Revamped Phibbs Exchange opens on the North Shore—but without bathrooms

The newly revamped Phibbs Exchange in North Vancouver is seen in this image handed out by TransLink.

After a year and a half of construction, upgrades to a busy bus hub by the north end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge are now complete.

Phibbs Exchange was still in operation while undergoing improvements, but the bus bays were scattered in temporary locations around the worksite. TransLink declared the exchange officially reopened on Monday.

The transit operator says the $32-million facelift modernized the space, improved access to and from the exchange, expanded capacity and improved safety.

Until the upgrades began in November 2022, the exchange used by more than 5,000 customers on an average weekday remained largely unchanged since it was first built in 1973.

A photo released by the B.C. government on Nov. 8, 2022 shows construction at the site of the Phibbs Exchange upgrade project in North Vancouver.Now, Phibbs Exchange has new bus bays for all 13 routes it serves, a new pathway to the hub, a rain garden, improved lighting, seven bike lockers, new bus shelters and extra seating. There’s also retail space for a yet-to-be-announced business, and public art by Indigenous artists is expected to go up later in 2024.

“As an access point for the R2 RapidBus and a future home for the Metrotown – North Shore BRT corridor, Phibbs Exchange is an incredibly important part of our transit network,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in a news release. “The exchange is over 50 years old, and we have now proudly modernized the space to benefit customers for decades.”

Absent from the overhaul, at least for now, are public bathrooms.

However, a spokesperson for TransLink told CTV News plumbing was installed at Phibbs Exchange during the upgrades, so “a customer washroom could potentially be added in the future.”

TransLink has secured funding for and committed to opening six washrooms across the region, Dan Mountain explained in an email. The operator is still deciding where those washrooms will be, and “will be in a better position” to give an update later this year.

“Operating and maintaining washrooms to ensure they are clean and safe is expensive and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per year,” he wrote.