Bigger bus and route extension for TransLink's No. 23 West End service

Bigger bus and route extension for TransLink's popular No. 23 West End service

No. 23 Main Street/English Bay bus using a community shuttle bus vehicle. (TransLink | Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Drastic improvements could be made to TransLink’s popular No. 23 bus route between Main Street-Science World Station and English Bay in downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood.

TransLink states the changes are needed to improve capacity and reliability on a service that is seeing major ridership growth and overcrowding.

Currently, the No. 23 uses a community shuttle bus, which is a small vehicle that only seats between 20 and 24 people with zero standing capacity.

The public transit authority is proposing to upgrade this service to the use of the larger, regular 40 ft bus, which has an overall capacity for more than 50, including about 35 seated — more than double the capacity from a combination of both seated and standing capacity.

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But in order to achieve this higher capacity from the use of a regular bus, TransLink needs to make some major changes to the route of the No. 23.

It would be nice if the No. 23 Beach Avenue bus, serving the West End & North False Creek, used a standard bus at least for some busy period trips during peak season.

Only a few people in this line were able to board the already packed small community shuttle bus. #TransLink pic.twitter.com/SOlc3yeaUS

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) April 12, 2023

No. 23 bus route using the small community shuttle bus vehicle at the Main Street-Science World Station terminus on Quebec Street. (Google Maps)

A regular 40 ft TransLink bus. (TransLink)

The route changes are twofold.

First of all, along the existing segment within Chinatown, the westbound route will travel along Expo Boulevard instead of Keefer Street between Quebec Street and Pat Quinn Way.

Instead of currently travelling along Beach Avenue between Hornby Street and Jervis Street, this detour will be eliminated and the No. 23 will instead continue straight on along Pacific Street for its West End access.

Secondly, instead of terminating at the intersection of Davie and Denman Streets in English Bay, the No. 23 will continue along Denman Street before transitioning to Robson Street and then eventually Burrard Street for its new terminus at SkyTrain Burrard Street Station. This will effectively mirror the majority of the existing No. 5 Robson/Downtown trolley bus route.

Existing No. 23 bus route:

Existing route of the No. 23 bus. (TransLink)

Future No. 23 bus route changes and extension:

New route changes and extension of the No. 23 bus. (TransLink)

Map of the retained, new, and cancelled bus stops on the No. 23 bus route changes and extension:

Bus stop changes for the No. 23 from the route changes and extension, with green noting added bus stops and red indicating the eliminated route and bus stops. (TransLink)

The route changes and extension are needed because of the tight road space constraints along Keefer Street, Bidwell Street, and Beach Avenue — especially after the recent narrowing of Beach Avenue for a protected bike lane. The longer 40 ft bus requires wider lane widths and more road space at intersections for its larger turning radius, which is why the existing service uses the smaller community shuttle bus vehicle.

Additionally, there will also be bus stop changes. The existing No. 23 route will see the removal of 17 existing bus stops that are closely spaced, which currently reduces the speed of the service. There will be 22 new bus stops, including six brand new stops and 16 existing bus stops that currently serve other bus routes for the extension reaching Burrard Station.

translink 23 community shuttle bus beach avenue f

No. 23 community shuttle bus on Beach Avenue. (TransLink0

But the use of a bigger bus also means a slight reduction in frequencies. According to TransLink, the transition to a larger bus will increase the No. 23’s frequencies to every 10 to 15 minutes at all times of the day throughout the week, which represents an increase of two to three minutes compared to existing frequencies with the community shuttle bus.

The public transit authority states it has attempted to resolve the No. 23’s issues of overcrowding and passenger pass-ups at bus stops by increasing the frequencies of the community shuttle buses. But this only leads to multiple buses bunching up, with pass-ups remaining an issue, with these smaller vehicles unable to handle surges in ridership throughout the day.

Currently, the No. 23 runs every seven minutes during peak periods, which is the highest frequency for a TransLink bus route that uses a community shuttle bus.

In 2022, the No. 53 was TransLink’s 53rd busiest bus route out of over 200 bus routes across the region, with 1.13 million annual boardings, including averages of 3,300 boardings per weekday, 2,990 boardings per Saturday, and 2,300 boardings on Sundays/holidays.

TransLink is now seeking public input on the route changes through an online survey that will be open until December 11, 2023. The changes could be implemented as early as Summer 2024, when ridership demand picks up again.

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