A new R6 Scott Road RapidBus to be on the road by New Year’s Day is expected to speed up bus service along Scott Road by as many as eight minutes in both directions.
TransLink says the R6 will be able to pick up to 20 per cent more riders on what it says is the busiest bus corridor south of the Fraser River, picking up more than 30,000 passengers every weekday and experiencing the strongest transit ridership growth in Metro Vancouver.
TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn noted Surrey riders are becoming “increasingly frustrated” with overcrowding and being passed up by full buses. “There’s 60 to 70 per cent more bus overcrowding system-wide than last year and it is now worse today on every day of the week than it was back in fall of 2019.”
He said four out of five of TransLink’s overcrowded bus routes are in Surrey. “We know this leaves customers absolutely, understandably frustrated. Know that I am very frustrated by this as well. The reality is expansion came to a grinding halt when the pandemic hit and we’re now starting to really see the consequences of investment falling behind our region’s growth.”
Quinn noted that according to census figures 45 per cent of Surrey’s population are immigrants. Strategic investments in Surrey by TransLink, with the resources it has, has seen transit service increase by 22 per cent since April 2020. “That’s more than any other area in our region.”
“We have not grown at the same rate that Surrey has grown,” he noted. “We have a lot of work ahead of us but I really do believe we have a clear path to achieve our goals and secure a sustainable future as we look to welcome thousands of new customers and new connections.”
While the R6 officially launches on Jan. 2 it will be operating on a holiday schedule before then. According to a press release, it’s TransLink’s sixth RapidBus service in Metro Vancouver, “with high frequencies, bus priority lanes, limited stops, all-door boarding, and articulated 60-foot buses.”
TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in Surrey on what TransLink is doing to address complaints about buses not picking up riders. pic.twitter.com/DXjXCjj06N
— Tom Zytaruk (@tomzytaruk) December 8, 2023
Quinn said during a Surrey Board of Trade luncheon on Dec. 8 said TransLink’s bus ridership is “booming,” with the third-highest of all public transit operators in Canada and the U.S. Each week, he noted, roughly one-third – about 900,000 people – of this region’s population relies on rapid transit.
“That’s like Taylor Swift selling out 17 concerts at BC Place every single week,” Quinn told his audience at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel. “Surrey and other areas across the region are hungry for more transit and I’ve got to say, for TransLink’s part, we’re eager to deliver.”
He said it’s “clear” that to solve the region’s housing crisis people “have to acknowledge transit’s ability to open the door to affordable housing and growth. The reality is that without really good transportation, our region could come to a grinding halt.”
READ ALSO: TransLink’s ‘daunting’ $4.7B deficit bad news for Surrey’s economy, workforce
READ ALSO: RapidBus coming to busiest bus corridor in Surrey and Delta
READ ALSO: Surrey Board of Trade wants carbon tax used to fund transit initiatives
READ ALSO: Detours, delays and downturn as RapidBus work continues on Surrey-Delta divide
Quinn challenged his audience to picture traffic congestion one year from now, with 70,000 more cars on the road, “and now think about 2050, and now there’s one million more people living in our region. I mean, just imagine, right? And think about the investment we have to make to keep up with growth.”
He said TransLink can no longer rely on the fuel tax with the rise of electric vehicles and more energy and fuel-efficient vehicles. “That is a declining revenue source and it is not coming back. Further, inflation has had an unexpected impact on us. In short, cost pressures on fuel, labour, parts, materials, are up for us.”
TransLink is facing a shortfall of 20 per cent or more in fare revenues and without a new funding model it will face an annual revenue shortfall of $600 million per year starting in 2026. “That’s about 30 per cent of our annual revenue. We need a better, more sustainable way to fund transit and I’m confident that we will find a solution.”