Bus Rapid Transit Coming to Langley and other parts of Metro Vancouver

Mayor Dan Ruimy of Maple Ridge and I at 200th Street Bus Rapid Transit Announcement

Today, the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation announced the first wave of bus rapid transit routes for Metro Vancouver to keep our region going. While the current RapidBus network provides frequent service with enhanced bus stops and some bus priority measures, bus rapid transit takes it to the next level. Bus rapid transit exclusively runs in bus-only lanes, has traffic signal priority, and even more enhanced bus stops. Bus rapid transit costs less to build than SkyTrain, so mile for mile, bus rapid transit lets us build more rapid transit quicker. The Mayors' Council's new Access for Everyone Plan main goal is to get frequent and rapid transit to as many people and businesses as possible in the next decade. Up to 11 corridors will see bus rapid transit in the next ten years.

Example of a bus-only lane

The Mayors' Council is directing TransLink to build the first three bus rapid transit routes as follows:

• King George Boulevard from Surrey Centre to White Rock
• Langley Centre to Haney Place along 200th Street
• Metrotown to North Shore

Map of first three bus rapid transit routes in Metro Vancouver. Select the map to enlarge.

The Mayors' Council, working with TransLink staff, selected these routes because they have high ridership potential, increase access to jobs, support housing, are easy to build, and have support for local governments along the route.

For Langley, this will be transformative, increasing access for people in urban Langley from the City to Walnut Grove. I'm excited to see BRT heading to Downtown Langley City, connecting to SkyTrain.

The next steps will be working with the province and federal government to secure funding and nail down the design to build these bus rapid transit routes.