Bus size upgrades coming to two TransLink bus routes this month | Daily Hive

TransLink double-decker bus. (TransLink)

It is that time of year again when TransLink implements seasonal adjustments to bus operations and frequencies across Metro Vancouver, along with other service changes

On Monday, the public transit authority announced that starting on April 21, 2025, it will perform modest service increases on 35 bus routes to help address overcrowding and improve convenience.

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This includes more service for busy routes such as the 99 B-Line, R5 Hastings Street RapidBus, No. 8 Fraser/Waterfront Station, No. 14 Hastings/UBC, and No. 49 Metrotown Station/Dunbar Loop/UBC. As well, 16 of the 35 bus routes with service improvements are in the South of Fraser sub-region, where bus ridership has been growing at a greater pace.

As usual each year in the spring and summer, there will be more seasonal service on 12 bus routes to major park destinations like Stanley Park, Grouse Mountain, White Pine Beach, and Buntzen Lake, as well as additional service to BC Ferries’ Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay ferry terminals and the seasonal return of the community shuttle bus route to Spanish Banks Beach.

As in previous years, in response to lower seasonal demand in the summer when most students are away, service levels will be reduced on some bus routes serving the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and other post-secondary campuses.

Other bus service improvements starting on April 21 include up-sizing the bus vehicles used on two bus routes seeing great demand and issues with pass-ups.

This includes the upgrade of the No. 23 Main Street-Science World Station/English Bay route from the current use of the small community shuttle bus vehicles to a regular 40-ft, two-door bus. The No. 23 serves the downtown Vancouver peninsula, running through the North False Creek areas and the beachside areas of the West End.

With the use of a larger bus, the No. 23’s frequencies will see slight decreases of between one minute to up to three minutes, depending on the time of the day. But even with the reduced frequencies, there will still be an overall 50 per cent increase in capacity due to the use of a regular bus.

Long lineups and overcrowding for the No. 23 community shuttle bus at Stadium-Chinatown Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

translink no. 23 bus route changes april 2025

Bus stop and route changes for the No. 23 Main Street-Science World Station/English Bay, starting on April 21, 2025, when it begins the use of a regular-sized bus. (TransLink)

To accommodate the changes, a small number of bus stops on the No. 23 will be eliminated, and there will be a slight change to the route taken for the westbound direction near Main Street-Science World Station.

The switch was not made earlier, as the use of a larger bus necessitated some road design changes in the West End, which reached completion last year. The No. 23’s upgrade to a bigger bus has been years in the making.

This has been a very unreliable bus route. According to TransLink, the No. 23 had the highest number of pass-ups of any bus route in Metro Vancouver in 2024, with nearly 20 per cent of its trips bypassing passengers at stops due to the community shuttle buses quickly reaching capacity.

In the past, TransLink significantly increased the frequency of community shuttles on the No. 23 route, but this approach fell short when buses bunched together, ultimately failing to resolve the issue.

The No. 23 sees the highest ridership for any bus route that regularly uses the small community shuttle buses, and it is also the highest frequency for a bus route that uses such smaller vehicles. Each community shuttle bus has a capacity for between 20 and 24 seated passengers, with zero standing capacity.

According to the latest publicly available statistics, the No. 23 had 1.384 million boardings in 2023, making it the 55th busiest bus route out of 191 bus routes across the TransLink network. It averaged 4,060 boardings per weekday, 3,600 per Saturday, and 2,850 per Sunday/holiday.

The other bus route that will see the use of a bigger bus is the No. 601 South Delta/Boundary Bay/Bridgeport. Starting later this month, all weekend and holiday trips on the No. 601 will operate with double decker buses.

Due to varying demand throughout the year, bus services undergo seasonal service level changes every January, April, June, and September.

There remains an ongoing risk that TransLink could be forced to significantly curtail its services as early as late 2025 or in 2026 — with potential cuts of up to 50 per cent to bus services, 30 per cent to SkyTrain and SeaBus services, and even the possible elimination of the West Coast Express commuter rail. These drastic measures stem from TransLink’s fiscal challenges, including a projected $72 million budget shortfall in 2025 and an anticipated annual shortfall of $600 million beginning in 2026.

To avoid these dire cuts, TransLink is seeking additional interim operating subsidies from the provincial government, and new stable long-term revenue sources.

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