North Shore transit users can expect an upgrade in bus services to kick in this Monday.
In North Vancouver, riders will notice the numbers 210, 236 and 239 that together serve Upper Lynn Valley, Grouse Mountain, Pemberton Heights, Lonsdale Quay, Phibbs Exchange and Capilano University will offer more frequent services that better reflect current ridership.
By the summer, the 236 will offer weekday service between Grouse Mountain, Pemberton Heights and the Quay every 15 minutes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to an email received from a TransLink spokesman.
The 210 bus that serves Upper Lynn Valley via Vancouver will offer trips leaving Burrard Station at 6:20 a.m., 6:50 a.m., 7:20 a.m., and then every 15 minutes until 8:50 a.m., better reflecting seasonal ridership.
A release from the District of West Vancouver notes that the 253, 254, 255, and 250A are getting service boosts as well.
The 253 and 254 will now operate every hour on Sundays and holidays, up from every two hours; the 255 is increasing weekday service to every 20 minutes, up from every 30 minutes; and the 250A is increasing Saturday service from 8 a.m.-11 p.m.
Additionally, the 258 with service from West Vancouver to UBC will be discontinued April 28 to coincide with the end of the semester. Service will resume in September. In the meantime, students are encouraged to take the 250 or 257 downtown to the transfer point at Burrard and Georgia streets before catching the 44 to UBC.
The service boosts are part of a Metro Vancouver plan approved last year that will see a 10 per cent increase in bus services across the region.
According to a TransLink release from when the announcement was made at the end of March, this next wave of bus service improvements is part of the biggest Metro Vancouver transportation expansion in a decade.
