TransLink continues to see strong ridership growth this year
Ridership on Metro Vancouver’s public transit system continues to see strong growth this year to date.
TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond provided the Mayors’ Council with an update on ridership today, highlighting that as of the end of August, systemwide ridership across all services was up by 4%.
Buses saw an uptick of 4.4%, SeaBus was up 3.7%, Expo Line and Millennium Line were by up 3.2%, Canada Line was up 3.2%, West Coast Express was up 6.1%, and HandyDART was up 4.8%.
Weekend ridership across the system was also up by 5%.
“If this trend continues through the end of the year, then over the four-year period from 2016 to 2019, we would have seen a 20% growth in overall ridership. It is pretty astonishing,” said Desmond.
A number of factors are fuelling ridership growth, including the introduce of new and improved transit services, high fuel costs, changing commute patterns, and the relatively strong economy.
Relief from overcrowding is coming; three new RapidBus routes (B-Line 2.0) and 12 new two-car Canada Line trains will go into service in early 2020. New trains are still gradually being introduced into service on the Expo and Millennium lines.
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