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August 27, 2017

10 facilities will benefit from the transit service improvements beginning Monday, September 4

Have you heard of the transit service improvements starting Monday, September 4? If you work at any of these facilities, your transit commute is just about to get better with the biggest transportation expansion in a decade.

Burnaby

  • 1795 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby
  • Burnaby Hospital

Delta

  • Delta Hospital

Langley

  • Langley Memorial Hospital

Vancouver

  • BC Children’s & BC Women’s Hospital
  • Lions Gate Hospital
  • Richmond Hospital
  • St. Paul’s Hospital
  • University of British Columbia Hospital

White Rock

  • Peace Arch Hospital

For more information on seasonal and permanent transit changes, you can visit the Translink website.

For more information contact: Eiselle Omampo, Coordinator, Transportation Demand Management and Commuter Choices, Lower Mainland Integrated Protection Services - Parking, Access and Commuter Services

  1. Sophia Woo

    Cited as “biggest transportation expansion in a decade” the increase in frequency of busses serving regional hospitals is appreciated. On Translink’s website seasonal changes in bus schedules are separated from improvements in bus service with the typical improvement in arrivals listed as from 10 minutes to 8 minutes.
    The bigger picture in transit improvements to the major hospitals is less rosy. Both Vancouver General and St. Paul are in the shadow of the largest commuter flows in the province and improvements in transit will require significant capital investment in rapid transit.

    Currently, expansion of the Millennium Line along Broadway to Arbutus is planned and this line should improve transit connection for Vancouver General.

    Not being considered is the expansion of rapid transit into downtown Vancouver. The reason is there is no room for additional trains during peak commuting hours at station platforms. The final improvement in Skytrain Expo Line and Canada Line service was in February and was achieved through better scheduling of trains. The marginal increase in frequency of trains was hardly noticed at stations by passengers. That was all that is possible without expanding stations and the cost of expanding stations in tunnels is exorbitant.

    An alternative to increasing frequency during peak hours is to adjust schedules at the two hospitals to begin and end outside peak periods. This was done at UBC when first period of 8:30 am was changed to 8:00 am. This avoids the peak demand for busses at UBC to be at the same time as peak demand in the Central Business District.

    There are real inconveniences to people in systemic change in scheduling but this may be required to gain transit improvements. A big issue.

    Sophia Woo

    September 7, 2017