You’ve probably heard the statistic before – the 99 B-Line is the busiest bus route across all of Canada and the United States. With over 55,000 daily boardings in 2019, even a frequency of 3 minutes at rush hour can’t prevent soul-crushing line-ups, frequent pass-ups, and immeasurable frustration.
So why are we still running a bus where it’s clear that we need SkyTrain? Good question! It’s been discussed for decades, but no one has found the political will to do it. In the meantime, we’ve built the Millennium Line, the Canada Line, and the Evergreen Line – all great in their own right, but all bringing even more commuters to the 99’s doorstep.
In 2008, the BC Liberals had a plan to build a line all the way from Broadway to UBC by 2020, at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion. Of course, this didn’t happen. A decade later, we finally decided to build half of the project, going from Broadway to Arbutus, at a cost of $3.8 billion. The decision not to extend the line all the way to UBC was partly due to “cost.” But cost only goes up over time – think about how much more expensive it’s going to be when we finally decide to do it. That’s why we need to start NOW.
Stopping the Broadway at Arbutus is silly. It’s half a line. It’d be like building the Canada Line to the airport but stopping construction at Bridgeport and telling people to take a bus from there.
Unfortunately, UBCx, the name given to the extension that will stretch from Arbutus to campus, risks being further delayed. Because the Mayors’ Council wants to balance projects around the region, it’s been bumped down in priority, possibly having to wait until Rapid Transit to the North Shore is implemented, which itself has an uncertain future.
We say, why not both?! Major road projects don’t need to wait in line. We’ll be expanding multiple highways, rebuilding the Massey Tunnel, and finishing the new Pattullo bridge simultaneously. All these projects will put more cars on the road, increase the number of serious crashes, and accelerate climate change. But when it comes to transit, which does the opposite of all those things, for some reason there’s a queue.
Let’s be clear about the benefits of UBCx:
- It will provide an extremely fast, reliable, and safe form of transportation to the over 80,000 staff and students that attend UBC
- It will free up dozens of buses and tens of thousands of bus-hours that can be repurposed to other parts of the Lower Mainland that are in desperate need of more transit
- It will take thousands of vehicles off of Broadway, a highly pedestrian street, making the road safer and helping achieve our Vision Zero goal
- It will make a massive dent in our city’s greenhouse gas emissions
- The construction will create hundreds of high-paying, local jobs
- It will provide service to the future xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations-led Jericho Lands development
- It will connect the growing community of people living on campus to the rest of the city
We needed this pretty badly 20 years ago. We needed it desperately 10 years ago. We can’t wait anymore.
How to help
- Add your name to the UBC AMS petition
- Contact your local provincial MLA and tell them how important it is to fund UBCx immediately. Personal stories always help!
- Email the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
- Reach out to your local mayor and council. Here’s the form for Vancouver. Even if you don’t live in Vancouver, this is a regional decision – tell your local municipal government how important this corridor is for your commute to UBC, work, or wherever else you travel.
Vision Zero Vancouver 