TransLink turns 10!
TransLink turns 10!
It’s TransLink’s tenth birthday today!
And yes, it’s funny that it lands on April 1, but we have some good company: Apple also celebrates its birthday today, as well as the Wrigley candy company.
You might not know this, but TransLink is a pretty unique organization — it’s the very first transportation agency in North America, responsible for planning and managing both public transit, major roads, and other transport modes in the region.
This integrated model lets us plan the network as a strategic whole, has helped Metro Vancouver become one of the most livable regions in the world, and has won us some lovely accolades along the way. (Check out this nice article about us from Mass Transit magazine in May 2006!)
Similar agencies now exist in New York City, London, UK, and very recently (as in two days ago), the greater Toronto and Hamilton area.
If you’re interested in learning more, have a look at our recently written history book (3MB PDF) — it tells our story from the start in 1999 to 2008.
And if you’d like some quick tidbits, here’s our last 10 years by the numbers!
| 1999 | 2008 | Increases | |
| Population of Metro Vancouver | 2.02 M | 2.27 M | An increase of 12.37% |
| Number of annual boardings (by service) | Bus 175.8 M SkyTrain 43.6 M SeaBus 5.1 M West Coast Express 1.8 M Total 226.3 M |
Bus 220.7 M SkyTrain 73.5 M SeaBus 5.5 M West Coast Express 2.7 M Total 302.4 M |
Bus 26 % SkyTrain 69 % SeaBus 8 % West Coast Express 50% Total 34% increase |
| Number of transit service hours provided | 4.1 M | 5.6 M | An increase of 36.6% |
| Size of the bus fleet | 1,330 buses | 1,830 buses | An increase of 37.5% |
| Length of SkyTrain system | 28.26 km | 67.30 km (including the Canada Line) | An increase of 135% |
| SkyTrain cars | 150 | 210 (By Feb 2010: 298) |
99% increase (1999 – 2010) |
| Annual funding for transit operations | $392.7 M (in 2000) | $780.5 M | An increase of 99% |
| Size of capital program (investments in road and transit expansion and upgrades) | $600 million | $2.3 billion | An increase of 283% |
| Total provided to Metro Vancouver municipalities to operate, maintain and rehabilitate arterial roads on the Major Road Network |
$141 million (1999-2008) |
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| Total invested in road and bridge improvements (minor capital program) | $320 million from 1999-2008, including
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| Total invested or committed for new roads and bridges (major capital projects) |
$1.630 billion from 1999-2008, including
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Happy birthday, TransLink!
So April Fools Day is also the beginning of most companies’ fiscal years. Woohoo. Happy Birthday Translink! Nice to see the huge increase in transit usage. I predict the West Coast Express will get even more crowded once the Golden Ears Bridge opens as a new alternate commuting route for Langley and Cloverdale residents!
I think we’re expecting that type of boost in WCE ridership — which is why we’re already planning to buy 7 more WCE cars!
Happy birthday, TransLink! Toronto’s new agency, unfortunately, is not really parallel to TransLink. It isn’t responsible for operating anything other than the equivalent of West Coast Express, and while it has a planning function, the individual transport systems in each city do as well, which seems a recipe for conflict.
Interesting! Well, thanks for the clarification. I guess I can still say it’s “similar” and not the same :)
Wow, ten years already!
That history book is cool. Are hard copies available?
There are indeed some hard copies around. Send me an email and I can arrange to get you one.
I would like to acquire a hard copy for myself as well, I’ve sent an e-mail!
Although this post is long gone, I hope you can celebrate your 30th, 40th and beyond birthdays and have many organizations to congratulate you.