Beginning April 24, four popular bus routes in Port Moody and Coquitlam will run more often or will be timed for better early morning connections to the West Coast Express as part of what TransLink is calling the biggest transportation expansion in nearly a decade.
Phase one of the $2-billion, 10-year vision will see enhancements to the 153 Braid Station/Coquitlam Station, 180 Lougheed Station/Moody Centre Station, 182 Moody Centre Station/Belcarra and the 184 Noons Creek/Moody Centre Station.
TransLink planning manager Daniel Freeman said the improvements are in response to customer feedback after the Evergreen Extension was launched last December and some routes were altered that month. But even more service improvements are planned for June.
"The vision has always been a network in the Tri-Cities that has better connections," Freeman said.
But that wasn't possible without more funding. Now, thanks to a decision by the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation, service that was identified as critical to the region can now be put into place.
"It means more trips, later trips — that's something that takes more money. That is the exciting part, this is layered on," Freeman said, adding, "You can step out and know a bus is going to be there."
Still, there are some hurdles before all the pieces can be put into place. TransLink has placed an order for additional buses but until they arrive, older buses that were slated for retirement will be kept in service.
As well, TransLink is waiting for an order of SkyTrain cars to arrive, so until they're in service, the Millennium Line — of which the Evergreen Extension is part — will continue to run with two cars, which provides more frequency than trains with more cars.
"That provides the right amount of capacity to meet demand while also providing more service," he said, noting that a shorter train arriving every three to four minutes is preferred over a longer train every 10 minutes.
Although the trains do fill up with passengers, for the most part that doesn't occur until Commercial/Broadway, Freeman said. "We aren't hearing about pass-ups in the Tri-Cities," he said.
• To find out more about the service changes, visit www.translink.ca/servicechanges. To find out more about the first phase of the 10-year vision, visit tenyearvision.translink.ca/phase-one.
