New record reached for Metro Vancouver transit ridership

Canada Line. (Shutterstock)

Metro Vancouver’s public transit authority is reporting another period of record ridership growth.

Ridership in May 2018 was up by 9%, marking a new record when the 2010 Olympic Winter Games are not accounted for, according to TransLink.

It is believed high gas prices, continued stable economic growth, and recent Phase One transit improvements are some of the major factors behind uptick in transit usage.

There was growth across all modes of service last month:

Bus: Average weekday boardings up by 9.5%, with growth this year to date at 6.9%.
SkyTrain: Average weekday boardings grew by 5.7%, with the Expo Line and Millennium Line up by 9.2% and the Canada Line up by 8.1%.
SeaBus: Average weekday boardings increased by 13.1%, with growth this year to date up by 7.6%.
West Coast Express: Average boardings in May 2018 and the year to date are both up by 6.7%.

Last year, the transit authority also experienced record ridership growth.

With the expectation that ridership demand will only continue to climb, TransLink maintains that there is an urgency to move forward with its transit expansion and improvement projects.

“New service and capacity is being used as fast as we can get it out there,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond in a statement.

“This kind of growth isn’t being seen anywhere else in Canada and the United States. Ridership growth like this proves there’s a great deal of latent demand for transit and we are working to satisfy it.”

See also