So, that “major” transit announcement we’ve been hearing about for a bit now… Well, turned out to be nothing more than a signed promise that the Province would provide $180 million to put “Rapid Bus” service on the new HOV lanes on the expanded Highway 1. Yup, six years down the line, once construction is finally over, south of Fraser residents will be able to hop on a “Rapid Bus” every 10-15 minutes to get to Lougheed Station.

Yipee.

Not.

I don’t even know how anyone could be mildly excited about this. It’s a slap in the face to both Anti-Gateway personnel, and to transit advocates south of the Fraser.

The places we wanted *at least* Rapid Bus service (King George, Fraser Highway, 200th), we don’t get. Instead they throw an express coach on the Highway, where nobody lives.

I find it particularly amusing how they put Park and Rides in the plan. Who the fuck would “park and ride” to take a Rapid Bus, then have to transfer to another rapid transit service, cause god knows nobody’s final destination is Lougheed Station. Plus, this’ll be when the new bridge is in, meaning the traffic, supposedly, won’t be nearly as bad. There’s absolutely no incentive to take the transit, especially when it’ll be more expensive than paying the bridge toll.

Okay, let’s say somebody from Langley wants to go to Coquitlam Centre. They could drive to the park and ride, wait 15 minutes for a bus, take the bus for 25 minutes, then, assuming the Evergreen Line is built by this time, transfer to that service, and ride for another 25 minutes. Or, they could just drive the whole way, which, according to Google Maps, currently only takes 20 minutes total.

The whole setup completely screws up Surrey. Currently, almost all buses are routed to end at Surrey Central Station, assuming everyone’s headed to Vancouver via SkyTrain. Well, the new “Rapid Bus” service won’t actually go to Surrey Central, nope. Not even to the Guildford bus exchange, just a few minutes off the highway. They are building a whole new bus exchange at 156 St. So, somebody from Newton or Fleetwood will have to bus to Surrey Central, transfer to a bus to the new exchange, transfer to the “Rapid Bus” service, then transfer again at Lougheed to their final destination. Nobody enjoys transfers. One is acceptable, two is doable, but more and you’ve gone overboard.

Looking at the route, it seems like the provincial government has tried to fit two routes into one. Now let me explain this.

It makes sense to have a “Rapid Bus” service leave from Surrey Central, thru Guildford, across the bridge, and then head to either Coquitlam Centre or to Lougheed Station.

Then, have a separate service for Langolians, departing either from Langley Centre up 200th, or from Walnut Grove bus exchange, and either go down Highway 1, or across the Golden Ears Bridge. If it went across the Golden Ears, which it should, they would either end it in Maple Ridge to force riders onto the “premium” West Coast Express, or the bus could continue west across the new Pitt River bridge and into Coquitlam. It’s important to understand where people are and where they are going to fully plan this stuff. If more people from Langley want to go to Surrey, it would make sense to go down Highway 1, with a stop at Guildford. If more people wanted to go just to Coquitlam or Vancouver, then across the Golden Ears bridge it would be.

Anyways, terrible announcement all around. I do find it particularly intriguing how the Province is trying to include the service as part of the Gateway Program, meaning that perhaps they are bowing somewhat to public pressure, and trying to remarket the plan as “balanced” and slightly “greener”. The announcement isn’t actually new - they’ve promised Rapid Transit all along. It was just always “sometime in the future”. Now, they’ve signed an agreement saying it will be coming for sure, that’s the only difference. It’s ridiculous, and unacceptable.

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