TransLink's first two Bus Rapid Transit lines will have 25 stations

TransLink selects three rapid transit routes for planning, including two BRT services

TransLink's first three Bus Rapid Transit routes could cost over $1 billion

This is what TransLink's Bus Rapid Transit stations could look like

BC NDP commits to new Bus Rapid Transit along King George Boulevard from Surrey to White Rock

City of Surrey wants to model new King George Boulevard BRT after cancelled LRT

King George Boulevard BRT could pave the way for future SkyTrain extension: Surrey councillor

It's official: Major construction now underway on 16-km-long Surrey-Langley SkyTrain

The 12 bus stations of King George Boulevard BRT entail Surrey Central Station (SkyTrain), King George Station (SkyTrain), 96 Avenue, 88 Avenue, 80 Avenue, 76 Avenue, 72 Avenue (R6 Scott Road RapidBus), 64 Avenue, South Surrey Park & Ride, 32 Avenue, 24 Avenue, and Semiahmoo Town Centre. It would have an end-to-end route distance of 19 km, running primarily along King George Boulevard, with the southernmost segment, south of 28 Avenue within South Surrey, running along 152 Street.

Such a route and station placements essentially mirrors the bus stop location of the existing R1 King George Boulevard RapidBus between Surrey Central Station and Newton. The existing R1 RapidBus would be discontinued.

However, noticeably absent from the King George Boulevard BRT route is the three-km-long, east-west segment of the existing R1 RapidBus between Surrey Central Station and Guildford Town Centre. This also deviates from the routing of the cancelled Surrey Newton-Guildford LRT, which included a segment along 104 Avenue to reach Guildford Town Centre.

Upon inquiry, TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain told Daily Hive Urbanized that the segment of 104 Avenue between Surrey Central Station and Guildford bus exchange will have a different new frequent bus service, as part of Surrey’s bus network’s reconfiguration following the implementation of King George Boulevard BRT.

“The reason for BRT not going to Guildford is because 104 Avenue is a constrained corridor with limited space for sufficient bus priority measures. Ridership on that portion of the R1 also indicated that a separate, equally frequent local service along 104 Avenue would meet demand,” said Mountain.

“In partnership with the City of Surrey, we’ll continue to monitor ridership and road conditions along 104 Avenue, seeking opportunities in the future to upgrade 104 Avenue for increased bus priority should the situation change.”

As for Langley-Haney Place BRT, it will have 13 bus stations along a 22-km-long route via 200 Street, Golden Ears Bridge, and a short segment of Lougheed Highway within Maple Ridge. The bus stations would be located at Willowbrook Station (SkyTrain’s new Surrey-Langley extension), 64 Avenue, 72 Avenue, 76 Avenue, 80 Avenue, 84 Avenue, Carvolth bus exchange, 96 Avenue, 203 Street, 207 Street, Laity Street, 216 Street, and Haney Place.

According to TransLink, similar to RapidBus, the bus station spacing for both the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT routes is about 800 metres apart.

The longest station-free segments are the King George Boulevard BRT’s route through the Serpentine River and surrounding farmlands, and the Langley-Haney Place BRT’s route across the Golden Ears Bridge.

The bus station placements are based on establishing connections to other public transit hubs and services, including SkyTrain stations, RapidBus routes, bus exchanges, and park-and-ride facilities, as well as supporting growing residential areas and key destinations, such as Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus, Bear Creek Park, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Haney Place Mall, Ridge Meadows Hospital, Langley Events Centre, Willowbrook Shopping Centre, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

In November 2023, TransLink first announced its first three BRT routes would be King George Boulevard BRT, Langley-Haney Place BRT, and Metrotown-North Shore BRT.

TransLink has indicated that a separate public consultation on the route for Metrotown-North Shore BRT will happen later in Summer 2025. This would be followed shortly after by another public consultation in Fall 2025 that focuses on the road design changes for the King George Boulevard and Langley-Haney Place BRT lines.

It was previously stated that Metrotown-North Shore BRT would initially be a southward route extension of the existing R2 Marine Drive RapidBus, which currently runs west-east across the North Shore from Park Royal in West Vancouver to Phibbs bus exchange in North Vancouver, before additional bus-priority measures are considered at a later time. The extended R2 RapidBus would cross the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge to connect with Brentwood Town Centre, BCIT Burnaby campus, and Metrotown Station. BRT on this corridor could be merely temporary; TransLink is also considering the possibility of upgrading the Metrotown-North Shore BRT into light rail or SkyTrain over the longer term.

Currently, R2 RapidBus has a route distance of 11 km. If its easternmost terminus is moved to Metrotown Station for a future BRT, its route length would grow to 21 km.

