Get ready for more transit changes – starting Monday, TransLink will be changing bus routes across Metro Vancouver.
The transit authority is shuffling services across the region, including the elimination of the 97 B-Line bus in Coquitlam, while increasing service on other routes, like the 701 bus to Mission and opening new services, like a 95 B-Line to SFU.
“We’re simplifying route patterns and maintaining frequent, local connections to rapid transit,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond at a press conference outside Coquitlam Central Station.
Although the changes will mean some services will no longer operate, like the TrainBus, Desmond says the switch will mean no reduction in transit services.
“Since we’re reinvesting the bus service locally, it’s the same number of service hours,” said Desmond.
The changes conclude the final phase of TransLink’s strategy to improve transit services ahead of the opening of the Evergreen extension to the Tri-Cities. The line has seen 30,000 trips since opening day last Friday, after over a year of construction delays.
Desmond recognized that changes will have an impact on commuters, but that there are resources like TransLink’s trip planner, to make the change a little easier on passengers.
“Bus service changes are tough,” said Desmond. “When you’re changing around bus service patterns, it’s a little harder for people to get that information from us and to understand what’s going on.”
More changes are in the works for 2017, after the Mayor’s Council approved a $2 billion investment for the first phase of the council’s 10-year transit plan.
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