Travel on the Millennium and Expo SkyTrain lines was up 12%, which was the largest source of increased ridership | Rob Kruyt

Metro Vancouver’s transit operator TransLink announced February 8 that it had a record 406,840,000 riders in 2017 thanks largely to a 12% jump in riders on the Expo and Millennium SkyTrain lines.

Ridership in 2017 was almost 5.9% more than the 384.3 million riders in 2016 – a number that was also described as a record at the time. That ridership in 2016 was up about 4.5% from the 362.92 riders in 2015.

2017 was the first full year for which the Evergreen line, also referred to as the Millennium line extension, was in operation and that line's traffic was undoubtedly the driver in spurring more traffic on the Millennium and Expo lines.

The Evergreen line's operation also explains the drop in passengers on the West Coast Express given that part of the West Coast Express travels close to where the Evergreen line does.

Here is a chart to show the ridership increases at TransLink:

“Past investments in transit infrastructure are paying dividends as we see the record-breaking ridership and the rapid growth in transit as the preferred option for commuters,” said Kevin Desmond, CEO, TransLink.

“It’s a great trajectory, and with demand for transit still running high, it’s imperative that we continue investing and adding service, so we can deliver service that is reliable, convenient and reduces crowding for our customers.”

gkorstrom@biv.com

@GlenKorstrom