Editor‘s note: John is a member of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders
“Sorry for making your commute 30 seconds longer” — On November 18th, Burnaby City Council voted to scale back a plan for bus lanes on Hastings Street, sending the plan to a second round of public engagement. TransLink had originally proposed adding bus lanes to a 3.6km stretch of Hastings, between Willingdon Avenue and Duthie Avenue, with operating hours from 7am to 7pm. As part of these cuts, Council amended the proposal to exclude the four blocks between Willingdon Avenue and Delta Avenue to preserve street parking on weekends for businesses, instead asking staff to consider bus bulbs, transit stops that stick out into the parking lane, along this stretch.
Hastings Street ranks in the top 5 most delayed bus corridors in Metro Vancouver, according to TransLink. Buses on Hastings, including the R5 RapidBus, ranked 7th for ridership in 2023, endure delays seven days a week. TransLink estimates they could save up to $220,000 each year just by speeding up busses on this stretch of Hastings. The proposed lanes would additionally save transit riders up to 4 minutes per trip, and increase reliability by 50-80%.
The current configuration of Hastings Street has 2 lanes of general traffic and a weekday peak hour (rush hour) High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction. The HOV lane becomes street parking after hours. The proposed bus lanes would have replaced the peak hour HOV lane and removed the weekend street parking between 7am and 7pm.
Planning for the project, which amounts to changing some signs on Hastings Street, was initiated in 2021. The proposal was intended to be completed by 2026, however after amendments by Burnaby council this 5-year timeline is not likely to be met.
Despite TransLink conducting a round of public engagement for the Burnaby Hastings Street corridor in 2022, councillors decried the lack of public engagement and amended the proposal to require more. Metro Vancouver elected officials often use additional consultation for even small changes as an effective delay tactic, a tactic that adds significantly to the cost of transit improvements.
During the meeting, Burnaby councillors also made several comments showing disdain for transit riders. Councillor Calendino sarcastically remarked “sorry for making your trip 30 seconds slower” when voting to remove the Willingdon-Delta section from the proposal. Another councillor said “transit riders or residents”, implying Burnaby residents are not transit riders (despite 40% of trips on Hastings buses being made by local residents).
Throughout the meeting, Burnaby councillors repeatedly stated the assumption that removing parking would significantly harm businesses, and neglected to mention the benefits of increased transit ridership to businesses. Increased transit drives higher pedestrian traffic, which benefits businesses far more than the few people that can use on-street parking.
Members of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders attended the meeting in support of the proposal, and faced off against members of the Burnaby Heights Merchants Association. The merchants association claims “parking in front of street-facing merchants is crucial to maintaining the vibrant urban village and ensuring there is accessibility for all shoppers – including seniors, individuals with disabilities who require front-of-building access, and families with children, whether they are local or from afar.”
By voting to send this proposal back to public engagement for a second time, Burnaby is not only showing transit riders it places the needs of drivers before them, it’s also a waste of staff time and the time of the community. Instead of using the power invested in them as elected officials by approving or rejecting the project, Burnaby council voted to send it to public engagement purgatory. It delays the decision, and forces stakeholders such as Movement and the merchants association to spend more time and resources fighting a battle that could have already been decided tonight.
Essentially, Burnaby council voted to add a months long consultation to change the text on a few signs over a 3.6km stretch of road. Someday, transit riders may be able to ride past traffic, but not any day soon.
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