TransLink ridership begins recovery
TransLink ridership begins recovery
Ridership has increased by 85 per cent since early April
New figures show early signs of ridership recovery on Metro Vancouver’s transit system. Systemwide boardings last week were 85 per cent higher than the second week of April, which had the lowest ridership levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m very pleased to see our customers gradually returning to the transit system,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond. “We’ve worked hard to ensure our customers have confidence in transit by developing the Safe Operating Action Plan, which keeps our services as safe and reliable as possible.”
TransLink’s Safe Operating Action Plan increases cleaning and sanitizing of transit vehicles and hubs, increases service levels, creates space between customers where possible, and recommends that all customers wear a mask, if they are able to do so.
While ridership has been gradually increasing, systemwide ridership is still low compared to pre-COVID levels. Systemwide boardings are currently at around 33 per cent of the levels they were at last year.
| Week | Boardings | Increase since early April |
| April 5 – April 11 | 1,396,000 | – |
| April 12 – April 18 | 1,467,000 | +5 per cent |
| April 19 – April 25 | 1,548,000 | +11 per cent |
| April 26 – May 2 | 1,580,000 | +13 per cent |
| May 3 – May 9 | 1,683,000 | +21 per cent |
| May 10 – May 16 | 1,726,000 | +24 per cent |
| May 17 – May 23 | 1,876,000 | +34 per cent |
| May 24 – May 30 | 2,219,000 | +59 per cent |
| May 31 – June 6 | 2,578,000 | +85 per cent |
| Mode | Boardings April 5 -11, 2020 | Boardings May 31 -June 6 2020 | Increase |
| Systemwide* | 1,396,000 | 2,578,000 | +85 per cent |
| Bus | 903,000 | 1,631,000 | +81 per cent |
| Expo-Millennium | 372,000 | 697,000 | +87 per cent |
| Canada Line | 109,000 | 221,000 | +103 per cent |
| SeaBus | 10,000 | 23,000 | +130 per cent |
| West Coast Express | 2,000 | 6,000 | +200 per cent |
| HandyDART** | 4,300 | 6,700 | +56 per cent |
*Excludes HandyDART given separate measurement method
**HandyDART measured in trips rather than boardings
