Public transit route from Vancouver to Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton proposed

By 2025, people may be able to take public transit from Metro Vancouver all the way to Pemberton, with several stops in and around Squamish and Whistler.

After a period of public consultation in the fall of 2016, B.C. Transit has come up with a plan for a proposed transit service along the Sea to Sky corridor, as part of its Sea to Sky Transit Future Plan — which also includes improvements to existing public transit within those communities.

The concept plan estimates travel time between downtown Vancouver and downtown Squamish at a little under two hours and travel between Squamish and Whistler Village at about one hour.

The proposed service may include stops in the Village of Lions Bay, Britannia Beach, Garibaldi Village and other points of interest in and around the major Sea to Sky communities. 

The transit agency is now gathering feedback on the concept through an online survey and six public consultations being held in several communities in the Sea to Sky region from March 2 to March 4. 

"This round of public consultation will discuss potential stops, potential routing, potential schedules and potential fares," said B.C. Transit spokesperson Jonathan Dyck.

'Incredibly valuable'

Dyck says the survey and public consultations will give people the opportunity to say how frequently they would use the proposed stops between Whistler and Vancouver and what they think of the estimated travel times and transit funding.

Susan Chapelle, acting mayor and councilor for the District of Squamish, said the proposed public transit route would be "incredibly valuable." 

She said her community is seeing increased congestion along the Sea to Sky highway because of tourism, particularly because of the opening of the Sea to Sky Gondola, and because many Squamish residents commute to Vancouver or Whistler for employment.

"What has consistently come up is that people would like to see regional transit to Vancouver," Chapelle said.

Currently, B.C. Transit service is only available between Pemberton and Whistler, with private bus companies offering service all the way through to Metro Vancouver. 

The 2015 Sea to Sky Transit Future Plan identified weekday transit service between Squamish and Metro Vancouver and the introduction of midday or evening service on the existing transit route between Pemberton and Whistler by 2020 as a "high priority."

The cost for these projects, as well as the costs of additional projects such as a transit study of the Sea to Sky corridor, is estimated at $800,000.

By 2025, the plan recommends that transit service be reinstated between Squamish and Whistler, and that midday service between Squamish and Metro Vancouver be increased and introduced on weekends.

Concerns over funding

Jordan Sturdy, the MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, said the province has committed funding for transit in the corridor but said local governments need to come up with a "governance structure and the funding formula" for the inter-regional line. 

The District of Squamish's Chapelle  said having the province commit its share is "an exciting first step."

However, she says coming up with funding will be a challenge for the community of less than 20,000 residents.

"We are not able to collect the gas tax in Squamish yet, and in order to set up the gas tax we would need to have a regional transit committee and that has been challenging as well — getting all the communities to the table in order to suss out a funding model that would be adequate to fund our regional transportation."