The New Langley Innovation District Brand

As I posted about previously, Langley City adopted an economic development plan in late 2024. One of the pillars of the economic development plan is supporting food technology businesses, which aligns with existing businesses in our community and with programs at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Langley City campus. Expanding food technology is a priority for the federal government as well, with its focus on Canadian food sovereignty. This essentially means that, as a nation, we can produce, process, package, and deliver food without relying on other nations. A delegation of Langley City Council went to Ottawa last fall to meet with federal politicians and federal government staff about food technology and the role that Langley City can play. You can read more about this in a previous post that I wrote.

Langley City Council also recently adopted the Glover Road Innovation District Plan, which outlines what the City needs to do to support our economic development plan, with a focus on land use, including zoning, transportation, and business incubator facilities. I posted about this plan, which Council adopted last month.

To help promote food technology and the innovation district, the City has developed the Langley Innovation District brand with its own logo.

The brand’s mission is captured by the half-moon design.

The half-moon represents innovation in motion. It is not a finished circle, but a form in transition, signalling growth, experimentation, and continuous evolution. The shape subtly references the natural cycles that underpin food systems while also evoking a contemporary architectural dome or lid - ideas incubating, energy building, transformation underway. It reflects the fusion of agriculture and technology, science and craft, soil and software. The half-moon is both horizon and shelter: a mark of emergence and a symbol of a district designed to cultivate what comes next.

Last fall, the City, in partnership with KPU and the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, held its first food technology forum. With the Innovation District plan complete, the City will be hosting its second forum this fall to continue to centre Langley City as a food technology hub that will attract jobs to our community.

Langley City Council Calls for Expanded Affordable BC Bus Pass Program

While Langley City is one of the most affordable places to live by Metro Vancouver standards, I know that the cost of housing, transportation, and food is a challenge for many people. A Metro Vancouver report noted that for most people, transportation expenses are about the same as housing expenses. Many households have two or more vehicles. Investing in high-quality, fast, and frequent transit supports lowering transportation costs as people can then have the option of reducing the number of vehicles they own and operate.

Transit is also linked to better social well-being and health outcomes, providing access to essential services and reducing social inequities.

TransLink has a reduced-fare program that applies to seniors and younger people. The provincial government has the BC Bus Pass Program, a low-cost transit pass limited to low-income seniors and people receiving disability assistance from the Province of British Columbia.

Metro Vancouver is one of the few major regions in Canada without a low-income transit pass for all ages and abilities—Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary each offer reduced-fare transit passes.

Many people who would qualify for BC Housing-funded or below-market rental housing would not qualify for the BC Bus Pass Program. Expanding this program would allow more people in Metro Vancouver access to opportunity, boost the regional economy, improve equity, and reduce fare evasion and its associated enforcement costs.

I’m happy to say that Langley City Council unanimously passed the following motion at its meeting last night.

THAT Council direct the Mayor to write a letter to the Provincial Minister of Transportation and Transit, requesting that the Province of British Columbia expand the eligibility requirements for the BC Bus Pass Program to include low-income households in Metro Vancouver.

Staying the Course with the Mayors’ Council’s Transportation Vision

Transport 2050 and Access for Everyone are TransLink's long-term and 10-year plans, respectively, which were approved by the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation before the last local government election in 2022. Transport 2050 must be reviewed every 5 years. These plans take a significant amount of time to develop and update, so if a major update to either of these plans were required, TransLink staff would need to get working on it now.

Map of Priority Transit Improvement from Access for Everyone. Select the map to enlarge.

At last week’s Mayors’ Council meeting, TransLink staff asked the Council to re-endorse both plans without change.

Since 2022, there have been significant changes in finances, with rising inflation and general purse-string tightening in government, especially at the federal level. This means that both Transport 2050 and Access for Everyone will likely take longer to implement than originally envisioned, as federal and provincial capital funding is lower than expected and construction costs are higher.

Even with this in mind, both plans outline what is still required to keep our region moving and are still very valid. As a note, recent TransLink trip surveys find that about 30% of trips in the region are by walking, cycling, or transit, which is good news, but other factors, such as the affordability of our transportation system, are not on track.

Given the reduced capital funding available from the federal and provincial governments, TransLink staff recommended that the Mayors’ Council also approve a reduced number of projects from these plans to move forward within the short term. The intention is to work with the Mayors’ Council to select these projects over the coming months. Given that there is a local government election this fall, these projects would need to be confirmed again by the incoming Mayors’ Council.

The Mayors’ Council approved these next steps, except for the Mayor of the City of Surrey, who was not in favour.

I would expect that in September, the Mayors’ Council will have the next phase of projects selected.

Bus Delays Costs Region About $115 Million Annually

TransLink recently released its 2025 Bus Speed and Reliability Report and found that bus delays caused by congestion are a significant concern, slowing bus travel times and costing TransLink about $115 million annually to maitain service frequency. Simply, if you want a bus every 15 minutes, the slower the bus travels, the more buses you need to maintain the same level of frequency. If we were able to eliminate all delays, which of course is not possible, the region would be able to increase bus service by 13%, which is significant.

Knowing this, TransLink has been working with municipalities to speed up bus travel times. In Langley City, we have bus lanes on Fraser Highway, 203rd Street, and Logan Avenue as a result of this program.

Some of the more recent successes include the installation of bus lanes on Scott Road, which has improved bus travel times by 20% (about 10 minutes) from Scott Road SkyTrain to Newton. Another example is the ramp queue-jumper lanes on Highway 99 and 17A, which allow buses to zip past congestion, improving bus route travel times by 30%.

One of the priorities is to grow the amount of bus priority measures along the frequent transit network. Between 2018, when the program was launched, and today, the share of bus priority measures along the frequent transit network has increased from 9% to 17%, a success story.

The following map shows bus priority measures implemented since 2019.

Map of Bus Speed and Reliability Project from 2019 to 2025. Select the map to enlarge.

TransLink is continuing to work with municipalities to identify areas for bus priority measures with a new funding intake this fall. These projects pay for themselves over time as they allow TransLink to reinvest bus service hours to improve service.

I look forward to seeing the continued rollout of this program, which is essentially like finding free money. To learn more, please read the full report.