2008

  • New route on 64 Avenue between Langley Centre and Scottsdale
  • New route on 88 Avenue between Walnut Grove and 22nd Street Station
  • Continuous service on Scott Road - 72 Avenue
  • Frequent Bus Network service on King George Highway between Newton and White Rock Centre
  • More frequent service along 152 Street and on other core routes in Surrey

2009

  • New route across Golden Ears Bridge, connecting Langley and Maple Ridge
  • New route between White Rock Centre and Langley
  • Integration of several routes with Canada Line rapid transit at Bridgeport Station in Richmond, including significant increases in service levels and reliability
  • Introduce all-day local service in South Surrey
  • New Community Shuttles in West Whalley
  • More frequent service and extended hours for Langley Community Shuttles, including introduction of higher capacity “midi-buses”
  • Improved service on Fraser Highway between Aldergrove and Langey Centre

2010-2011

  • Improvements throughout the South of Fraser aera to achieve baseline transit service levels (6:00 am - 11:00 pm, seven days a week on key routes)
  • Development of new transit infrastructure, improvement of existing transit exchanges
  • New Community Shuttles on 68 Avenue in Surrey

2012

  • Introduction of limited-stop B-Line service on Fraser Highway
  • Improve service between Scottsdale and Langey
  • New Community Shuttle route between Langey City and Walnut Grove
  • Improved Community Shuttle service in South Surrey/White Rock and South Delta

2013

  • Introduction of bus rapid transit from White Rock Centre to Guildford via King George Highway and 104 Avenue
  • New transit services on Highway 1 and Port Mann Bridge
  • New Community Shuttle route in South Surrey/White Rock

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A few more interesting facts I gathered:

  • The B-Line is a very poorly defined service, as anyone who rides the three routes can tell. They are basically nothing more than limited stop, express routes. Well then why aren’t all limited stop, express routes B-Lines? TransLink doesn’t know! But apparently they are looking into this. The guy told me that most likely there will be B-Lines (limited stop services), and a new identity for real rapid bus lines (with ITS, etc. which is what the 98 B-Line has). I assume this identity update will also include a designation for these new “midi-buses” planned for Langley (as seen above).
  • The Interurban route is not being looked at any deeper because that’s not where the population is, and because they can get more bang for their limited buck adding buses around the area than upgrading the rail route for passenger service.
  • The introduction of the new east-west connector routes is being championed as a very important improvement to the area

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Quite frankly, I am rather disappointed. From what I had heard, and I’d have to clarify on this, these improvements are based on a budget of around $600 million. And what do we get? More buses, and three semi rapid bus lines by 2013. No real rapid transit that actually shapes communities. Again, no reuse of the Interurban line (though the corridor is to be “secured for future use”). Just the same old standard improvements.

And that’s great, and it’s realistic, but there’s a significant issue here that continues to be neglected. The South of Fraser area is growing exponentially faster than any other place in the region, and is far behind in it’s transit usage and transit infrastructure. If most of the people moving to Metro Vancouver are going to live there, and there’s no major funding in place to provide *real* rapid transit to these residents, we are simply going to get a continuous increase of cars on the roads. And that’s without even mentioning the effects of the Gateway Program.

I would be excited if there was a major investment. But there isn’t.

And I understand that TransLink faces funding deficiencies, and based on what they have in their forecasted budgets, this is what they can realistically provide. I just hope that either they will dip into their reservoir of $400 million, or the provincial government will step in and put some of that 2.2 billion from Harper into the South of Fraser area. We need real options. And rapid buses in six years isn’t going to cut it.

The thing that annoys me most is that the King George/104th route (currently the 321, and part of the 320), at least from Guildford, to Surrey Central, to Newton… it’s already got 10 minute service at it’s peak, and is consistently packed throughout the day. It’s more than ready for articulated buses, and designation as a B-Line. That’s today. Imagine what’ll be like in 2013, when rapid bus is supposed to finally arrive.

What’s weirder is the route now known as the 502 (Surrey Central to Langley Centre, and sometimes beyond) is to become a B-Line before the King George route! Just based on my experience, it’s not usually as busy, and I could understand TransLink waiting a year or two to turn it into a rapid bus route. But they are gung ho about upgrading a route that doesn’t quite need it yet (if we are prioritizing…).

I find it odd that all these rapid bus routes seem to be timed with the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge around 2013, and when that highway rapid bus service will begin.

B-Lines would not take long to implement. I was going to suggest they put the 98 B-Line buses on a route in Surrey, but, of course, those buses are being diverted to the 95 and 91 B-Lines in Vancouver.

What does it take to buy a handful of articulated buses and stick them in Surrey/Langley?

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