93% of Surrey residents want more rapid transit: survey

93% of Surrey residents want more rapid transit in their communities: survey

SkyTrain Expo Line near King George Station in Surrey City Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The vast majority of Surrey residents want to see more rapid transit serving communities within their city, according to a City of Surrey survey.

In Summer 2021, City staff conducted an open public survey on a handful of key principles to guide the creation of its new draft municipal Surrey Transportation Plan. It attracted a total of 4,170 participants.

You might also like:

The newly released survey results show 93% of respondents support a strategy of connecting communities with rapid transit, with 75% expressing “strong” support and 18% “somewhat” supportive.

The municipal government intends to include a strategy into the overarching transportation plan of building a rapid transit network that links all six of Surrey’s town centres at City Centre/Whalley, Cloverdale, Fleetwood, Guildford, Newton, and South Surrey.

“Fast, frequent, and high capacity” are the design principles for rapid transit in Surrey.

To achieve this, 48% of respondents were supportive of giving some existing road space to build more rapid transit on the street, such as bus rapid transit on dedicated bus lanes. Another 38% wanted to maintain current road space and only build SkyTrain.

This also aligns with TransLink’s Transport 2050 plan of a 30-year regional transportation expansion strategy.

Approved by the Mayors’ Council last month, Transport 2050 calls for 300 km of new additional rapid transit across Metro Vancouver, with a combination of mainly bus rapid transit, and some grade-separated rapid transit such as SkyTrain.

translink transport 2050 rapid transit expansion

Transport 2050 plan for additional grade-separated rapid transit (SkyTrain) and bus rapid transit (BRT). Click on the image for an expanded version. (TransLink)

Transport 2050 outlines a grid-like rapid transit network reaching all town centres of Surrey, accomplished by using existing arterial road corridors, with nearly all of this accomplished with bus rapid transit.

But there will still be significant new SkyTrain within Surrey. The provincial government has already committed to moving forward with a 16-km-long, eight-station SkyTrain Expo Line extension along Fraser Highway from King George Station to Langley Centre. Construction on the $3.95 billion project is scheduled to begin in 2024 for an opening in 2028.

Within Surrey, Transport 2050 envisions a possible north-south SkyTrain extension along King George Boulevard from Surrey City Centre to at least Newton. In 2019, TransLink estimated SkyTrain to Newton would cost $1.4 billion.

In 2023, TransLink is scheduled to launch the new R6 Scott Road RapidBus service along Scott Road and 72nd Avenue from SkyTrain Scott Road Station to Newton bus exchange. Extensive bus priority measures, including bus-only lanes, are planned.

r6 scott road rapidbus route map street changes

Map of the R6 Scott Road RapidBus bus stops and the bus-priority measures. (TransLink)

“A common theme when discussing the benefits of rapid transit in Surrey was its ability to improve and create new connections within the city and to other transit lines. The growing workforce in Surrey needs access to connected town and employment centres,” reads the City of Surrey’s staff report on overall public consultation findings.

“There was general agreement among participants that if the City wants to change transportation habits, they will need to make changes to the way Surrey is currently dispersed as it is very inefficient and is a deterrent to various modes of active transportation. It was agreed that this may include connecting not only town centres but Port Kells and other industrial areas that are spread on the periphery.”

Focus group and interview participants told City staff that there is a need to provide additional bus service to connect to SkyTrain stations, and increased buses to connect Surrey neighbourhoods and secondary bus lanes.

Currently, the lack of route and schedule connections is a deterrent for Surrey residents to use the bus system in their city.

“It was noted that to address density and growth, some areas of the city are now competing for transit options. This shows a desire in the community to use transit options if the service can meet the need. There is a growing need to expand the rapid transit network and significantly invest in the rest of transit services,” continues the report.

Surrey’s population is forecast to grow to about 885,000 by 2051. Statistics Canada’s latest census shows Surrey’s population reached 568,000 in 2021.

The public consultation process also found substantial support for the Surrey Transportation Plan’s other principles of putting safety first, supporting close proximity neighbourhoods, and encouraging active transportation.

Another public consultation will be held this spring when a draft of the municipal transportation plan is released for input and refinement.

You might also like: