Construction and crowding at Phibbs Exchange a sign of bigger transit issues for CapU
Kirsten Wiltshire (she/her) // Staff writer
“They cram a million students into one bus and we suffocate,” says fourth-year student Farah Tamim, whose sole mode of transportation to and from campus is the 245. Since July 24, 2023 all bays at Phibbs Exchange have been closed due to construction.
In an update from TransLink, bus stops have been temporarily relocated to nearby streets for the duration of the project, which is set to finish in mid-2024. Although the upgrade will be a major improvement — with better lighting, design, accessibility and weather protection — in the interim there are few, if any, of these necessities.
Not only have the conditions at Phibbs been bare-bones, but the lines for the 245 bus have been absurdly long. Tamim referred to the lines as a “nightmare.” The construction is exacerbating the issue by making the waiting time unpleasant, especially in inclement weather.
Representatives from the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) have not been successful in their requests to TransLink for more buses on the 245 route and to add more routes to campus, despite having met with 21 public officeholders this year regarding transit.
There are two bus routes that serve the university campus. The 245 goes between Phibbs Exchange and the University, with eight stops in between. The 255 has 49 stops and goes between West Vancouver (Marine Dr. and 25th Ave) and CapU.
There is no direct bus from the student residence, located three kilometres away, to the university. Students must take a bus to Phibbs Exchange and then catch the 245. It takes about 25 minutes each way.
In 2020, TransLink replaced the 239 route with two new routes, the R2 Marine Drive RapidBus, to serve the Park Royal to Phibbs section, and the 245 to fill in Phibbs to CapU. In the summer of 2023, the 245 route had articulated buses, the accordion-style dual buses that can accommodate twice the amount of people. However, according to the Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board (CPTDB), TransLink replaced those buses with the standard 40-foot buses due to space restrictions at the temporary Phibbs exchange location.
“We have contacted TransLink a few times to see if they could increase service levels,” says CSU VP External Manpreet Kaur. “They have been telling us that they are at capacity due to funding constraints. So we’ve not seen much progress from them.”
TransLink also told Kaur that there are no available articulated buses to swap out with the standard buses, as they are being used on other routes. They made no mention to Kaur of the space restrictions due to construction cited on the CPTDB Wiki.
The CSU has a two-pronged approach to deal with the current state of transit options. “We are trying to break it [into] short-term and long-term goals,” says Kaur. “[We’re trying to] increase the service levels of the 245, decrease the wait times, and hopefully, there’s a free articulated bus somewhere.” Longer term, the CSU hopes more bus routes will get added to CapU, rather than Phibbs—as that’s where the bus lines get really long. They’re also requesting that TransLink add CapU as a stop on the R2 route.
In a meeting last week with local MLA Bowinn Ma, the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, the CSU received support from the minister for increased services.
“They did tell us that the province has been funding public transit. So hopefully, they will be able to make some changes, but we haven’t heard of any updates yet,” says Kaur. As per recommendations from Ma, the CSU is working on a campaign to encourage students to fill out TransLink feedback forms to put pressure on TransLink to make the changes the CSU is requesting.
“It’s not a Cap specific problem, I feel like everyone has been suffering the effects of post-pandemic transit projects,” says Kaur. When asked what students can do to accelerate the solutions, Kaur says that filling out the TransLink feedback form is the one thing that could bring attention to the severity of the issue.
It seems that changes are necessary, achievable and would alleviate major transit frustrations amongst students and faculty. The only missing piece is buy-in from TransLink. Perhaps when the CSU rolls out their campaign, we’ll see those changes come to fruition.
