Squamish politicians push for transit linking town to Metro Vancouver
BC Transit CEO says progress being made, Squamish mayor calls that 'lip service'
BC Transit is still looking at buses that would link Metro Vancouver with the growing city of Squamish — but don't expect it anytime soon.
"It's still very much in the planning phase," said BC Transit CEO Manuel Achadinha, adding one of the biggest issues being looked at was how any service would link up with TransLink routes, both in terms of service and payment.
"It's got to be accessible to other types of transit. That's why they're talking with TransLink. If the service is going to work, it has to work for both sides. It's incumbent for us to work together."
In 2015, BC Transit said their goal was to introduce weekday service between Squamish and Metro Vancouver by 2020 and weekend service by 2025.
Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman said she is disappointed at the lack of progress.
"To be very frank, I felt that was a little bit of lip service. I'm sure they're talking about it, but ... I don't think we're there yet from a funding standpoint," she said.
The town is 45 kilometres north of West Vancouver and now has a population of approximately 20,000 people, many of whom work in the Lower Mainland.
"We have thousands of people every day commuting from Squamish to Vancouver. It's going to happen. We've been trying to push [TransLink] to work with BC Transit with how do we seamlessly deliver this."
More buses connecting communities
BC Transit already has connector services from the Fraser Valley to Metro Vancouver, Victoria to Cowichan, Vernon to Kelowna and in the Kootenays.
However, Achadinha said there were increasing pressures to provide more buses between municipalities, especially with Greyhound proposing the elimination of many bus routes throughout B.C.
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"As the private sector jumps out of these services, there's pressure on us to jump in," he said.
"Communities are asking us, hey we want a bus from Summerland to Kelowna or Cowichan to Nanaimo."
Achadinha said regional bus routes can be expensive and time consuming to plan, as nearly half of B.C.'s Transit's funding comes from individual local governments.
But, he said, ultimately, it's a service critical to many communities.
"It's a growing issue. People want to get to their doctors, their lawyers. If they're in a smaller communities, they don't want to move, but they need connections to those services, so they're looking to transit."