Take action for a better commute on 49th Ave!
The 49 is the busiest local bus in all of Metro Vancouver, but it’s also one of the most delayed.
Bus lanes are coming to 49th Ave!
The City of Vancouver just announced bus lane plans on 49th Ave. But it’s not enough — they are only planning 1.9km of all day bus lanes along the entire 21km length of the 49th Ave corridor.
Why can we only get bus lanes between Cambie and Fraser? The push for bus lanes on 49th was Movement’s first campaign back in 2023, and we’re excited to see results. But we need to see more. On February 13th, we held our Red Carpet Rally, combining advocacy for bus lanes with a celebration of Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams’ 25th birthday.
What do Route 49 and Hudson Williams have in common?
They’re both local, they’re both popular, they both love the red carpet and they both serve Langara College!
Speak up for a better 49.
The 49 is the third busiest bus in all of Metro Vancouver, but it’s the fifth most delayed.
More Information
Why the 49?
There’s a lot of bus delay along 49th Ave – image from TransLink’s 2023 Bus Speed and Reliability Report
With 27,000 daily passenger trips and 8,499,000 boardings in 2024, the 49 is the 3rd busiest bus route in the region, but it is the fifth most delayed corridor in the region. Riders on this route experience overcrowding and pass-ups, and they deserve better!
(And Hudson Williams might have taken it.)
What would Movement like to see to make transit better on 49th?
Most of the 49 is in Vancouver, but there are segments that are under the jurisdiction of Burnaby, UBC, and the provincial government. Each one has different needs. We want each jurisdiction to work urgently to shorten bus travel times. Check out our press release for the full list of recommendations. In Vancouver we’d like to see:
- Introduce bus lanes along most of 49th, and the segments of Dunbar and 41st that this bus uses
- Add turn restrictions where turning vehicles contribute most to congestion
- Add queue jumps at congested intersections like 49th and Dunbar
- Traffic signal priority to detect buses and ensure they get more green lights
A potential configuration of bus priority measures to improve the 49 – from TransLink’s 2023 Bus Speed and Reliability Report
Why are you making social media videos about Hudson Williams and does this actually have anything to do with him?
Hudson Williams is one of the stars of the hit TV show Heated Rivalry and he has become very famous in just a few short weeks because of his talented acting, incredible good looks and charming personality. There’s also a local connection: Hudson Williams lives in Vancouver and attended Langara College, which is on – you guessed it – 49th Ave, AND he has a short film that was filmed on the SkyTrain, so he’s definitely taken transit at some point.
(We aren’t completely sure if he’s a rider of the 49 or not but he totally could have, especially if there were bus lanes making the trip even faster. This video investigating his commute has over 160,000 views!)
Please help us reach him by tagging Hudson in the comments of our videos on socials! Vancouver City Council might listen to him! They should be listening to you too, so please send them an email about bus priority on 49th!
Aren’t there already bus lanes on 49th Ave?
There are some, but there is only a tiny section of all day bus lanes and there’s a handful of sections that are peak hour only, so they’re only active from 7-9:30am and 3-6pm. This isn’t enough bus priority coverage lengthwise or timewise to properly address the late buses that riders experience. The city’s recently announced plans to add bus lanes between Cambie and Fraser only cover a few blocks and they don’t go far enough. 49th was one of the corridors identified in the 2023 bus lane motion, and bus priority improvements are overdue.
I don’t understand the red carpet thing, can you please explain?
In a lot of cities, the bus lanes are painted red. This is less common in Vancouver, but here’s an example in Burnaby.
Transit Rider Testimonials
In 2023, Movement collected anonymous responses from 49 riders, here’s what some of them had to say:
“I would like the 49 to be more frequent because it is often over crowded in the mornings. There are some days where I am skipped by 4 busses in a row, and it is the only way I can get to school. I would also like it to start running earlier so I don’t have to walk to the closest R4 at 6am.”
“Needs some way to manage overcrowding (so many pass me and I’m late to class despite going to the stop half an hour earlier.)”
“Send more. So many more. This is such a crucial line for so many people and it gets half the amount of buses sent that it should. I am so sick of getting passed five times on my way to school in the morning making me late for class.”
“Send more. So many more. This is such a crucial line for so many people and it gets half the amount of buses sent that it should. I am so sick of getting passed five times on my way to school in the morning making me late for class.”
Have you emailed city council yet? Send a letter today:
Help us share the word!
Print out your own flyers and posters to distribute! We have B&W printer-friendly versions.