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TransLink to ditch 60-foot articulated buses for North Van 240 route

The 40-foot buses have less capacity but they will run more often, TransLink says
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A TransLink R2 RapidBus crosses the Lynn Creek Bridge where Cotton Road meets Main Street on May 24, 2021. TransLink will stop using 60-foot articulated buses, similar to this one, on the 240 route in 2024.| Paul McGrath, North Shore News files

Smaller buses, more frequent service.

TransLink has confirmed it will no longer be using its fleet of extended articulated buses on the 240 route, which connects Lynn Valley to Downtown Vancouver via the Lions Gate Bridge.

Currently, the transit authority uses both 40-foot and 60-foot buses on the route. That will no longer be the case following the next quarterly change in services in 2024.

Ultimately, it should be a better, “more consistent” experience for riders, with shorter wait times between buses, TransLink says.

“Customers on this route will have more frequent bus service, as TransLink will be increasing service frequencies to offset the change in capacity,” a statement from TransLink read, Tuesday.

According to stats from TransLink, the 240 had just over 2.6 million boardings in 2022, making it the 23rd busiest of TransLink’s 203 comparable bus routes. In the fall of 2022, about six per cent of the 240’s trips were considered “overcrowded” – when the bus reaches 100 per cent capacity or higher.

Speaking to the TransLink board of directors last week, TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn reported that ridership across the system is now at 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, making it the fastest-recovering transit system in North America.

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