TransLink’s new BRT system is designed to surpass the calibre of the existing arterial bus services of the RapidBus and B-Line standards, offering enhanced features such as faster travel through dedicated bus-only lanes, traffic signal priority at intersections, and weather-protected stations equipped with real-time digital displays.

According to TransLink, with such bus-priority measures, especially the extensive implementation of bus-only lanes, it is estimated that BRT travel times on the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT would be sped up by about 40% compared to existing bus services.

Using existing bus services, travel times by public transit on both future BRT corridors currently takes over one hour on average. With the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT, TransLink expects passengers will see travel time reductions of over 20 minutes in each direction, bringing end-to-end travel times down to about 40 minutes on average.

According to TransLink, about 130,000 residents and 60,000 jobs are within walking distance of the bus stations of King George Boulevard BRT, while about 72,000 residents and 55,000 jobs are within walking distance of the bus stations of the Langley-Haney Place BRT.

“The Surrey BRT project will be a game-changer for residents and how they move around our city. As the fastest growing city in the region, it is crucial that our rapid transit system is enhanced,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke in a statement today. “BRT will create a vital link between City Centre all the way to South Surrey.”

According to TransLink’s 2023 statistics, the existing R1 RapidBus — the precursor to the proposed King George Boulevard BRT — is Metro Vancouver’s seventh busiest bus route, with 4.875 million annual boardings and averages of 14,600 boardings per weekday, 11,400 per Saturday, and 10,000 per Sunday/holiday.

Eric Woodward, the Mayor of the Township of Langley, added, “The Langley–Haney Place Bus Rapid Transit line is one of the best corridors to get going on right away, with so much growth, available right-of-way, and strong municipal support from the Township of Langley and Maple Ridge. As the largest municipality within Metro Vancouver without Rapid Transit service, the Township of Langley is long overdue for a significant investment in transit infrastructure.”

TransLink’s current public consultation for the King George Boulevard BRT and Langley-Haney Place BRT focuses on the design features of the bus stations — intended to resemble LRT stations — and the types of useful information displayed on the stations’ digital screens. An online survey is open until February 9, 2025.

In November 2023, TransLink indicated it would like to begin procurement and construction on the first BRT lines in 2025, with service on the first new route beginning in 2027. But this was based on finding the funding to cover the costs of these projects; to date, TransLink’s BRT projects are completely unfunded.

TransLink indicated today that once funding is secured, BRT construction can be completed within five years.

It was previously estimated that the first three BRT lines could cost a combined total of up to $900 million, with each route priced between $250 million and $300 million. These figures cover road construction works for new bus-priority measures and bus stations, but do not include the expense of acquiring new additional articulated buses. Furthermore, TransLink’s ability to significantly expand bus services is challenged by the very high cost of building new additional bus depots; with the limited capacity of existing bus depots, TransLink can currently only expand bus services by up to 15%.

TransLink’s Access for Everyone plan identified up to nine BRT routes, 11 new RapidBus routes, and seven new Express bus lines for implementation over the next 10 years through 2035.

“We’ve heard from communities across the region that they need better transit now — and BRT is our best option to provide high quality service to more communities quickly. The Mayors’ Council is committed to continue working with TransLink and senior government partners to advance BRT and the Access for Everyone plan,” said Brad West, the Chair of TransLink’s Mayors’ Council and the Mayor of Port Coquitlam.

During the October 2024 provincial election campaign, the BC NDP pledged support for various public transit projects, including TransLink’s King George Boulevard and Langley-Haney Place BRT lines, the westward extension of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line from Arbutus to the University of British Columbia (UBC), and a potential expansion of the West Coast Express commuter rail further east into the Fraser Valley.

However, Premier David Eby’s mandate letter today to Mike Farnworth, the BC Minister of Transportation and Transit, makes no direct mention of supporting TransLink’s BRT projects.

Instead, the mandate letter specifically directs the Minister to “identify affordable and efficient opportunities for expansion of SkyTrain, RapidBus, and rail service,” and to “lead work to advance progress on the Broadway extension [of SkyTrain Millennium Line] to UBC.”

In the meantime, the current construction project of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway extension to Arbutus will reach completion and open in Fall 2027. As well, major construction work on SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Surrey-Langley extension officially began in November 2024, and is scheduled for completion and opening in late 2029.

You might also like:
• TransLink selects three rapid transit routes for planning, including two BRT services
• TransLink's first three Bus Rapid Transit routes could cost over $1 billion
• This is what TransLink's Bus Rapid Transit stations could look like
• BC NDP commits to new Bus Rapid Transit along King George Boulevard from Surrey to White Rock
• City of Surrey wants to model new King George Boulevard BRT after cancelled LRT
• King George Boulevard BRT could pave the way for future SkyTrain extension: Surrey councillor
• It's official: Major construction now underway on 16-km-long Surrey-Langley SkyTrain