A new rapid transit service between Langley and New Westminster is scheduled to start on Dec.1, B.C.’s transportation ministry announced Friday.
The bus service, called the Carvolth Transit Exchange, will start at a park-and-ride on 202 Street in Langley. Buses will cross the new Port Mann Bridge--also scheduled to open on Dec. 1--and stop at Braid SkyTrain station in New Westminster.
According to the ministry, buses will run every ten minutes during peak hours, and every half hour during off-peak hours, with a total estimated travel time of only 20 minutes.
Both Transportation Minister Mary Polak and Langley Township Mayor Jack Froesce told reporters on Friday that the rapid transit service was a long time coming.
“It’s been 25 year since we’ve had bus service over the Port Mann Bridge,” said Froesce. “When you look at the region here—the Township of Langley, Abbotsford, City of Langley—people who live in this area are lacking transit to get across the bridge efficiently, to be able to connect with the SkyTrain system.”
The approximately $75-million project was funded by the province, the federal government and TransLink, with the B.C. government picking up nearly $50 million of the price tag. The money was also used to build the new park-and-ride, a tunnel under the freeway, as well as ramps.
Plans for the rapid bus service stalled earlier this year because of funding concerns, but Froesce says TransLink decided to make the rapid bus service a priority.
With files from CTV British Columbia’s Jina You
