TransLink moves forward with bus-priority measures; completes station upgrades

TransLink began work to deliver faster, more reliable bus service on the 41st Avenue Corridor, which includes bus-priority measures linked to the rollout of new B-Lines across the Vancouver region.

TransLink’s Director of System Planning Sarah Ross explains the 41st Avenue Corridor is the second busiest in the region after the Broadway Corridor.

“Right now, 40 percent to 60 percent of people travelling on 41st Avenue between Dunbar and Granville Street during rush hour are on buses. There are 36,000 bus boardings each weekday on routes 41 and 43. All of these customers will benefit from the street changes even before B-Line service launches.”

Bus-priority measures will increase the people-carrying capacity of the corridor with no significant effect on congestion for general-purpose traffic.

“The 41st B-Line aligns with the City’s Congestion Management Strategy to support our economy, honor our transportation hierarchy and continue to use our limited street space more efficiently,” shares Lon LaClaire, director of Transportation with the City of Vancouver.

The 41st Avenue service is one of three new B-Lines launching around Metro Vancouver beginning in January 2020. The new 41st Avenue B-Line will provide a faster and more reliable connection between Joyce-Collingwood Station and the University of British Columbia.

TransLink completed upgrades to Joyce-Collingwood Station, which opened on June 15. The upgrade project was implemented in two phases. While the public will have access to both stationhouses at Joyce–Collingwood Station, the bus loop around the new west stationhouse will open on June 24, 2019, to coincide with TransLink’s upcoming summer service changes.

"We’d like to thank our customers for their patience, I’m sure they’ll find these important improvements well worth the wait,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond. “Joyce–Collingwood commuters will benefit from more station capacity, greater accessibility, and a better overall experience at one of our busiest transit hubs."

This second phase of station upgrade project began last year and complements upgrades made to the east stationhouse completed in 2017. The second phase of the work is part of the C$59 million (US$44.03 million) Rapid Transit Stations and Facilities Project being delivered under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.

The station now features

• A new, upgraded elevator and escalator to improve passenger access

• New customer information signs, including exterior signs that provide real-time service information

• Improved lighting, an extended roof, and new platform tiling

• A new HandyDART bus shelter

• Improved integration of pedestrian, bicycle, bus, and SkyTrain transportation modes

• Relocated BC parkway path to provide separation for cyclists and pedestrians improving safety

• Design features such as the use of glass partitions to support crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles

• New bus exchanges to accommodate future service improvements, including a planned B-Line from Joyce–Collingwood Station to UBC

• Universally accessible fare gates.

"We're very pleased to have supported these important enhancements to one of Vancouver's key transit stations," said the Honorable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. "Making public transportation more accessible, convenient and enjoyable is essential to encouraging more people to leave their cars at home and reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by gridlock."