Downtown partiers heading back to the Tri-Cities will now find it easier to locate the NightBus for a safe ride home.
TransLink has established the NightBus district where late-night buses for all 10 routes will congregate to pick up riders and take them back to their community.
For Tri-City riders, that means catching the N9 Coquitlam Central Station bus at the corner of Granville and West Georgia. The bus runs up until 4:19 a.m. seven days a week, and takes riders to Coquitlam Central station via Broadway and Lougheed Highway. (The bus also travels through North Burnaby).
“it’s a pilot project we’re running for this hub we’ve created,” confirmed Aliya Mohamed, a TransLink media relations spokesperson.
She said riders will no longer have to search out their bus stop because all buses will be picking up riders at the same downtown location, which is well lit, and will have signage.
As well, there will be TransLink security on hand to monitor the area.
Mohamed said downtown entertainment venues have participated in the project and will be promoting the NightBus, including DJ’s who will remind partiers about the bus option.
The ride costs $3, stops will be indicated with signage sporting a crescent moon logo and all routes will stop at Granville and Georgia every 20 to 30 minutes.
The program’s success will be reviewed in the fall, but TransLink believes it will be well subscribed. Already, 700,000 people use the NightBus in a year but the convenience of the new location might encourage more people to take it, Mohamed said.
“There’s appetite and we’re working closely with appropriate personnel,” she said.
As for plans to extend the hours of SkyTrain to accommodate people late at night, Mohamed said that idea is still being studied with results expected in the fall.
However, she pointed out there is a trade-off between extending hours and getting all the required maintenance on the track and the fleet completed within the week.
“We’re still looking at that, it’s an assessment that’s ongoing,” she said.
