More Details on RapidBus and Bus Rapid Transit Vision

A few weeks ago, the TransLink Board and the Mayors’ Council approved our region’s new list of 10-year transportation priorities. I posted about what this means for Langley as far as buses as well as walking and cycling in previous posts. I wanted to share some more information.

One of the first pushes will be to expand RapidBus. The current example of RapidBus in the South of Fraser is the R1 which runs down King George Boulevard in Surrey. The next route to be put in service is the R6 Scott Road RapidBus, scheduled to start next year. The following video shows some of the changes to the road network to speed up bus service.

The following map shows RapidBus routes that TransLink, in partnership will municipalities, plans to build out over the next decade. A new RapidBus between Maple Ridge and Downtown Langley through the fast-growing Willoughby area is a TransLink priority in the first half of the 10-year plan.

RapidBus Expansion Map Including Phasing. Select map to enlarge.

Following the rollout of RapidBus, a sort of BRT-light, will be full BRT or Bus Rapid Transit. TransLink is planning to build BRT along the 200th Street Corridor, replacing RapidBus in the next decade. This BRT route will “connect the city centre of Langley and the city centre of Maple Ridge with a fully traffic-separated BRT line featuring dedicated bus lanes and transit signal priority across the 200 St - Golden Ears - Lougheed Highway corridor.”

BRT differs from RapidBus because its travel lanes are entirely protected and separated from travel lanes throughout 100% of the route. We don’t have anything like this in Metro Vancouver today.

This is an example of BRT in the York Region in Greater Toronto. It is closest to what BRT would likely look like along 200th Street.

Viva Rapidway BRT Busway. Select image to enlarge. Source: BeyondDC

One of the tricky things that will be required for BRT is the reconfiguration of 200th Street. I know 200th Street between Highway 1 and the Langley City border does have enough right-of-way to accommodate BRT, but it might be trickier getting that right-of-way through to the proposed 203rd Street SkyTrain station unless general travel lanes are removed.

The next step for this new 10-year plan will be for the region to develop a funding plan which will take the cooperation of the provincial and federal governments.