TransLink’s Original Strategic Transportation Plan: A Decade in the Desert for Bus Service Expansion

In 1999, TransLink took over from BC Transit as the provider of public transit service in Metro Vancouver. The original purpose of creating TransLink was to transfer control of transit delivery and planning from the provincial government to the region. I wrote a three-part series on the history of TransLink; it has been a bumpy journey.

I stumbled upon one of TransLink’s original strategic transportation plans which was created a year after the organization took over transit services in Metro Vancouver. I thought it would be interesting to look at what bus service was supposed to look like by 2005 in that original plan, and where we are today.

By 2005, the original strategic transportation plan envisioned that there would be 4.79 million hours of conventional bus service deployed throughout our region (including SeaBus). More bus service hours means more frequent bus service, and bus service in more locations.

TransLink was unable to expand bus service because our local and provincial governments were at an impasse for close to a decade on how to fund transit in our region. It took until 2009 for bus service hours to reach the original 2005 vision. There was a small bump during 2010, then bus service hours remained unchanged until last year. In 2017, 5.12 million hours of conventional bus service was delivered.

The current 10-Year Vision for Metro Vancouver Transportation is why we are seeing an actual increase in bus transit now. As I noted yesterday, bus transit is the backbone of the transit network.

Two interesting maps from the original strategic transportation plan focused on bus service. The following map is of proposed B-Line services. Some lines took a bit longer to get implemented than originally envisioned.

Map of proposed B-Line bus routes from 2000 Strategic Transportation Plan. Select map to enlarge.

The strategic transportation plan also called for express buses to service certain corridors. This would be similar to the kind of bus service in South Delta, and between the SkyTrain and Carvolth Exchange in Langley. Some of these routes never materialized.

Map of proposed express bus routes from 2000 Strategic Transportation Plan. Select map to enlarge.

With the recent changes in some municipalities, I am concerned that some in local government may try to open up the 10-Year Vision for Metro Vancouver Transportation for new debate. It took close to a decade to get transit expansion restarted in our region. While the plan is not perfect, it is good. I hope that the current Mayors’ Council works hard to ensure that the final phase of the 10-Year Vision gets funded.