TransLink in the South Fraser

So I received a sheet from TransLink outlining the transit services improvements since 2008 in the South Fraser. This includes:

• A 20% increase in the number of buses since the plan was implemented, and a 35% increase in the annual total hours of service.
• A new Community Shuttle in Clayton Height
• A new Aldergrove to Abbotsford route
• Increased service on routes connecting South Surrey, Delta, White Rock to the Canada Line
• New east-west route on 64th Ave
• New east-west route on 88th Ave
• New north-south route on 152nd
• New route between Langley Centre, the West Coast Express, and Maple Ridge via the Golden Ears Bridge
• Improved minimum 15 minute service, 7 days a week on King George Highway (Boulevard), Fraser Highway, Scott Road, 72nd Ave, and 104th Ave.

As a transit users, I have seen the great improvements in service out here, but we still have a huge service gap when compared to communities in the Burrard Peninsula.

On the topic of transit in the South Fraser, Editor Frank Bucholtz of the Langley Times wrote an article about the Surrey Rapid Transit study:

The regional transportation authority is asking the public for input into what type of rapid transit would best serve the south of the Fraser region, including Langley.

Advocates for the restoration of interurban service along the BC Hydro rail corridor, including VALTAC and South Fraser OnTrax, will now have an opportunity to advocate for that service. Those who rode the streetcar on the line to Granville Island during the Winter Olympics and recently-completed Paralympics got a glimpse of what a modern interurban rail car would be like — and it’s impressive

The Olympic Line Streetcar has really opened up people’s eye to what modern light rail can look like. It has also excited people once again about the prospect of light rail in the South Fraser.