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Instead, the public transit authority is proposing to relocate the current eastbound and westbound bus stops at University Village to a new location roughly four blocks to the east — situated at the intersection of Shortcut Road and University Boulevard, immediately adjacent to the Musqueam Indian Band’s newly built Lelem Village development and closer to the University Golf Course.

The 99 B-Line’s new bus stops at this intersection would be about 450 metres away from the current eastbound bus stop location and 600 metres away from the current westbound bus stop location at University Village — up to an eight-minute walk away. Currently, Lelem Village’s bus stops are served by the No. 4 Powell/UBC, No. 9 Boundary/UBC, and No. 14 Hastings/UBC, and N17 Downtown/UBC NightBus bus routes.

Impossible to miss while travelling along University Boulevard, the westernmost phase of Lelem Village — entailing a series of high-rise towers and mid- and low-rise residential buildings — reached completion in 2022, as a partnership between Musqueam Capital Corporation and local developer Polygon Homes.

Right next to the proposed 99 B-Line bus stops, the western phase also includes a retail village oriented around a public plaza, anchored by a 13,000 sq. ft. Urban Fare grocery store, as well as a handful of small retail/restaurant businesses, including Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

Upon full buildout on the site’s eastern parcels, the entire 21-acre Lelem Village development with 1.2 million sq. ft. of building floor area will entail 1,250 homes, with a mix of strata market condominium ownership housing and secured purpose-built rental housing. The complex’s residential population could reach up to 2,500 residents in the future.

According to TransLink, by relocating the 99 B-Line bus stops to this location, it will improve public transit access to the growing Lelem Village residential community, improve pedestrian safety by reducing pedestrian volumes at the existing bus stop locations near the intersection of Wesbrook Mall and University Boulevard, and reduce delays for buses and general vehicle traffic by improving the flow at the major intersection at the entrance into the university campus.

TransLink’s 10-year plan also calls for improving public transit services for First Nations areas of the region.

Through an online survey, the public transit authority is currently seeking public input on the proposed relocation of the 99 B-Line bus stops.

The site of Lelem Village is one of several sites in Metro Vancouver that were returned to the Musqueam Indian Band as part of the 2008 reconciliation agreement with the provincial government. Other sites include the adjacent 120-acre University Golf Course, which must remain as a golf course until at least 2083 under the agreement, and the land in north Richmond where River Rock Casino Resort is located. It should be noted that all three sites are owned by the First Nation as fee-simple title private property, not as reserves.

Earlier this fall, the First Nation reached an agreement to acquire River Rock Casino Resort’s business and gaming license from Great Canadian Entertainment.

Starting in Fall 2027, when SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension opens, the 99 B-Line route will be truncated to run between UBC and the new Arbutus Station. The 99 B-Line could be discontinued entirely in the 2030s, when the potential UBC SkyTrain extension opens.

In 2024, according to TransLink statistics, the 99 B-Line saw over 10.6 million annual boardings, with averages of over 34,000 boardings per weekday, more than 21,000 per Saturday, and greater than 15,000 per Sunday/holiday.

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