There’s still no timeline for a rapid transit connection to North Vancouver, despite the city serving as a backdrop for a major injection of federal capital funding for the region’s transit system.
Monday’s announcement will see TransLink get $663 million of “baseline” capital funding over a decade from the Canada Public Transit Fund, starting in 2026.
That money will go to “state of good repair” projects, things like replacing trolley wires and upgrading existing equipment.
It won’t go to expanding the network or new projects — including TransLink’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
The project envisions using higher-capacity buses with traffic signal priority and rail-like stations to quickly and cheaply expand the region’s rapid transit network. A proposed route between Metrotown in Burnaby and West Vancouver would be the North Shore’s first connection to the rapid transit network.
TransLink estimates it could have the system up and running within five years — once it is funded.
“We need that capital funding to be able to build this rapid transit expansion,” TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn said.
“We’d like to engage on the next step of Bus Rapid Transit, we need the capital funds to make that happen.”
Get daily National news
While BRT lines can be built at a fraction of the cost of a SkyTrain line — TransLink estimates each line could be built for about $400 million — no senior level of government has yet to step up with the cash.
City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan said regional officials remain hopeful some of that money will be included in a second tranche of funding to come from Ottawa’s Canada Public Transit Fund.
“This is the first step. We want to continue to have that conversation because we want to be looking at that second stream of funding that gives us a predictable, sustainable funding,” she said.
“And we need that in place by March in order for us to continue to be moving forward.”
The second stream of funding is expected to be included in what’s known as “Metro-Region Agreements.”
Federal Energy and National Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who also represents North Vancouver as an MP, didn’t comment on what such an agreement could look like or when it could arrive for the Lower Mainland but acknowledged the critical need for rapid transit on the North Shore.
“The long-term answer for folks on the North Shore … is actually bringing fully blown SkyTrain or a SkyTrain equivalent to the North Shore.”
Buchanan also challenged the provincial government to make good on its 2024 election campaign promise to bring BRT to the region.
“(They) put Bus Rapid Transit into their platform and made it very clear that this government would be investing, so we will also be looking at the provincial government to be coming to the table with us,” she said.
The B.C. Transportation Ministry was unable to offer a timeline on when that funding might flow on Monday.
“The Ministry of Transportation and Transit’s mandate letter confirms government’s commitment to working with TransLink on rapid transit projects that support our growing region, including SkyTrain, Rapid Bus, and rail,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This work is ongoing.”
Last May, a study commissioned by the District of North Vancouver found a BRT line from Park Royal to Metrotown would have a daily ridership of 41,000 people by 2050, with an end-to-end travel time of 58 minutes.
For the meantime, those would-be commuters will have to wait — often in their cars.
“I feel their frustration,” Buchanan said.
“Not only are they frustrated, employers are frustrated because many of the people who come to the North Shore are coming for their jobs, and there is no competitive way to get here right now other than the car. So we need to have that funding.”