B.C. Election: NDP promise $500M to provide bus rapid transit to North Shore

Work would begin next year if party re-elected, MLA Bowinn Ma says. But North Van mayors more worried about TransLink deficit

The provincial NDP on Tuesday pledged $500 million to provide dedicated bus lanes to connect the North Shore to Metrotown in Burnaby, if re-elected on Oct. 19.

The mayors of North Vancouver city and district said that’s fine, but there are more immediate transportation needs facing North Shore residents.

In the meantime, the R2 bus from Park Royal in West Vancouver to Phibbs Exchange at the north end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge will expand service to Metrotown until bus rapid transit is available.

TransLink’s so-called RapidBus service, such as the R2, has some dedicated lanes while bus rapid transit has fully separated, dedicated bus lanes, and stations like light rail transit has.

It was unclear how bus rapid transit, with its dedicated lanes, could work across the already congested Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. Ma said TransLink has a lot of work to do talking to municipalities and First Nations.

The NDP's Bowinn Ma.
The NDP’s Bowinn Ma.Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

The NDP would “work with TransLink to deliver this, and we understand they are ready to begin construction in 2025 provided they have a government that is working with them,” she said.

“The exact details of what and how they will deliver bus rapid transit will impact the costs, but at this time we’re anticipating and preparing for a financial commitment of about half a billion dollars.”

“That being said, while we are working on delivering the bus rapid transit system, we will also begin work on the future state of a fixed-link rapid transit solution,” Ma said, adding a re-elected NDP would also start studying the eventual replacement of the aging bridge.

In a news conference after the NDP campaign announcement, the mayors of North Vancouver city and district were more concerned with TransLink’s deficit.

Speaking behind a lectern with a yellow sign that said Save Transit, Linda Buchanan, city mayor, said a lack of long-term TransLink funding “could not be more catastrophic for our residents and businesses here on the North Shore.”

North Vancouver City Mayor Linda Buchanan.
North Vancouver City Mayor Linda Buchanan.Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

Ma’s campaign promise “is a welcome announcement … but the fact remains TransLink is facing a $600-million-per-year structural deficit and no new funding has been committed by the provincial government after 2025,” Buchanan said.

The mayors’ council on regional transportation has warned of severe cuts to service in 18 months without more money for TransLink.

“I want to be clear,” she said. “This is not a stunt, this is fact, this is real.

“Anyone living on the North Shore knows traffic congestion has reached a tipping point. People are spending too much time commuting and not enough time living.”

While there have been bridge upgrades and increased SeaBus sailings, the Lions Gate Bridge opened in 1938, the Ironworkers in 1960, and the SeaBus was introduced in 1977. No new connections across Burrard Inlet have been added since.

“We are all feeling the frustration, and we have all been calling for a solution,” Buchanan said. “For too long we have not had sufficient transportation infrastructure for travelling to, through, and from the North Shore, and to other parts of the region.

“The result has been consistent, hours-long backups in either direction, gridlocking our economy and our communities.”

Ma, sticking to ministry projections, said the bridge has “a few decades” of life left.

“Delivering a new bridge, delivering SkyTrain, takes years and years, and people on the North Shore and in the region do not have that long to wait,” she said.


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