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Generally, to mitigate potential new traffic congestions issues, there is an effort to maintain at least two general vehicle traffic lanes in each direction to accommodate BRT’s bus-only lanes in each direction — which is also achieved in some areas by widening the roadway — but that is not always possible in all areas due to technical and spatial limitations. For each tree that is replaced for road widening, two new trees will be planted.

King George Boulevard BRT

For King George Boulevard BRT, 90 per cent of the route outside of the Serpentine River’s agricultural zone — between Highway 10/56 Avenue and the south side of King George Boulevard’s recently-built Nicomekl River bridge — will have bus-only lanes. This segment cannot be widened due to the protected farmland on either side of King George Boulevard, with BRT buses expected to share this existing four-lane King George Boulevard roadway segment with general vehicle traffic.

Within Surrey City Centre, BRT along King George Boulevard could have bus-only lanes either in the centre of the roadway or on the existing curbside lanes. For the major segment on King George Boulevard between 96 Avenue (the south end of Surrey City Centre) and Highway 10/56 Avenue, TransLink is proposing to place the bus-only lanes down the centre.

Centre bus-only lanes are also proposed for King George Boulevard’s South Surrey segment between south of the Nicomekl River bridge and 152 Street. But for the final approach between 152 Street and 16 Avenue, due to King George Boulevard’s limited space within this segment, TransLink has outlined the options of either placing one centre BRT lane in the northbound direction and two general vehicle lanes in each direction (also used by southbound direction buses) or one curbside BRT lane in each direction with two general vehicle lanes in each direction and retaining a centre turn lane.

At the southern terminus of Semiahmoo Town Centre, BRT buses would circle around the roads that frame the shopping mall in a clockwise direction to return to the northbound direction.

Langley-Haney Place BRT

As for Langley-Haney Place BRT, 85 per cent of the route outside of the Golden Ears Bridge will have bus-only lanes.

Centre bus-only lanes are proposed for Langley-Haney Place BRT’s long segments of Lougheed Highway between 222 Street and Golden Ears Way and 200 Street between 86 Avenue and Willowbrook Drive, as well as the short segment of Willowbrook Drive before Willowbrook Station between 200 Street and Fraser Highway — with the intention of upgrading this 200 Street segment in the future to have centre bus-only lanes. For all other segments of this route, BRT is proposed to run on curbside bus-only lanes.

For the segment of 200 Street between 80 Avenue and 66 Avenue, 200 Street will retain six general vehicle traffic lanes — three lanes in each direction — even with a BRT-only lane for each direction.

These bus-only lane placements for both BRT lines are supported by the various municipal governments, which were involved in TransLink’s design process. For municipalities, mitigating and minimizing the impacts of extensive BRT bus-only lanes on general vehicle traffic has been a key consideration.

TransLink’s current public consultation seeks feedback on the proposed bus-only lanes, considering bus speed and travel time; minimizing impacts on nearby homes and businesses; maintaining easy access for cars and driveways; providing safe and comfortable options for walking and cycling; limiting impacts on general vehicle traffic; and supporting growth and future travel needs.

Where possible, centre bus-only lanes are typically deemed to be the most optimal configuration for bus operations considerations because they are faster and more reliable than curbside lanes — avoiding conflicts with driveways, parking, loading, and right-turning vehicles. They also allow for better traffic-signal priority at intersections, are easier to protect and enforce, and support better bus stop designs.

End-to-end travel times of about 40 minutes for each BRT line

With bus-priority measures such as dedicated bus-only lanes and traffic-signal priority at intersections, TransLink estimates that the King George Boulevard BRT will have an end-to-end travel time of approximately 40 minutes, making it as fast as — or faster than — driving during the busiest periods of the day. During peak periods, travel times between Surrey Central Station and Newton are expected to be under 15 minutes, down from approximately 25 minutes on the existing R1 King George Boulevard RapidBus, which would be replaced by the BRT.

Buses on King George Boulevard BRT will run at frequencies of up to every five minutes during peak hours.

For Langley-Haney Place BRT, the various bus-priority measures are expected to enable end-to-end travel times of also about 40 minutes, similar to driving as well. BRT buses will run up to every 10 minutes during peak periods.

Although TransLink asserts that these BRT lines will roughly match the operating speeds of the Canada Line, the absence of full grade separation will still make them highly susceptible to numerous operational variables.

By 2035, TransLink forecasts ridership will reach over 25,000 riders per day on King George Boulevard BRT and about 13,000 per day on Langley-Haney Place BRT.

In 2024, the existing R1 RapidBus service along King George Boulevard between Guildford Town Centre and Newton bus exchange, via 104 Avenue and King George Boulevard, recorded average boardings of 15,400 per weekday, 14,700 on Saturdays, and 10,700 on Sundays and holidays. While the King George Boulevard BRT will provide a major southward route extension beyond the R1 RapidBus’ existing southern terminus at Newton, it will not retain the R1 RapidBus’ major segment between Guildford Town Centre and Surrey Central Station. Instead, TransLink prefers to operate an improved local bus service along this segment reaching Guildford.

Large BRT bus stops resembling train stations

As for the BRT stops, they will resemble street-level light rail transit (LRT) stations — generally long platforms spanning the length of multiple articulated buses parked bumper to bumper, although some stations may be shorter due to site-specific spatial limitations. These stations will feature overhead weather protection; multiple real-time digital displays providing wayfinding maps, next-bus arrival times, service updates, and other system information; as well as seating, leaning rails, enhanced lighting, and all-door boarding.

There could also be Compass fare vending machines and accessible platforms with yellow tactile strips — like SkyTrain stations.

Potential estimated cost of roughly $800 million

TransLink is aiming to complete the detailed design of the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT lines in 2027. Both projects are not funded, with the public transit authority estimating it can build and open these services within three years after the projects are fully funded by the federal and provincial governments.

But even under a best-case timeline, it would still take TransLink nearly a decade to plan, design, and construct these BRT lines (planning first began in the early 2020s), rather than initiating detailed planning from the outset for SkyTrain expansion on at least some of these corridors — specifically a SkyTrain extension along King George Boulevard to Newton — so that it could become a shovel-ready project when funding becomes available. Instead, it is the BRT lines that are being positioned to be shovel-ready once funding materializes.

In this public consultation, TransLink indicates each kilometre of its BRT mode standard will cost about $20 million. With a combined total of 41 km of BRT routes across both lines, this pegs the potential total cost of the projects at roughly $800 million.

An online survey on the proposed configurations for the bus-only lanes of the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT is now open through Feb. 8, 2026.

TransLink is also planning the Metrotown-North Shore BRT line, though it is at an earlier stage of design and planning work. Later in 2026, this third BRT project could proceed to a separate public consultation similarly focused on its specific bus-only lane placements. As an interim measure to improve service and help build ridership, TransLink plans to extend the existing R2 Marine Drive RapidBus route southward in 2027 to SkyTrain’s Metrotown Station via the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, providing a connection to SkyTrain’s Brentwood Town Centre Station.

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