A Letter to TransLink: Fixing our Bus Network Requires More than Frequency Boosts

Dear TransLink:

I am here to complaint, but I actually have a full story to tell.

About six to seven years ago, my family moved close to Victoria & 33^rd. There are four bus routes within reasonable walking distance: #20, #33, #25 and #19.

I don’t use the #20 as often as the #33 or the #25, but it still plays the role of a more-frequent connector to SkyTrain and other more frequent crosstowns (e.g.: #99, #49, etc.) Unfortunately, even just as an occasional user, I don’t have many good memories with this bus, because waiting for this bus takes too much more luck than it should. The following events occur at unknown probabilities: all upcoming trips at my stop are running on-time; some upcoming trips at my stop are running behind; the next two trips at my stop are bunching, thus modifying the frequency to every 18-20 minutes; or the next two trips at my stop are bunching, thus modifying the frequency to every 28-35 minutes, etc. Mind you, the last scenario is not rare at all, as many living on Commercial Drive are so used to the #20 running as triplets.

Thanks to its unreliable services, I have had way more opportunities to walk to get more exercise. I’ve walked countless times from 49^th to 33^rd, from 41^st to 33^rd, and even a few times from Broadway or 16^th all the way to 33^rd. Walking can often be faster than waiting for the bus to arrive, especially since I often wait at the reverse-peak direction (AM SB, PM NB). This happens in the morning, in the afternoon, at night and over the weekends. I even remember once having to walk from 41^st back home at 12 a.m., just because nextbus shows that 2 #20 are bunching to arrive at the stop in 30 minutes.

When I lived at Vic & 33^rd, there are only two types of bus routes: ones that are scheduled to run every 30 minutes (e.g.: #33), and ones that actually run every 3-30 minutes regardless of whatever its schedule says (e.g. #20, #25, #19).

Thank god, I moved close to a SkyTrain station four years ago, and things are working out so much better than it used to be. I don’t have to fully depend on the closest bus routes (#16, #33) because my frequent destinations are mostly along the SkyTrain, or along frequent connectors like the #99. 

Moving away temporarily for four months to Main & 41^st made me realize that living near real rapid transit is a bless, because dealing with so-called FTNs takes away too much effort to study probabilities.

Well, I thought that moving back near SkyTrain will be the end of bad commute experiences. But I’m wrong.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve had to head to the area near Commercial & Hastings in the afternoons. I used to take the #95 when commuting from the west-side of Vancouver, and it’s pretty reliable in general, just not frequent enough. Woking near SkyTrain for the summer, my supposedly fastest way is to take the SkyTrain then transfer onto the #20.

And that’s when my nightmare begins.

Whether I’m going north or south, the bus bunches and delays at least two to three times a week per direction. It can bunch in twos, threes, however it wants to be. Trips can be missing from time to time or vanish off nextbus after seeing several minutes of “now”. In fact, it is easier for me to remember those days that the #20 is running on-time than isn’t. Here is the unfortunate parts: 1) People on Commercial-Victoria are used to this unreliable service because they have been frustrated on so many occasions; 2) My alternative, the also delayed and not-to-reliable #16, is not all that much better. So many people, including myself, have to suck it up and hope fore luck.

I began biking this distance two weeks ago and it was a bless. It is amazing to withdraw from this game of chance as if my life is not tiring enough already. Unfortunately, both my knees and my bike have mechanical issues this week, so I have to take a bus again.

And this brings us to my actual complaint: today, I left 45 minutes for a supposedly 25 minutes trip. I missed one #20 at 1735 at 51221. There was supposed to be one #20 arriving at 1742, but it vanished off next-bus five minutes after that. The next two buses came at 1756, and I ran 12 minutes late arriving at my destination. The trip time went from 25 minutes to an hour.

I didn’t write this because I was shock by this incident. It has happened in the past so many times that I don’t really think this is an outlier. I just want to spoil your perceptions that bus network in Vancouver is well-developed and great for customers. To be honest, a bus network where many routes run every 30 minutes (e.g. Surrey) is not too different from one where many routes run every 3-30 minutes, aside from the fact that the latter is really like playing a game of chance, which none of us riders have that time and effort to deal with in our commute. Vancouver’s bus network looks nice on a map, with all those orange FTN routes highlighted on almost every major street. In reality, its user experience is far from that appealing. I can name quite a few bus routes that I hate to take because of their anecdotally infamous reliability issues: #41, #20, #25, #19, #22, #17, #16, (in order of dislike) etc, etc.

So, I am not actually expecting any response on why my #20 is late. I’m pretty sure it's mostly due to traffic, because we know it's all behind this mess. That doesn’t mean that you are doing enough to address the underlying issues. Traffic has gotten and is only getting worse over the years, and it’s already late to start taking actions at this point. I’ve heard, from your public meetings, that you are having a bus speed & reliability study. That is a good point to start, but please move fast before Vancouver’s bus network becomes even less trustworthy, and before similar problems “spread” to growing areas like Surrey and Coquitlam. 

SkyTrain can never cover all parts of Metro Van, so buses are going to be here to stay. Schedules are pieces of paper, and frequency increases are much less powerful when the buses can’t even come on-time. If you are going to put more resources onto our bus network, fixing its effectiveness will be inevitable.