TransLink increasing service on three Coquitlam bus routes
Transit organization replacing buses on 187 line, adding more vehicles to 186 and 157 routes
If you have ever been left hanging by the bus in Coquitlam, you may be in luck.
The city is getting bigger buses and increasing service on three routes next month, according to TransLink. The improvements will hit two north-south routes (the 186 and 187) within the centre of the city, and an east-west connector between Burquitlam and Austin Heights.
Beginning on Sep. 2, the 187 line — connecting Coquitlam Central Station to Parkway Boulevard — will introduce 40-foot buses during peak travel times in the morning and afternoon on weekdays, replacing the community shuttle vehicles that typically service the route.
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“We’re adjusting service on the 187 on weekdays to provide more space at times when it’s needed most,” TransLink said in a release.
The buses are scheduled to leave every 15 minutes towards Coquitlam Central or Parkway between 5 and 6 a.m. School-specific trips in the morning and afternoon, however, will be discontinued.
TransLink is also adding buses to another north-south route in Coquitlam.
The 186 bus, which travels between Coquitlam Central and Westwood Plateau via Pinetree Way and Pipeline Road, is expected to have wait times reduced by three to five minutes Monday to Friday.
Buses heading towards Coquitlam Central are slated to leave every 12 minutes between 8 and 9 a.m. The service will be the same in the afternoon heading to Hampton Park, before dropping to every 15 minutes between 6 and 9 p.m.
Wait times are also expected to be reduced on the 157 between Burquitlam Station and Lougheed Station on Sundays and holidays.
On the weekend, the transit agency says buses will leave towards Buquitlam every 30 minutes between 7 and 9 p.m., up from the previous 30 to 60-minute wait time. Buses are also slated to leave every 20 minutes to and from Buquitlam and Lougheed in the afternoon and early evening.
The improvements are part of a wider service change for TransLink, an organization that has faced high ridership and the return of pre-pandemic overcrowding levels.
Annual ridership, driven by population growth across Metro Vancouver, grew by 20 per cent between 2022 and 2023. To cope with the increase, TransLink plans to increase bus service on 47 routes this September.
The additions come almost one year after Coquitlam signalled its desire for Bus Rapid Transit — a form of transit with dedicated bus lanes — on a 15-kilometre stretch of Lougheed Highway between the city and Maple Ridge.
The increases are also coming despite older Tri-Cities residents — a majority from Port Coquitlam — recently voicing concerns about transit.
Nearly 700 people aged 55 or older responded to a transportation survey in 2022, with 86 per cent of those folks primarily relying on their own vehicle to get around town. Only 27 per cent of those people surveyed reported taking transit.
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