Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

$2-billion boost for Vancouver transit

VANCOUVER — TransLink’s board and the mayors council have unanimously approved the first phase of a 10-year transit plan that will see improvements to bus, rail and SeaBus service in the Vancouver area, starting in January.
a2-1125-transit-bw.jpg
TransLink’s buses, trains and SeaBus services will see improvements, starting in January, under the first of three phases in a 10-year vision for transit in the Vancouver area.

VANCOUVER — TransLink’s board and the mayors council have unanimously approved the first phase of a 10-year transit plan that will see improvements to bus, rail and SeaBus service in the Vancouver area, starting in January.

The first phase of the three-phase, 10-Year Vision for Metro Vancouver Transit and Transportation is supposed to address overcrowding on transit.

Bus service will be increased by 10 per cent across the region. HandyDART service will be increased by 15 per cent. SkyTrain and rail service will be increased by 20 per cent following the delivery of new rail cars.

Improvements will also be made to the road, pedestrian and cycling networks. Pre-construction and consultation will take place for the Broadway subway and Surrey-Langley light rail lines under this phase.

Implementation of the plan will begin in January with initial SeaBus service expansion, and additional SkyTrain and HandyDART service. Total cost of the first phase is $2 billion.

In June, the federal government committed $370 million under its Public Transit Infrastructure Fund. The province has kicked in $246 million. That leaves TransLink to pick up the rest of the capital and operating costs, for a total of $1.3 billion.

Regional funding will come from TransLink’s existing sources — such as fares and gas tax revenues — the sale of TransLink-owned property, a property tax increase of about $3 per household per year and a fare increase of five to 10 cents on a single fare and $2 on a monthly pass. The fare and tax increases will take effect in July 2017.

TransLink has proposed a fee on new development to be introduced by 2020, which will require provincial approval. A number of mayors urged the province to commit to approving the change as soon as possible.

Now, the focus is on getting the federal and provincial governments on board to fund the next phase of the plan.