Today, TransLink has released a very important document that lays out our plan for the next three years of transit in Metro Vancouver. Our draft 2013 Base Plan is a blueprint for transit planning, funding and servicing.

We’ve talked about the financial challenges TransLink is facing of late on the blog. The 2013 draft Base Plan provides specifics on how,

“Translink’s Board of Directors remain focused on delivering the best possible transportation system to the public, while making the most of every dollar we have.” – Nancy Olewiler, Chair of TransLink’s Board of Directors.

I encourage everyone to read the draft for a thorough description of what and why we are proposing the following measures:

TransLink will proceed with:

The Evergreen Line project

109,000 new hours of transit service. Some of these hours were implemented in April 2012

Rapid Bus service on Highway 1 over the Port Mann Bridge from Carvolth Transit Exchange in Langley to SkyTrain in New Westminster, every 10 minutes during peak hours and 30 minutes during off-peak hours

B-Line service every seven to eight minutes on King George Boulevard and 104th Avenue between Newton and Guilford

Upgrades to Expo Line stations including improving capacity and accessibility at Main St. and Scott Road, Metrotown, Commercial-Broadway, Surrey Central, New Westminster and Joyce-Collingwood stations

TransLink will not proceed with:

Implementing approximately 306,000 hours of planned increases of bus service hours

Expanded SeaBus service to provide 15-minute service on Sundays and holidays in fall, winter and spring

Restoring original funding for cycling programs and the Major Road Network

Ten-minute, off-peak frequency on the Highway 1 Rapid Bus service

The White Rock Centre extension on the King George Boulevard B-Line service

This document is meant to serve as the start of the conversation about the future of transit in Metro Vancouver–a conversation that includes The TransLink Board of Directors, the Mayor’s Council, the Province, stakeholders and the public.

Part of this conversation is to inform the public of what we’ve done in the region to date. We’ll be posting questions about what we’d done so far until the Base Plan is submitted to the Mayor’ Council for approval on November 1, 2012. Here’s the first one (hint, you might want to check out our 2011 annual report for the answer): Update: The answer to the below question is 232 million. Thanks for taking the poll!

In 1999, TransLink provided 46 million rides on transit. In 2011, how many rides did we provide? 232 million (51%, 50 Votes)

106 million (38%, 37 Votes)

82 million (10%, 10 Votes)

33 million (1%, 1 Votes) Total Voters: 98

I’ll provide the answer to this question tomorrow on this post. As usual, we’d love your comments and thoughts on the plan below!

Update: The draft 2013 Base Plan questionnaire is now available to be filled out. Make sure you do so between now and October 12.