- TransLink is proceeding on design work for future Bus Rapid Transit in the region.
- For the King George Boulevard BRT, the City of Surrey is imposing conditions on what must be included in the design scope – and they’re really good!
- Surrey Council voted to ensure that its BRT is almost entirely separated from general traffic and given priority at intersections so that it remains fast and reliable, serving its community well.
- We remain concerned that Guildford is losing its RapidBus service and we advocate for changes that will “make Guildford whole”
For Immediate Release
October 3, 2025
SURREY – On Monday September 29th, Surrey City Council voted to approve a report from staff imposing conditions on TransLink ahead of the transit agency proceeding with 30%-design work on future BRT in the region. With these conditions, Surrey essentially told TransLink how many bus priority measures it expects to be included in the design of the route. Movement was very excited to see that Surrey is demanding that almost the entire route from Surrey Central Station to Semiahmoo Town Centre will have dedicated, separated BRT lanes and traffic signal priority at intersections.
Bus Rapid Transit can be far better than a regular bus route – sometimes approaching SkyTrain in quality – but the devil is always in the details. Governments implementing BRT are often under pressure to water down their proposal, making it slower, less reliable, and less comfortable, in a process called “BRT creep”.
Surrey is choosing to give the buses their own dedicated lanes along 75% of the route, and, most importantly, in the more urban areas where delay would be the highest. Crucially, these are mainly median bus lanes, which are less susceptible to delay than curbside lanes.
To achieve a high-order transit level of service, the preferred configuration for the King George Boulevard BRT corridor is dedicated, centre-running BRT lanes with two general-purpose lanes in each direction, plus dedicated left-turn lanes at all signalized intersections and right-turn lanes at major intersections where they presently exist.
- City of Surrey, King George Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit – 30% Design Authorization
When people choose their mode of transportation, one of the strongest factors in that decision is travel time and reliability. To entice people to use public transit, it needs to be time competitive with driving and reliable enough for people to put their trust in it. Surrey has demanded strong transit priority for the King George Blvd BRT which will attract many new riders. People will naturally choose transit when it allows them to access work, school and all other activities at an extremely low cost compared to driving, at a pace that is competitive with driving, and when it assures them a timely arrival day after day.
Guildford needs to be “made whole”
We remain concerned about the eventual elimination of R1 RapidBus service from Guildford. It is one of the most transit-dependent communities in Surrey, and many community members are in poverty, meaning they are less likely to be able to afford a vehicle. For 12 years, the R1 (formerly 96 B-Line) has offered a fast and frequent connection from Guildford to the Expo Line and points south in Newton. When the BRT opens, this express rapid bus service to Guildford will be eliminated. Instead of getting faster and more reliable service, growing numbers of Guildford residents will be forced to use local buses, which make more stops and come less frequently. In 2023, 3800 people boarded the R1 each day on 104 Ave, which represents about half of the transit ridership on this corridor.
Movement wants TransLink and the City of Surrey to ensure Guildford transit riders also see service improvements once the BRT is complete, instead of cuts. This should include frequent express service and transit priority. Similar corridors in other cities have all-day bus lanes (ie. Rainier Ave in Seattle).
A call to action for other cities
With the King George Blvd BRT being only one of three BRT projects in TransLink’s first tranche of routes, Movement is calling on all other municipalities – Langley Township, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, and North Vancouver (City and District) to also demand this level of priority for their BRT routes. The provincial Ministry of Transportation and Transit will also play a big role in the success of BRT, by allowing transit priority measures on segments of Highways 1 and 7.
Mayors have campaigned on BRT for years as part of the Access for Everyone 10-Year Plan with significant lobbying effort targeted at senior governments – that effort (and hopefully capital funding provided) cannot go wasted on projects that do not offer competitive travel times and reliability if decision makers choose to deliberately keep transit slow and unreliable. Surrey is showing that these decisions can be made in a way that prioritizes transit users.
Quotes
“I am thrilled to hear that this near-term investment in bus rapid transit is making progress. The need for rapid transit is overdue with various rapid transit proposals along this corridor from decades past. This King George Boulevard BRT is going to keep goods and services flowing in Surrey and serve the needs of its surrounding communities.” – Nav Sharma, Project Coordinator, Movement
“When the King George BRT was announced, I was brought to tears not just because of the project itself but because it represents the kind of investment our community has long deserved. I am so proud of Surrey for continuing to move forward with this work in a good way. I cannot wait to see this project come to life.” – Aman Chandi, Director of Community Engagement, Movement
Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders is a non-profit that represents our region’s one million transit riders. We’ve often been left out of the conversation, and we’re here to speak up for faster, more reliable, more abundant transit. We’re focused on the growing number of bus routes where riders are left behind by full buses, day after day, primarily in Surrey and South Vancouver, as well as the urgent need for bus lanes that cost almost nothing but massively improve commutes for hundreds of thousands of people.
Media Contacts:
Denis Agar
Executive Director
778-776-8806
denis.agar@movementyvr.ca
http://movementyvr.ca
Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders
200-475 W Georgia St.
Vancouver BC
V6B 4M9