Summer service changes begin June 23
Summer service changes begin June 23
It is that time of year again Buzzer readers – summer service changes are here! So check your route and plan for your activities on June 23 and beyond. To celebrate, we are hosting a contest* with 5 cool prize packages. How do you play? Visit our Facebook page each weekday morning from June 9 until July 7 after 9 am for a clue to where the image of the Penguin is hiding. Once you find the penguin on our service changes page, click the image to enter the contest. Good luck!
Highlights:
- The NEW 503 Express bus serves Langley and Aldergrove with connections to Surrey Central.
- The 502 has been redesigned to operate between Surrey Central Station and Langley Centre, with limited peak-hour trips to/from Brookswood.
- Expanded 178 service which responds to customer feedback to better meet customer demand. The portion of the route operating between Noon’s Creek and Johnson now runs on Panorama Dr. instead of on David Ave.
What is making summer travel better?
- Additional buses will complement the regular 19 trips, increasing frequency between West Pender St. and Cambie St. to Stanley Park.
- Changes to the 5 to accommodate the City of Vancouver’s closure of 800 Robson at Robson Square.
- Routes 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 16, 17, 20 and 50 will detour to accommodate the Granville Mall closures during summer weekends for the City of Vancouver’s Summer Open Streets program.
- Two 620 trips each hour, up from one per hour.
- SeaBus service increases to every 15 minutes.
For more information, check out the upcoming print Buzzer and Service Changes page. Check your route before you go!
Have more questions? Check out @translink or call 604-953-3333.
* Contest terms and conditions
Author: Angela Salehi
My pet peeve with the re-route on Seymour/Howe, is there is no bus stop northbound on Seymour at Pender. How are we suppose to efficiently transfer from the Granville buses to the 5 during it’s re-route? Or any of the other busses (22, 19, 209/210/211/214) that use Pender? The closest stop is on the SOUTH side of Dunsmuir. It shouldn’t be hard to have a stop at Pender…
@ Jordon
I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to, but I get the gist. I hate connecting at the downtown area. The entire downtown core is essentially a glorified bus exchange. The closer you get to SkyTrain, the further you have to walk to your next route.
They drop us off across the street from Granville Station, on Seymour, but we have to jaywalk or walk to the end of the block, cross the street, and then back to the station. It burns me up.
@ Translink
The penguin hunt is a good idea. It encourages people to look on the page, and seems friendly.
Lets see if I can clarify. It just seems like Translink forgot to put a stop on Seymour at Pender. When the busses are on Granville it’s no problem, and there is a corresponding stop on Howe at Pender. But when the busses are on Seymour, you have to get off at Dunsmuir (and cross the street) and walk to the stop at Pender. Its actually pretty far. Around 250m to walk, but they should be on the same corner!
And I think that bus exchange is too generous a description for downtown; bus exchanges are more logically layout out!
As a side note, I like how the Clarendon connector will be used by the 29!!
For the 503 Express bus leaving Surrey Central Station towards Aldergrove, if the next stop isn’t until King George Station, why does the route loop through the pedestrian plaza, 134A Street, and Old Yale Road when a more direct route would be via 102 Avenue and Whalley Boulevard?
Thanks for all the great questions everyone! I went to see our planning folks and they provided the following answers:
Jordan: Adding stops along Pender is a great suggestion and one that is being considered. Once of the challenges to make that happen is the trolley wire infrastructure – so more investigation needs to be done. Glad that you like the changes to the 29.
Eugene: Thrilled that you like the penguin contest. You can enter once, each day to win 1 of 5 prize packages. Good luck everyone!
Robert: Thanks for the input; we’ll take your feedback into consideration. You might want to check out the more detailed map online, as there may have been changes since your last look.
http://www.translink.ca/~/media/documents/schedules_and_maps/service_changes/2014/june/503_route_map.ashx
The map for bus route 503 is significantly different than the one I viewed a few days ago; thanks for the update! (Text description of route on timetable still the same.) Too bad route 502 can’t follow a similar pathway leaving Surrey Central Station; would save time and fuel.