Metro Vancouver’s transit authority is creating two summer-only bus routes to Golden Ears Provincial Park in Maple Ridge and Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley, among several other seasonal updates.
TransLink says service will also increase on more than a dozen other routes — including those serving popular recreation spots like Spanish Banks Beach, Mount Seymour, White Pine Beach and Stanley Park — starting June 8.
This summer, the seasonal service updates come with more changes than usual, due to the upcoming FIFA World Cup and its associated road closures in the city.
It means that, in addition to the usual increased options on holidays and weekends for services like the SeaBus, there will be wider changes to the system — such as more SkyTrains and buses running on matchdays.
A full list of TransLink’s summer service updates can be found on the transit authority’s website.
Of note are the new regional park routes.
The new 566 bus route will run between Langley Centre and the Campbell Valley Regional Park on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
A new 736 bus route will connect Haney Place Mall in Maple Ridge with Golden Ears Provincial Park on weekends.
The Campbell Valley service will run once an hour in either direction, according to TransLink, while the Golden Ears service will run once every half hour.
Another provincial park — Belcarra Regional Park, just northwest of Port Moody — will be getting service extended on holidays and weekends via the 181 bus route.
Meanwhile, TransLink’s 900 bike bus route will operate during the summer between Bridgeport Station in Richmond and the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, allowing for more bike capacity on busy weekends and holidays.
The bike bus will run between Bridgeport SkyTrain station and Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. (Justine Boulin/CBC)
Keun Park, an associate professor of urban forestry at the University of B.C., has studied how people access nature within cities.
He said that, in the past, the Golden Ears and Campbell Valley regional parks weren’t accessible to people who didn’t have cars.
“For people with limited mobility or limited resources — like youth, seniors, newcomers, low-income household — there’s been a real barrier to get to those parks. So I think this is really [the] right action to do,” he said.
Park said that gaps still remain, however, and he’d like to see service extended even beyond summer weekends, and for more comprehensive planning to make service more reliable.
“Other really important elements of successful transportation experiences … frequency, travel, time, transfer [time], all matter,” he said.
Changes for World Cup
A number of other changes are coming in this summer due to Vancouver hosting seven FIFA World Cup games.
TransLink says a section of Granville Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from June 8 to July 26 as part of it being pedestrianized for the duration of the soccer tournament.
“Buses on routes that use Granville Street between Davie and Georgia streets will be re-routed to Seymour Street or Howe Street, depending on the direction,” the transit authority says.
TransLink is running a direct bus to the official World Cup fan festival at Hastings Park from the 29th Avenue SkyTrain station, which will likely see throngs of people over the course of the summer.
There will also be additional SkyTrains, SeaBuses and West Coast Express service on World Cup matchdays.
TransLink said the service changes come after its 2025 investment plan, and more improvements will come later this year.
A special bus route from 29th Avenue SkyTrain station, seen here, will serve the fan festival at Hastings Park throughout the summer. (Ben Nelms/CBC)