Bus delays in Metro Vancouver returning to pre-pandemic levels, report says

Vancouver -

A TransLink report presented to the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation Thursday shows that Metro Vancouver bus delays are returning to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the report, buses were travelling 25 per cent faster between bus stops during the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020.

However, now with ridership back up to 83 per cent, officials say delays have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

"In parts of Metro Vancouver the ridership recovery is beyond 100 per cent, in Surrey people are being passed up at bus stops,” said Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, the chair of the council.

“Existing levels of transit service are not going to be adequate for our region going into the future,” he said.

RENEWED CALLS FOR FUNDING

The council also repeated its calls for $250 million in emergency relief from both Ottawa and the provincial government to match.

"There are billions of dollars that leave Metro Vancouver every year and go to Ottawa every year in the form of income taxes and sales taxes, and we need to see some of that money re-invested into our region,” West said.

The region's population is projected to grow by more than a million people by 2050, according to a previous news release from the council.

This year alone, the population is expected to increase by more than 50,000 people.

“We need a robust transportation system to every corner of this region,” said City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan.

"50,000 people a year is like absorbing my city, the City of North Vancouver, into the region every single year,” she continued.

TransLink has warned that if it doesn’t get increased funding within two years, service cuts will likely follow. West says he and some other mayors plan to travel to Ottawa to plead their case.

The council has also endorsed an ambitious 10-year plan for the region, including a doubling of bus service, the introduction of nine new bus rapid transit lines, and the expansion of SkyTrain service south of the Fraser River. Projects like a gondola on Burnaby Mountain and the expansion of the Millennium Line to UBC are also on the table.

A second report, set to be released in the spring, will look at priority projects to address the delays.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Regan Hasegawa