Take Action: Add Bus Lanes to TransLink’s Priority Routes

Have you ever been on a bus that’s stuck in traffic? One moving so slowly that you’re tempted to get off and walk? Seeing the minutes tick by as you get closer and closer to being late for work, a date, an appointment?

We’ve all been there. Bus delays are one of the biggest challenges our transit system faces. Every weekday, bus riders in Metro Vancouver spend over 28,000 hours stuck in traffic. These delays cost TransLink over $80 million per year – money that could be spent adding more buses to your route, or expanding service throughout the region. 

Image source: TransLink Speed and Reliability Report

Almost all bus delays are caused by car traffic. Cars take up a LOT of space, often to transport one person. Our city’s population is growing, but the amount of road space isn’t. We need to be more efficient in using our existing road space.

The good news is there’s an easy fix: dedicated bus lanes! In Vancouver, 18% of trips are made by transit, yet dedicated transit lanes only account for 1% of our road space. Yes, you’re reading that chart right: we dedicate 24X more road space to parking than we do to transit. It makes no sense! 

TransLink has already identified 20 “Priority Routes” across the region that make up almost half of delays, despite being only a small fraction of the total network. Eight of them are in Vancouver. TransLink has also already planned out where bus lanes along these routes would have the biggest impact. All we need is the City to agree to implement them. 

“But won’t it make traffic for drivers so much worse?” – surprisingly, no! Making buses faster encourages more people to take the bus. Today on a congested route, people have the choice between a slow drive or an even slower bus trip. But what if we could offer a choice between a slow car commute and a very rapid bus ride? Thousands of people would leave their cars at home and switch to transit. We already know that the number one reason people in the region avoid transit is because it’s slow. We can fix this, get more people out of cars, make their commutes faster, and even alleviate traffic for those who do need to drive. 

The motion coming to Council will ask the city to implement dedicated bus lanes on the 8 TransLink priority routes in the city, in the spots that TransLink has already determined to be the most needed. This would create bus lanes on: 

• Hastings 
• West 49th Avenue
• Southeast Marine Drive
• Broadway
• King Edward Avenue
• West 4th Avenue
• Main St / Kingsway
• The route between downtown and the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge

Some would be peak-hour routes, others all day. On some streets, like Hastings, existing peak-hour routes would be converted to all-day routes. This map outlines the proposed lanes, based on TransLink’s studies:

The motion also asks the city to make sure resources are put in place to make this happen, and to carefully consult with businesses in the area to ensure that their needs for loading, customer access, and patios are accommodated – for example, by implementing “offset” bus lanes instead of curbside ones: 

Lastly, the motion asks the Mayor to request the Province allow automated enforcement. Bus lanes work best when drivers stay out of them.

We don’t want to rely on sporadic, infrequent enforcement in a few selected spots. Cities like Seattle and New York have implemented automated enforcement and it’s done wonders. Let’s get on board!