Transit service increases are worth celebrating! Recent ridership growth shows more buses are deeply needed.
Recent increases on some routes in Surrey have already resulted in 20% jumps in ridership in a single year. There are a LOT of people out there who will ride the bus if itʼs good AND frequent.
In Spring 2025, Movement fought to “Save the Busˮ, urging decision makers to fund transit, not cut it. A hard-fought win was achieved following an intense campaign, with the province and Metro Vancouver Mayors even funding a 5% increase in bus service.
Today, Movement is celebrating the first major service increase that resulted from the bus being saved. This is a huge win for the region having net-new service boost frequencies on dozens of routes, or provide service later into the night. For too long, TransLink has not had the funds available to provide new service. Movement would like to thank the Mayorsʼ Council and the Province of BC for working together to not only to fund existing service, but actually increase it.
This responds to an urgent need for more bus service. At the start of 2025, we didn’t see increases in service since 2020, despite a 13% increase in population, as TransLink had been addressing severe overcrowding in Surrey and South Vancouver by cutting service elsewhere.
Those changes – both the cuts and the increases – were noticed by riders. Routes whose frequency was cut back significantly, like the 3, 8, and 20, saw big drops in ridership. Routes whose frequency was increased saw huge jumps in riders. In 2024 alone, six Surrey corridors saw 20% increases in demand. There were an additional six million trips on Surreyʼs buses in 2024. Those are shocking numbers, reflecting bus trips that would otherwise be car trips, congesting Surrey streets. This September is the first major service increase since 2020 that isnʼt paired with major cuts.
Movement is excited for notable improvements such as:
• Route 388 on 88th Avenue across Delta, Surrey, and Langley, from 22nd St SkyTrain in New West to Carvolth Exchange at 200th St.
• This route is both long and essential, providing the only major east-west transit service in Surrey. It has been a peak-only route for far too long. In September, it will finally start running all-day on weekdays, from about 6am to about 6:30pm. This was promised in the 2025 Investment Plan, and we are happy to see this change being implemented as soon as possible.
Movement is gathering input directly from 388 riders to see what kind of demands exist to go even further. So far, more than 60 riders have told us that while they are relieved to hear about service being extended to all-day, weekend and evening service is also urgently needed.
• Route 321 runs from Surrey Central down King George Blvd all the way to the border of White Rock. The 321 is the most overcrowded all-day route in Metro Vancouver, and the second-fastest growing route in 2024. An additional 770,000 trips were taken on the 321 in 2024. These numbers are unbelievable. TransLink will be boosting service in September at some times of day, but much more service is needed to solve this degree of overcrowding.
• Route 335 operates as a ring route, from Surrey Central to Newton Exchange via 108 Ave and 160 St among other streets. The long awaited addition of the 335 to the Frequent Transit Network (15-min frequency, or better, all day everyday) means that transit riders in North Surrey, Fleetwood and Guildford no longer need to rely on a schedule; they can simply show up at the stop. In 2024, the 335 was the 2nd most overcrowded all-day bus route in the region, and additional frequency will help address that crowding.
• Several of Vancouverʼs key routes, like the 4, 5, 6, 9, 16, 19, 20, are finally getting an increase in frequency which will help address the cuts made throughout the pandemic. This should begin to attract back ridership.
• Pre-covid service levels will be fully reinstated on the 119 in Burnaby and 106 in New Westminster.
• Route 31 links the River District with Metrotown SkyTrain station. River District residents have long deserved more frequent transit connections. In September, the 31 will be boosted from 20-minute to 15-minute frequency all peak long, and up to 20 minutes in off-peak times on weekends. Further investments are still needed, like extending Route 80ʼs hours (currently it runs peak-only) so that residents can also reach the Canada Line at any time of day.
• Route 301 runs from Newton to Richmond via 72 Avenue, Scott Road, and Hwy 91. The last bus now runs at 11pm, which benefits those who stay out late on the bustling Scott Road corridor, but still need to get home to Richmond. This saves them 45 minutes over the next-fastest alternative (Route R6 to the Expo Line, then Canada Line).
• Route 68 circulates the UBC Point Grey Campus in a “Cˮ shape. A boost to 15-minute frequency (from 20) for most of the day will address overcrowding for people trying to navigate around the enormous campus.
Providing more service on these in-demand routes will make it easier for people to access jobs by reducing wait times. Over time, people will notice, and ridership will rise. And, reducing overcrowding makes for a more dignified experience. Providing people with a viable option to use transit will allow for a lower cost of living and reduce the need for expensive new infrastructure to be built to accommodate more vehicles. Movement as well as most of the government agencies involved understand that the 5% funding increase provided this year is not enough. TransLinkʼs Access for Everyone plan aims to double bus service in 10 years, which would be transformative for our region. But it isnʼt funded yet.
Movement is going to keep campaigning so that transit riders can have the network they truly deserve. This fall, Movement will be hosting a major event where different funding options will go head-to-head in a Dragonʼs Den style competition. Stay tuned.
Quotes
“Movement is so thrilled to see actual service increases, not just reallocation of existing buses. This is a huge win for the region. We applaud Mayorsʼ Council Chair Brad West, Minister of Transportation Mike Farnworth, and ParlSec George Anderson for coming together and working out a deal that will improve the lives of millions of transit users.ˮ – Denis Agar, Executive Director
“People like when their bus comes more often. It saves them time in their commute, and if wait times are reduced enough, people switch to the bus.ˮ – Michael Hall, Lead, Government Relation
“Vancouverʼs transit service finally gets back some of its frequencies that had been cut, and it cannot come soon enough. Overcrowding has gotten serious in the past years with more and more cuts. Weʼre relieved that routes like the 20, 4, 9 and the 6 have gotten an increase in frequency this time around.ˮ – Gen Leong, Movement volunteer
“Metro Vancouver deserves so much more transit service. In Surrey, ridership has skyrocketed. Weʼre so happy with the 388 becoming all-day, and the 335 being added to the Frequent Transit Network, but we urgently need more. So much more. In particular, we have heard directly from 388 riders that they would like to see all-day service extended to evenings, nights and weekends as well. As Surreyʼs only serious east-west connection, this route is extremely important for people to access opportunities, community connections and other essential services. ˮ – Aman Chandi, Movement Director of Community Engagement
Appendix
Below are some direct quotes from 388 riders highlighting the need for evening and weekend service to better support access to work, medical appointments, community activities and connections.
“I would love for this route to have all-day service rather than just peak hours and weekends. I’m glad it’s now served by big buses instead of HandyDART when it started. I’ve been taking the 388 since it began, and there are always so many people on it. Sometimes I take an earlier bus, and that one is also full. Maybe buses could run more frequently than every half hour?”
“All-day service would be much better, especially since it’s particularly hard to get to doctor’s appointments with mobility issues when you rely on transit.”
“Extending service to weekends would really benefit me a lot. Also, increasing evening service hours would save me a lot of time”
“We need frequent service on both weekdays and weekends because many people come to the Sikh temple, Nanaksar Sahib, on [the intersection of] 88 and 142A Street on weekends. Thanks.”
“We need the bus on weekends too—Saturday and Sunday—and please increase the number of 388 buses so we don’t have to wait half an hour for each one.”
“If the bus service could be extended until 8:30 or 9:00 pm, that would be very helpful. Extending service to weekends would also ease my Saturday commute for work.”