TransLink eyes Hastings Street bus stop changes for Downtown Eastside, RapidBus | Daily Hive

TransLink eyes Hastings Street bus stop changes for Downtown Eastside and RapidBus

Proposed Hastings Street bus stop changes within Vancouver. (TransLink)

TransLink is working with the City of Vancouver to change the number and location of bus stops along Hastings Street between Downtown Vancouver and Boundary Road, as part of a broader effort to improve travel times and reliability on one of Metro Vancouver’s busiest bus corridors.

Roughly one in four bus stops would be removed, relocated, or consolidated along this cross-town segment of Hastings Street within Vancouver.

These changes are aimed at reducing delays caused by closely spaced stops, traffic congestion, turning vehicles, and curbside activity.

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The proposed changes would primarily affect bus routes No. 14 Downtown/Hastings, No. 16 Arbutus/29th Avenue Station, No. 20 Downtown/Victoria, and the R5 Hastings Street RapidBus — which would see one relocated stop in Downtown Vancouver and new additional bus stops in the Downtown Eastside — along with overnight services N20 and N35.

About 1,000 buses use Hastings Street on a daily basis, but it is also one of the most delay-prone corridors in the region. In particular, based on 2024 data, the R5 RapidBus is Metro Vancouver’s 10th busiest bus route, with 4.35 million annual boardings and averages of 13,700 boardings per weekday, 8,900 per Saturday, and 7,300 per Sunday/holiday.

r5 hastings street rapidbus burrard station downtown vancouver f

A bus of the R5 Hastings Street RapidBus at Burrard Station in Downtown Vancouver. (TransLink)

As previously undertaken on several other bus corridors across the city, the public transit authority is looking to implement bus stop balancing — the process of removing and relocating bus stops that are spaced too closely together and/or have lower ridership — in an effort to improve travel times and reliability by reducing how often buses need to pull in and out of stops.

Currently, nearly 60 per cent of existing stops along Hastings Street are spaced closer than the recommended minimum distance of 300 metres. Along some stretches of Hastings Street, there is a stop on every block.

Under the plan, more than 70 per cent of riders would continue using their current bus stop. Where stops are removed, another stop would typically remain within one block, according to TransLink.

Bus stops eyed for removal or relocation are situated in Downtown Vancouver and the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood, and especially in the Downtown Eastside.

translink hastings street vancouver bus stop changes

Proposed Hastings Street bus stop changes within Vancouver. (TransLink)

Within Downtown Vancouver, the proposed removals are the westbound and eastbound local bus stops on Hastings Street at Hamilton Street. As well, the Hastings Street eastbound stop for the R5 RapidBus at Cambie Street would be relocated one block to the east at Abbott Street.

The most drastic changes would take place within the eight block segment between Main Street and Glen Drive in the Downtown Eastside. Seven westbound and eastbound Hastings Street bus stops would be removed at Dunlevy Avenue, Hawks Avenue, Princess Avenue, and Jackson Avenue — a current spacing that provides a stop for every single block within this segment. Instead, if those seven stops are removed, there would be five new stop locations with an improved spacing of roughly two blocks apart — situated at Heatley Avenue, Jackson Avenue, and Campbell Avenue.

The new westbound and eastbound bus stops at the intersection of Hastings Street and Campbell Avenue — next to Raycam Community Centre — serve not only the local bus routes, but provide a new additional stop for the R5 RapidBus to better serve the Downtown Eastside and the broader Strathcona neighbourhood. Currently, the closest R5 RapidBus stops are at Main Street and Commercial Drive.

The Downtown Eastside segment is the only location along the entire corridor where new bus stops would be considered.

Further to the east, other bus stops eyed for removal are at where Hastings Street meets Templeton Drive (west of Nanaimo Street), Kaslo Street (west of Hastings Park), and Skeena Street (near Boundary Road).

Downtown Vancouver; proposed Hastings Street bus stop changes. (TransLink)

Downtown Eastside; proposed Hastings Street bus stop changes. (TransLink)

TransLink’s online survey on the Hastings Street bus stop balancing measures is open until May 24, 2026. The finalized recalibration plan for the corridor’s bus stops will be announced in the summer and implemented in September 2026.

In early 2026, the City of Vancouver performed a separate public consultation on implementing 24/7 bus lanes on the easternmost segment of Hastings Street within its jurisdiction — between Kaslo Street and Boundary Road. The expanded curbside bus lane hours on this segment were set to take effect in Spring 2026, but it has now been shared that this implementation of expanded bus lanes has been paused due to the public input received.

TransLink indicates that no new bus lanes are planned for Hastings Street to enable the municipal government to perform further review, as part of a comprehensive study in 2027 of Hastings Street bus priority measures, economic factors, and business needs.

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