TransLink Report Highlights Need for Bus Speed Investments

Vancouver TransLink’s new Bus Speed and Reliability Report finds that accelerated investments in bus priority measures are needed to mitigate the impacts growing traffic congestion has on bus speed and reliability.

The report is the second edition of the 2023 Bus Speed and Reliability Report. The first edition, released in February, highlighted bus delays and the reasons they occur throughout Metro Vancouver.

The new report gives an overview of measures that have been taken to mitigate delays and examines the effectiveness of those measures to help inform decision-making for future investments.

“Getting people to take transit instead of driving means making transit as convenient and reliable as possible,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. “We look forward to continuing to invest in bus speed improvements so we can make transit the most convenient travel option in the region.”

TransLink Working to Make Improvements

Since 2019, TransLink has invested $40 million into measures that improve bus speed and reliability. The results found that each of these types of investments improves bus speed and reliability, with many of the improvements paying for themselves through improved bus service operations. Some measures improved bus speed by up to 35%.

Some examples of bus speed and reliability improvements include:

• New RapidBus services.
• Bus lanes, approach lanes, and queue jumps.
• Balancing distances between bus stops.
• Turn restrictions.
• Signal improvements and upgrades.

Despite the $40 million investment into bus priority since 2019, TransLink said more work needs to be done as bus delay has now returned to pre-pandemic levels due to buses getting stuck in growing traffic congestion. The results from this report will be used to inform decision-making for TransLink’s next Investment Plan update, which is anticipated in 2024.

TransLink said it will continue working with government partners to fund, plan, and execute these improvements.

To view the full report, click here.