Vancouver City Council to consider support for Hastings rapid transit study

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

A growing number of Metro Vancouver’s municipal governments are putting up their hand to show their interest in being prioritized for TransLink’s upcoming major investments in new and improved public transit infrastructure.

This comes ahead of a potentially consequential Mayors’ Council meeting next month when the region’s mayors decide on the list of projects to initially prioritize within TransLink’s Transport 2050’s 10-year priorities between 2025 and 2035.

Next week, Vancouver City Council will deliberate a member motion by ABC Vancouver city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung calling on the City to express its formal support to TransLink and the Mayors’ Council on various measures.

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This includes requesting the Mayors’ Council to replace its commitment to undertake a Major Transit Network planning study on the 41st Avenue/49th Avenue Corridor between Metrotown and the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a study on the Hastings Street Corridor between downtown Vancouver and Hastings Park/PNE.

The replacement study zeroing in on the Hastings Street Corridor will “assess its longer-term capacity needs and evaluate potential Rapid Transit technology alternatives.”

During the 2022 civic election campaign, the ABC Vancouver party promised to advocate for a new SkyTrain extension between downtown Vancouver and the North Shore via Hastings Street, while also serving Hastings Park/PNE.

Over the last few years, the provincial government and the North Shore municipalities conducted highly preliminary studies on potential SkyTrain route options along Hastings Street in Vancouver as part of a potential rapid transit link reaching the North Shore.

north shore connects skytrain gold line option

“Gold Line” route option concept of a SkyTrain extension from downtown Vancouver to Park Royal in West Vancouver via Hastings Street, Hastings Park/PNE, Second Narrows, and Phibbs Exchange. (North Shore Connects)

north shore connects burrard inlet rapid transit skytrain

Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit concepts of two North Shore SkyTrain lines via the Second Narrows: Gold Line from Park Royal to downtown Vancouver via Hastings, and Purple Line from Park Royal to Brentwood Town Centre Station and Metrotown Station via Willingdon Avenue. (North Shore Connects)

TransLink’s 10-year priorities calls for the conversion and upgrade of the existing R5 Hastings Street RapidBus into Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which is a new type of bus mode that will carry features such as fully segregated bus lanes along the route, traffic signal priority, and other bus priority measures and passenger amenities. The R5, formerly known as the 95 B-Line, runs between Burrard Station in downtown Vancouver and Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus via Hastings Street.

Kirby-Yung’s motion specifically directs the City to support and work with TransLink on the “urgent implementation of bus speed and reliability improvements” along Hastings Street, Kingsway, 49th Avenue, and Granville Street, which are identified as high congestion/high ridership bus corridors.

This includes indicating the City’s support for prioritizing buses through the “willingness to reallocate space from parking or general traffic, changes to property access, bus stop balancing, turn restrictions, changes to traffic signal timing and coordination, and transit signal priority.” Such support will also be expressed through the allocation of City resources, the appointment of a “Fast Buses Council champion” and an internal staff lead to support the projects, and a willingness to expedite processes, permits, and approvals.

“Improving the speed and reliability of existing buses on these High Congestion/High Ridership Bus Corridors requires reconfiguring roads for successful implementation. This requires leadership from the City of Vancouver as the primary administrator of these roads,” she wrote.

In addition, reads Kirby-Yung’s motion, the City will work with TransLink to plan and implement a new RapidBus route along Marine Drive/Marine Way between the Canada Line’s Marine Drive Station in South Vancouver and the Expo Line’s 22nd Street Station in New Westminster, with the inclusion of “bus lanes that could also benefit the other routes along the corridor.”

TransLink’s strategy also calls for such an interim RapidBus route along Marine Drive/Marine Way serving Vancouver within the first five years (1st) of the 10-year priorities, with this RapidBus service later converted into BRT within the second five years (2nd).

translink transport 2050 10 year priorities project map

Projects under the 10-year priorities of TransLink’s Transport 2050 strategy. Click on the image for an expanded version. (TransLink)

Other planned projects that will directly benefit Vancouver from TransLink’s 10-year priorities include the following four new RapidBus routes: downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale via Lions Gate Bridge (1st); Richmond Centre to Metrotown via Knight Street Bridge, Victoria Drive, and 49th Avenue (1st); downtown Vancouver to Ambleside in West Vancouver via Lions Gate Bridge (2nd); and Commercial Drive/Victoria Drive (2nd).

As well, the 10-year priorities include four new BRT routes that will directly benefit Vancouver, which will be achieved from the conversion of RapidBus routes. In addition to the aforementioned BRT conversions of the existing R5 Hastings RapidBus and the future interim South Vancouver/South Burnaby/New Westminster RapidBus, there will also be BRT conversions of the other interim RapidBus routes of: Richmond Centre to Metrotown via Knight Street Bridge, Victoria Drive, and 49th Avenue; and downtown Vancouver to Ambleside in West Vancouver via Lions Gate Bridge.

According to TransLink’s 2022 statistics, the R4 UBC/Joyce-Collingwood Station RapidBus via 41st Avenue was Metro Vancouver’s second busiest bus route with 7.8 million annual boardings, while the R5 Burrard Station/SFU RapidBus was the seventh busiest with 4.4 million annual boardings.

The 10-year priorities also call for SkyTrain’s Millennium Line extension between Arbutus Station and UBC within the second five years. The provincial government is currently leading the detailed design and planning work that will lead to the creation of a business case.

Other cities that have drafted and approved similar motions to date include Maple Ridge and Delta. Earlier this month, both cities expressed specific support for the 10-year priorities’ BRT routes that will directly serve their community.

In June 2023, in a release, the City of Surrey expressed strong support for TransLink’s proposed BRT route along King George Boulevard between Surrey City Centre and White Rock, which would essentially be an upgrade and extension of the existing R1 RapidBus.

“I had the opportunity to visit York Region Transit and tour their award-winning Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System,” said Mayor Brenda Locke in a statement. “BRT, where buses operate in dedicated lanes, is an effective way of delivering fast, reliable, high-quality transportation. That’s why I have asked Staff to prepare a report on how to advance BRT on King George Boulevard to be the top priority for TransLink to deliver in the next three years.”

In total, TransLink’s 10-year priorities call for up to seven new Express bus lines for regional/interregional services (along highways), up to 11 new RapidBus routes, and up to nine new BRT routes (with most of these BRT routes being upgrades of the existing and future interim RapidBus routes). The public transit authority is also aiming to build the SFU Burnaby Mountain Gondola within the first five years of the priorities.

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