Vancouver City Council Unanimously Supports Bus Lanes Throughout Vancouver

We are delighted that Vancouver City Council unanimously approved the motion to add bus lanes to TransLink’s priority routes and request automatic enforcement today!

The motion, brought forward by Councilor Christine Boyle, builds off the excellent motion spearheaded by Councilor Sarah Kirby-Yung last year, which committed to speed and priority improvements on 5 routes (Kingsway, 49th, Marine, Granville, and Hastings). Today’s motion ensures that these 5 routes will be further strengthened with extensive bus lanes, and adds 4 additional corridors (King Edward, West 4th, Broadway, and Powell/Cordova), in alignment with TransLink’s urgent priorities. Work on the first 5 routes will be implemented by 2026, and the other 4 shortly thereafter!

The motion also includes a clause asking the province to legalize automated camera enforcement of bus lanes; and an excellent amendment by Councilor Kirby-Yung asks the City to consider TransLink’s 2023 Bus Speed and Reliability Report in future transit planning across Vancouver.

Getting people out of personal vehicles and onto transit, a much safer form of transportation, is hugely important for achieving Vision Zero. Bus priority lanes are a very impactful safety measure. One study on bus priority lanes in Melbourne¹ found that collisions dropped by a statistically significant 14%, and deaths and serious injuries dropped massively by 31%. A study in Montreal² found that buses are around four times safer for all road users compared to cars. We are so excited about what this means for Vancouver. 

We heard from so many incredible speakers in the meeting today: students who missed midterms, moms who need to rely on the bus, a bus driver stuck in traffic with a health care worker who had to cancel their surgery due to the delay, and tales of reckless drivers using bus lanes to speed around. The public speakers were overwhelmingly in favour with only one in opposition, and council received over 260 emails in support of this motion!

A huge thanks to Movement and everyone who wrote and called in to support. Your advocacy really made this possible, and thanks to you we’ll have safer streets and huge quality of life improvements!

1. Melbourne study: https://tinyurl.com/msvektus
2. Montreal study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29500736/