New plan will bring more bus service, advance BRT, address structural deficit

April 30, 2025

BURNABY, BC – TransLink’s 2025 Investment Plan has been approved by the Mayors’ Council and TransLink’s Board of Directors. This plan will fund the largest increase in bus service since 2018 – on top of increases approved last year –  advance Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects, and makes progress in reducing TransLink’s long-term structural deficit.

Through this Investment Plan, TransLink will create new bus routes to serve people in eight areas that currently have no transit and will add or enhance bus routes to improve transit in six under-served areas.

These improvements will increase people’s access to job sites by adding new routes to industrial areas like Campbell Heights (Surrey), Gloucester (Langley), and Tilbury (Delta). TransLink will also provide enhanced access to parks like Stanley Park, Terra Nova Park (Richmond), and Golden Ears Provincial Park (Maple Ridge).

Key investments include:

• More service on 50 overcrowded bus routes
• Improving or implementing 40 new routes, including to 14 areas with no or limited transit service
• Extending the North Shore’s R2 RapidBus to Metrotown by 2027
• Design stage for three BRT corridors
• Improve the condition of Metro Vancouver’s deteriorating roads by expanding pavement rehabilitation on the Major Road Network
• Continuing investments in local walking and cycling paths, and bus priority infrastructure

TransLink was facing a structural deficit of more than $600 million annually because of an operating funding shortage. This was caused primarily by declining fuel tax revenue, increasing costs, and fare increases being capped under the rate of inflation between 2020 and 2024. This new plan will fully fund TransLink operations until the end of 2027 and will cut the structural deficit by almost half thereafter.

This Investment Plan will be funded through several measures, including a $20 increase in property taxes for median households in 2025 and a fare increase of $0.14 for the average trip starting in July 2026. The Government of British Columbia is also investing in TransLink operations, including a one-time contribution of $312 million and a commitment to a new revenue source by 2027.

TransLink appreciates the investments by its government partners on the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation and the Province of B.C. to advance these critical initiatives that will help ensure the delivery of quality transit services in the Metro Vancouver region. These investments will position transit as a catalyst for growth, resilience, and long-term prosperity to keep Metro Vancouver and its economy moving.

Quotes:

Brad West, Chair, Mayors’ Council –

“Investing in transit means investing in the region’s economy and long-term growth. By expanding transit to under-served areas and to relieve overcrowding on our busiest routes, this Investment Plan sets us on a path to respond to the demands of a growing region and province.”

Kevin Quinn, CEO, TransLink –

“This Investment Plan allows us to get back to what we do best – which is delivering quality transit services for Metro Vancouver residents. This plan ensures we have the stability to expand service, help people get to work, and reduce overcrowding on transit.”

Mike Farnworth, Minister of Transportation and Transit, Government of British Columbia –

“People in Metro Vancouver need access to safe, reliable and affordable transit. The collaboration between our government, TransLink and the Mayors’ Council through this Investment Plan, provides certainty that transit services will not only be protected, but people will also see expansion on busy routes.”

More information:
Read the full Investment Plan here

Media contact:
TransLink Media Relations
E: media@translink.ca