TransLink’s bus expansion starts on Monday and we’re waking up bright and early to be a part of it
For Immediate Release
TransLink’s quarterly service changes happen on Monday, September 7th, and we’re in for a big one this year. As you may remember, Movement fought hard to prevent transit service cuts, and that effort resulted in a 5% increase in service. Perhaps the biggest element of that 2025 Investment Plan is finally here: the R2 extension to Metrotown. Thanks to the collaboration between the Mayors’ Council and the province, travel times on Willingdon, Hastings, and the Second Narrows are about to improve significantly. In particular, Mayor Linda Buchanan of the City of North Vancouver has been a tireless advocate for this change.
Here’s an example of the impact this change will have on someone travelling from Lonsdale and 3rd to Willingdon and Moscrop. That commuter gets 22 minutes back, every single day.
You may recognize this corridor as the proposed alignment for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). This is not yet BRT, but it’s a huge step towards it. Let us explain:
Here’s the current situation:
- TransLink currently runs the R2 RapidBus from Park Royal to Phibbs Exchange on the North Shore. It’s pretty fast and frequent, and it runs all day, every day.
- TransLink also runs the 130 and 222 from Phibbs Exchange to Metrotown, serving Willingdon and Hastings in Burnaby. The 130 is local, and the 222 is express. The 130 local runs all day, every day, and the 222 only runs in the weekday peak.
- Getting from the North Shore to Burnaby and points beyond on SkyTrain can be slow, infrequent, and involve multiple transfers.
Here’s what’s changing on Monday:
- The R2 RapidBus will completely take over the role of the 222. You’ll be able to ride one bus from Park Royal all the way to Metrotown. It will run at the frequency of the R2, which means far, far more service for those who used to rely on the 222.
- The 222/130 were also subject to significant overcrowding. The new R2 will alleviate that with larger buses and increased frequency.
- Riders on Willingdon, Hastings, and the Second Narrows will have less waiting, fewer transfers, and less overcrowding.
Here’s what’s not changing on Monday:
Riders will still be subject to the same level of congestion that they experience today – bus lanes on Hastings and Willingdon are insufficient, and we don’t have to explain to you how unreliable the Second Narrows is (where there is no transit priority).
What about the conflict in Burnaby Heights?
Movement has been organizing hard for BRT in Burnaby Heights. The Heights Merchant Association has been opposing it because they fear it may reduce the amount of parking in their community. BRT and parking are not incompatible, and you can read more about that here. This new R2 extension isn’t BRT, but it’s a step closer to it. The City of Burnaby has not yet announced whether they support BRT in Burnaby Heights, and we don’t expect them to until well after the election. But both Metro Vancouverites and Burnabarians have been clear that they want BRT in Burnaby Heights. This R2 extension will only reinforce that desire.
What, then, is BRT?
BRT would follow the same corridor as the newly-extended R2, but with significant investment in the measures that get buses out of traffic congestion completely. If you can imagine a spectrum between slow, local bus and fast, reliable SkyTrain, BRT is meant to be a big move towards SkyTrain at a fraction of the cost.
Actually, don’t imagine it because we made the spectrum:
Average speeds of different transit services, in kilometres per hour.
What that would look like on the ground is perhaps dedicated lanes in the middle of the road with small stations. It would look similar to St. Clair West’s streetcar lanes in Toronto, or Columbus Ave in Boston, pictured below.
Columbus Avenue BRT in Boston. Source: BSCES
We have more about BRT here.
Do we have to wait for BRT to be done before we can improve the R2?
No, we don’t have to wait for BRT to improve the R2! There are plenty more cheap, incremental steps we can take to make the R2 faster, more reliable, and by doing so, more people will choose to take transit. Here are some changes:
- Northbound bus-only lane on the Cassiar Connector (provincial responsibility)
- Southbound bus-only left turn signal from Cassiar Connector to Hastings so that buses can use the uncongested through lanes to skip the queue (provincial responsibility)
- Transit signal priority that detects the buses and gives them green lights (Burnaby / TransLink responsibility)
- Stop allowing EVs in the bus lane on Willingdon (Burnaby responsibility)
- Queue jump on Northbound Willingdon at Grange (Burnaby responsibility)
Does this have anything to do with the municipal election?
Everything does! In order for those Burnaby changes to be made, we need to elect transit champions to Burnaby council. We’re asking candidates to sign a pledge to be transit champions. We’ll release a list of who signed our pledge in the coming weeks. That goes for the top four municipalities in the region, although we also have a general pledge if politicians elsewhere also want to sign that.
Here is the text of the pledges: