It’s going to be less expensive taking a bus out of South Delta starting this fall.
TransLink last week announced that beginning Oct. 5, passengers would only need to pay for one zone when riding TransLink bus routes and Handy Dart, regardless of how many zones they travel.
TransLink currently has up to three zones on buses, but during non-peak periods riders only pay the one-zone fare. That fare will now be in effect at all times.
TransLink notes there will no change, though, as far as using SkyTrain or Seabus, so if someone boards a SkyTrain to cross a zone, they have to pay the two-zone fare.
As far as South Delta, TransLink explained that under the present structure, a passenger heading downtown on the #601 Bridgeport Station bus during peak time would pay $4 for two zones in addition to paying extra to get onto the Canada Line, currently considered the third zone.
That will change with bus trips becoming one-zone and dropping to $2.75. It would still cost extra to board the Canada Line, which would become the second zone of travel.
Currently, the three zones of travel have South Deltans paying a fare of $5.50 or a FareSaver price of $4.20.
TransLink notes the same Ladner to downtown route using the Compass Card system will cost even less. A daily commuter on this route normally purchases 12 three-zone monthly FareCards, but on Oct. 5 that passenger would only have to purchase 12 two-zone monthly passes, saving $46 per month or $552 per year.
TransLink also notes that customers could take buses only, instead of the bus and Canada Line route, to get downtown, paying a one-zone fare rate of $2.75 for the whole trip. The travel time is longer, however.
The bus-only route to downtown involves taking the #601 Bridgeport Station from Ladner Exchange to Bridgeport Station, taking the #480 UBC, getting off at 41st Avenue and Granville Street, and then taking the #10 Downtown.
As far as taking a bus from the Scott Road Station to Ladner Exchange, it’s currently a one-zone fare so there will be no change.
TransLink also notes that 80 per cent of bus routes are already within one zone, with just 39 routes crossing two zones and only three crossing three zones.
Several transit users waiting for buses at the Ladner Exchange Monday were asked by the Optimist for their thoughts on the one-zone plan.
One rider said he hasn’t heard anything about it but wants to know more, since he rides to Richmond every day. Another said it’s a great idea and more such incentives are needed to get people out of their cars.
Waiting for a shuttle to load his bike, South Delta resident Peter Friesen said moving to a single-zone system seems to make sense and makes travel less complicated, adding a straight forward time limit for all bus passes that are all one-zone is the most effective way to go.
“Maybe it should be mandatory to have a Compass Card. Maybe it should be $2 for a Compass Card and $3.50 if you don’t have a Compass Card. There’s lots of options. Their payment system needs to be simplified,” he said.
Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington said this week the move to a single zone seems helpful at first glance, but South Deltans are still being penalized by the loss of their direct bus to Vancouver.
Residents now have to board the Canada Line and pay the extra zone or take a much longer, more timely and complicated route with multiple buses, she said.
TransLink also announced that starting this month, and over the next several weeks, Compass Card vending machines will be activated in a phased manner as that program is rolled out.
