The first meeting of the year for TransLink’s Mayors’ Council took place Thursday as the municipal leaders from across Metro Vancouver met to discuss transit topics.
The meeting was to align priorities and discuss TransLink’s 10-year plan, as well as Metro Vancouver’s transit recovery from the pandemic.
The 10-year plan includes mega-projects and comes with a price tag of more than $20 billion over the next decade.
High on the priority list is doubling bus service by 2035 and adding up to 11 rapid bus lines, including routes from Lynn Valley to downtown Vancouver, Marine Drive Station to 22nd Street Station, and Richmond Centre to Metrotown.
Big projects were discussed as well, including the proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola and the SkyTrain Millennium Line extension to the University of British Columbia.
One of the biggest hurdles for the projects is securing the necessary funding to make them happen, something the municipal leaders are discussing, and are putting together a long-term investment plan for.
According to a 2022 ridership report, passenger levels have not risen as quickly as expected.
There was an increase in annual ridership of nearly 50 per cent comparing last year to 2021, as people returned to using public transit amid the pandemic. Officials did say they expected more people to return to the transit system.
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