Transit activists are unimpressed with Wednesday’s announcement that the federal and provincial governments are teaming up to finance an under-construction bus lane in Surrey.
“They’re building another lane [adjoining the highway]. They’re not taking away a lane,” Bus Riders’ Union member Jen Efting told Business in Vancouver.
Indeed, a new six-kilometre northbound shoulder bus lane is being built on Highway 99 between the King George Highway and Highway 91 to improve transit service and reduce traffic congestion for commuters travelling from White Rock and Surrey north toward Vancouver.
The plan is to open the lane this spring.
Victoria is investing $110 million for transit and road improvements on Highway 99, where the new bus lane will be. A shoulder bus lane from Westminster Highway to Bridgeport Road is now open.
The federal government is contributing $6.5 million toward the new bus lane project.
Bus riders, however, want more.
“What we would rather have them do, and it would require a comprehensive reimagining of our highway system, is to put rapid buses on a lane of the highway. That’s more than just building onto the highway,” Efting said.