 2027 east-west bus route changes in the Vancouver Westside due to the opening of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension to Arbutus. (TransLink)

So far, this only covers the baseline bus network changes that could be made upon the 2027 opening day of the Millennium Line extension reaching Arbutus Street.

TransLink is also considering various other additional bus network changes as part of the recalibration to account for the opening of this subway. The No. 4 could see its route split into two new routes, with the new western route running between UBC and VCC-Clark Station and the new eastern route running between Waterfront Station and Hastings Park.

Similarly, the No. 16 could see its route split into eastern and western routes. The western route would run between Marpole bus loop and Waterfront Station, with its path shifted to Burrard Street (instead of Granville Street) between West Broadway and downtown Vancouver, which effectively helps provide new and improved service to the massive Senakw rental housing complex at the southern end of Burrard Street Bridge. The No. 16’s new eastern route would run between 29th Avenue Station and Waterfront Station. In 2023, the existing cross-town, 18-km-long No. 16 bus route ranked as Metro Vancouver’s sixth busiest bus route in terms of total annual ridership.

The existing No. 15 Olympic Village Station/Cambie bus route could see a slight northward route extension that moves the northern end point from Olympic Village Station to Moberly bus loop.

The existing summer seasonal-only bus route of No. 42 Alma/Spanish Banks is a short route that uses a low-capacity community shuttle bus. TransLink is considering moving the existing eastern endpoint of the No. 42 from the intersection of Alma Street and West Broadway to the new South Granville Station, with this route extension also providing a new way to reach Kitsilano Beach in addition to the secluded area of Spanish Banks Beach.

Map of the proposed additional east-west bus route changes in the Vancouver Westside due to the opening of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension to Arbutus. (TransLink)

Diagram showing the interchange hub between the Millennium Line and Canada Line at Broadway-City Hall Station. (Government of BC)

Potential bus route changes for UBC SkyTrain

When the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension opens in 2027, its westernmost end will be Arbutus Station, with the remaining journey to UBC made by a shortened 99 B-Line bus route — at least temporarily.

The Government of British Columbia is now leading the planning and execution of the effort for extending the Millennium Line from Arbutus Station to UBC, with Premier David Eby indicating this month it is a key priority.

But currently, this extension to the very western tip of the Burrard Peninsula is unfunded. At the earliest, it could be completed sometime in the 2030s.

In the meantime, TransLink’s Burrard Peninsula Area Transport Plan provides an idea of the potential changes that could be made to the bus network after SkyTrain is extended to UBC.

The No. 42 serving Spanish Banks Beach would see its eastern endpoint moved to the nearby future Jericho Station on the UBC SkyTrain extension.

The No. 84 UBC/VCC-Clark Station express bus route could be discontinued.

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Map of the proposed bus route changes after the opening of the SkyTrain extension from Arbutus Station to UBC. (TransLink)

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Concept of SkyTrain Arbutus Station and the attached 99 B-Line bus exchange. (Government of BC)

And as can be expected, the opening of the UBC SkyTrain extension would mark the final end of the 99 B-Line. When the 99 B-Line first launched in 1996, it carried just 12,000 passengers per day and reached Lougheed Mall (now known as City of Lougheed Mall) in Burnaby. In 2002, upon the completion of the original Millennium Line, the bus route was rejigged, with the eastern terminus relocated to Commercial-Broadway Station.

With the Millennium Line’s entire Broadway and UBC SkyTrain extensions combined, the travel time between Commercial-Broadway Station and UBC could be only about 20 minutes, based on previous TransLink studies. Currently, it typically takes about 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the time of day.

Potential bus route changes for SFU Burnaby Gondola

If funding becomes available, TransLink hopes to move forward in the next few years with constructing the Burnaby Mountain Gondola public transit line, connecting SkyTrain’s Production Way-University Station to Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus.

What has been known for a while is that this fast, frequent, and high-capacity gondola would replace the existing No. 145 Production Way/SFU bus route, which is currently one of the main bus routes for reaching the campus. This bus route would be discontinued as it duplicates the gondola.

At this early stage of planning the recalibrated bus network, TransLink has no plans to make changes to the other bus routes serving the campus, including the R5 Hastings Street RapidBus, No. 143 Burquitlam/SFU, and No. 144 Metrotown Station/SFU. But a new looping shuttle bus service atop Burnaby Mountain could be considered to serve the campus and other mountaintop destinations.

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Map of the proposed bus route changes after the opening of the Burnaby Mountain Gondola to Simon Fraser University. (TransLink)

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Artistic rendering of the SFU Burnaby gondola lower terminal building next to SkyTrain Production Way-University Station. (TransLink)

At this time, all of these proposed changes and additions to the bus route network are only conceptual for planning purposes, with the second phase of the planning process for the Burrard Peninsula Area Transport Plan expected to enter public consultation starting on February 10, 2025.

It is important to emphasize that these major bus network improvements are highly dependent on resolving TransLink’s fiscal cliff beginning in 2026, which would at least maintain status quo service levels while also identifying significant new additional funding for service expansion. Under its 10-year expansion and improvement plan through 2035, TransLink is looking to double bus service levels across the region.

Separately, the public transit authority is conducting a public consultation on its first two proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes of the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT lines. An online survey on these BRT routes is open until February 9, 2025.

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