TransLink ridership grew in 2024, but advocates warn service gaps remain

CBC

22-05-2025

Social Sharing
TransLink says Metro Vancouver saw strong transit ridership growth last year, especially in fast-growing communities south of the Fraser River, but a transit advocacy group says the data reveals widening service gaps across the region.
According to TransLink's 2024 Transit Service Performance Review, the region saw nearly 241 million journeys last year, up three per cent from 2023.
The highest growth in ridership was recorded in Surrey and Langley, where bus boardings increased by more than 11 per cent. That growth was driven by strong population increases and targeted transit investments, including the launch of the R6 RapidBus route along Scott Road, the report says.
"Transit demand is growing throughout much of Metro Vancouver," TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain said. "It's a testament to how reliable our system is for people to move around."
WATCH | Metro Vancouver transit ridership grew in 2024, says TransLink:
Transit ridership grew more than 3% year-over-year in 2024: TransLink
41 minutes ago
Duration 2:07
Mountain said RapidBus services, which offer fewer stops and faster service than local buses, accounted for 15 per cent of system-wide bus ridership in 2024.
"Despite having only six routes throughout our system with over 200 routes … RapidBus was a backbone to our bus system," he told CBC News.
According to the report, Metro Vancouver now has the second-highest per capita transit ridership in Canada, surpassing the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and ranking just behind Greater Montreal.
While ridership rose sharply in areas with increased service, it dropped in regions that saw cuts, including Vancouver, the University of British Columbia (UBC), Burnaby, New Westminster and the North Shore.
Bus boardings in the Vancouver/UBC area fell by two per cent compared to 2023.
That shift in service is drawing concern from the transit advocacy group Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, which said ridership trends now clearly follow changes in service frequency.
"What we saw is transit ridership is up a lot in places where service is up," said Denis Agar, executive director of Movement. "And ridership is down significantly in places where service is down. It sounds kind of obvious, but the numbers are really significant."
Agar says ridership on the 323 route along 128 Street in Surrey has jumped more than 60 per cent since 2019 amid service increases, while the area saw little new housing construction.
In contrast, Vancouver's 8 Fraser route saw the steepest drop in ridership of any corridor — now at just 47 per cent of pre-pandemic levels — after service reductions.
"These are routes that used to be the backbones of the system, and now they're kind of an afterthought," said Agar.
TransLink acknowledges that service reallocations were a stop-gap measure to address overcrowding in high-growth areas like Surrey.
"Coming out of the pandemic, we were faced with difficult choices," Mountain said.
"We didn't have enough operating funding to keep ridership levels the same throughout the region… to increase services [in high-growth areas], we had to reallocate ridership from some places for a few years."
TransLink was facing a structural deficit of more than $600 million annually because of an operating funding shortage.
But the transit authority says its 2025 Investment Plan will significantly reduce the structural funding deficit, keeping operations fully funded through 2027. The plan includes funding increases through fares, property taxes, and provincial contributions.
"Luckily, what we now have is a new investment plan, which allows us to increase service throughout the region," Mountain said.
Still, Agar says the consequences of past service cuts are already being felt.
"What I'm worried about are the people that don't have an alternative," he said. "They end up staying home, bumming rides off friends, or spending way too much on Uber. Their freedom and mobility are just less than what it used to be."
TransLink says it's committed to improving access and equity in transit but both the transit authority and advocates agree that stable, long-term funding is essential to meet growing demand.
"If we continue to invest in transit, we can incentivize people to take transit over driving," Mountain said.