New project addresses long-standing transit gap continually ignored by previous administrations
THE approval of the R6 RapidBus service by the Safe Surrey Coalition-led City Council gives the green light to a desperately-needed upgrade to transit service along Scott Road. The new project will connect Scott Road SkyTrain Station to the Newton Exchange Bus Loop and improve commute times by 22 per cent.
According to Translink, the existing 319 transit bus that currently covers this route is the top bus route and one of the fastest wing corridors in the South of the Fraser region, with 7.5 million passenger boardings in 2019.
This route is a transit gap that was well known about by past Surrey City Councils under the control of Surrey First, yet ignored in favour of a failed LRT proposal that over a decade, built nothing and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
The Safe Surrey Coalition has a far more pragmatic approach to governance, according to Surrey City Councillor Doug Elford.
“We are a party and City Council that addresses the needs of our city with practicality and this RapidBus service is a collaboration with Translink that will really add north-south transit capacity,” said Elford on Wednesday. “The baffling focus on the failed LRT proposal by past councils completely ignored what is well known in Surrey to be a difficult transit commute, and so we are very pleased that the RapidBus is proceeding.”
The support for better service along Scott Road has been overwhelmingly supportive in extensive community consultations. Ninety per cent of Surrey residents surveyed support or strongly support corridor transit upgrades. Support was strongest among young residents and new Canadians.
With Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Newton and the large number of employers across Scott Road, this is an upgrade designed to make maximum impact on those residents that rely on public transit, noted Surrey City Councillor Mandeep Nagra.
“While legacy projects like LRT were about padding politicians’ legacies, this RapidBus service has been designed with the residents of Surrey in mind,” said Nagra. “With increased passenger capacity and reduced travel times from Scott Road Station to the Newton Exchange, the daily lives of millions of commuters are going to be positively impacted.”
