I take the route 25 bus to the Canada Line once a week for physiotherapy downtown. Earlier this year, I arrived at my southbound bus stop at 21st Avenue and Dunbar to find a notice that TransLink was eliminating certain bus stops to speed up service and improve reliability.
By Angus McIntyre
While my stop survived, those at 19th and 23rd Avenues were removed, leaving four-block gaps between stops and only two stops remaining between 16th Avenue and King Edward. The 7 Dunbar service at these two stops was also removed, even though only route 25 was part of the “Bus Stop Balancing” program. Routes 2 and 17 have also had some bus stops eliminated, although a few have been reinstalled.
I take the route 25 bus to the Canada Line once a week for physiotherapy downtown. Earlier this year, I arrived at my southbound bus stop at 21st Avenue and Dunbar to find a notice that TransLink was eliminating certain bus stops to speed up service and improve reliability. While my stop survived, those at 19th and 23rd Avenues were removed, leaving four-block gaps between stops and only two stops remaining between 16th Avenue and King Edward. The 7 Dunbar service at these two stops was also removed, even though only route 25 was part of the “Bus Stop Balancing” program. Routes 2 and 17 have also had some bus stops eliminated, although a few have been reinstalled.
A transit map shows that most of the city of Vancouver has a bus route nearby, but the area west of Dunbar Street has no transit service until you get to UBC. Camosun Street is almost a kilometre from Dunbar. Our neighbourhood has hills – the second-highest point in the city after Queen Elizabeth Park is Dunbar and 26th Avenue. Before a bus stop is eliminated, TransLink planners should take a close look at whether hills are involved and the proximity to schools, community centres and shops.
Walking time is important as well, and signs at eliminated bus stops suggest a “walking time” to the “new stop.” On a level street, the three minutes suggested is how long it took me, but a senior with a walker, a parent with children or a person with a seeing-eye dog will take longer.
I don’t think consideration has been given to the terrain, particularly the steep King Edward hill, and there is also a disconnect between the bus-stop-balancing principle and TransLink’s core values
It seems TransLink has changed from the company that was very conscious of providing mobility and increased quality of life to a minority. The journey of the majority sometimes took a little longer while bus ramps were lowered – which was the attitude that helped make ours a world-class transit system. TransLink has now decided to make the time on the bus shorter for the majority by making the walking/wheeling time longer for the minority.
Route 25 bus stops in both directions at King Edward and Collingwood were eliminated, which has had a major impact on one Dunbar resident’s life. “I have never driven. I use transit, and this deeply affects the way I live my life,” said the resident, who preferred not to be named.
“Dunbar has a rich resource of stores and amenities close at hand, and I use local tradespeople who know me and my house. All my health and other service providers were/are selected on the basis of whether they can be reached by the #25 or #7 or adding at the most one other bus or the Canada Line. With all of this I planned to age in place, and if I should become too frail to walk up the hill to Dunbar I would get on the #25 westbound at Collingwood to access Dunbar itself and/or the #7. Now that stop has disappeared.”
DRA president Bruce Gilmour, who is blind and travels with his seeing-eye dog Marley, says the changes are having serious and long-term effects on the quality of life of transit-dependent residents, causing anxiety and disorientation and reducing their independence.
People who are blind or visually impaired “cannot see cardboard signage saying the stop is de-activated,” he said. “We cannot access information technology as simply as peers to research what is or is not an active bus stop.” It’s especially confusing when a stop serves several routes, and buses don’t stop there even if their route hasn’t undergone the so-called bus-balancing, he said.