The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation has selected Surrey’s King George Boulevard as one of the first three corridors for Metro Vancouver’s first new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes. BRT is a high-frequency rapid transit service with dedicated bus lanes and rail-like stations.
Langley Centre to Haney Place and Metrotown to North Shore are other two priority corridors.
BRT routes will keep customers moving quickly by operating with high frequencies in traffic-separated lanes and signal priority at intersections. They will have high-capacity buses with rail-like stations that provide customers with real-time information, shelter, and convenient boarding.
These factors will support quick implementation of a BRT, which will provide immediate benefits of reduced traffic congestion and increased transit ridership on King George once live.
TransLink will advance BRT planning work on the King George Boulevard and Langley Centre to Haney Place corridors. For the Metrotown to Park Royal corridor, TransLink will immediately extend and upgrade the R2 RapidBus while advancing rapid transit planning through the Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit Study. This work will determine the ultimate rapid transit technology for this corridor.
BRT will support residential and commercial growth planned along this corridor to serve 133,000 additional residents and 42,000 new jobs (based on updated land use plans for City Centre, Newton Town Centre, King George Blvd – South Newton Neighbourhood, and Semiahmoo Town Centre). The City has also recently widened key infrastructure along the corridor, including the Bear Creek Bridge and Nicomekl Bridge.
“I am thrilled that TransLink has selected Surrey’s King George Boulevard as one of the region’s first Bus Rapid Transit routes,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke. “Surrey needs faster and more frequent transit now. With high gas prices, a climate emergency, and increasing traffic on the roads, it’s important that Surrey residents have transit options sooner rather than later. The high-frequency service BRT will provide reliable transit to Newton and South Surrey, which have long been under-served. BRT from City Centre to White Rock will also improve connection to SkyTrain, including the future Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension.”
“Following the COVID-19 pandemic, transit ridership in Surrey has recovered faster than any other city in Metro Vancouver, exceeding pre-pandemic levels, and increased transit service is required to support continued growth and housing needs in Surrey,” Licke said.
The three corridors were selected based on ridership potential, increasing access to jobs, future housing and development growth projections, the feasibility of implementing new transit priority infrastructure, and the early support from local governments to implement the changes necessary for the projects.
