R6 Scott Road RapidBus

As part of the Mayors' 10-Year Vision, the R6 RapidBus will bring faster, more frequent, and reliable service to the Scott Rd corridor. In partnership with the cities of Surrey and Delta, we look forward to working with local communities, businesses, and residents to bring RapidBus and significant safety improvements to the one of the busiest transit corridors in the region.

The R6 Scott Road survey is now closed, thank you for your interest. Please check back in January 2022 to read the consultation summary.

The route and stops have been carefully selected to ensure they meet demand and provide convenient access to key destinations.

The 319 Route will remain in place to provide frequent local service.

Planned R6 Scott Road RapidBus route

To ensure RapidBus vehicles can deliver fast and reliable service and won't get stuck in traffic, we have identified street and traffic changes that speed up travel times for all bus customers.

These changes — also referred to as bus-priority measures — include traffic signals, turn restrictions, dedicated bus lanes, and more. Bus-priority measures improve travel times for all other bus customers travelling along the corridors. Please see the project backgrounder for more information.

Most transit priority can be summed up primarily into two new features: bus lanes and in-lane stops.

Bus lanes

In the proposed R6 designs, where there are curbside bus lanes, in most cases they can also be used by any vehicles making right turns. This maintains traffic flow and access to businesses on the corridor. Importantly, throughout the corridor, we’ve maintained two lanes of traffic in each direction for cars. There are two ways we’ve done this while still adding a bus lane:

Repurposing an existing lane, where there are now three lanes in the same direction.
Slimming existing lanes to make space for a new bus lane. At certain pinch points, we’ll widen the road slightly to make sure the bus lanes are continuous.

In-lane bus stop

An in-lane stop is where the bus doesn’t have to pull out of traffic to pick up and drop off customers. Without an in-lane stop, when buses along Scott Road need to merge in and out of traffic to serve a stop it causes delay to all our bus customers. In-lane stops also create more sidewalk space for buses to deploy ramps, meaning all R6 stops will be accessible.

Please see the project backgrounder for more information.

Why Scott Road?

Scott Road is one of the busiest corridors south of the Fraser and Route 319 is the second fastest growing bus in the region. The current 319 route is the The 7th busiest bus route in Metro Vancouver (2019) .

We know congestion is increasing in our region. From 2015-2019 a roundtrip on the 319 was 10% slower. The corridor is also the sixth worst in the region in terms of person-delay.

Buses on the corridor compromise of 1-2% of all vehicles on the corridor, yet move 24-42% of the people.

How did you choose the route and stops?

Route selection: The route was carefully selected to ensure they met demand, provide convenient access to key destinations and make convenient connections to other busses along the corridor.

This route connects Surrey and Delta residents to the SkyTrain, to commercial areas on Scott Road and in Newton, and to schools such as Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Stop selection: The R6 is a limited-stop service, making it faster than local services. The R6 will stop about every 800 meters to reduce travel times. That means that destinations on the corridor are no more than a five-minute walk from an R6 stop.

Route 319 will remain in place to provide frequent local service and will benefit from the street changes we’re making and experience increased travel times. The 12 other routes that run on a portion of the corridor will also benefit from proposed transit priority measures.

What changes will you make to local bus service?

Route 319 will remain in place, at a reduced but still frequent all-day local service. Route 319 customers will benefit from the street changes we’re making and experience shorter travel times. The 12 other routes that run on a portion of the corridor will also benefit.

How are you improving the Scott Road Corridor?

Safety for all road users: We want to improve safety on the corridor for all road users. This means adding new pedestrian crosswalks, supporting safer driving speeds, and making intersections safer.
Customer experience and accessibility: We're upgrading our bus shelters and stop locations to enhance your ride. This means real time updates, text-to-audio at stops, and other accessibility features.
Pedestrian & cycling comfort and convenience: Where possible, we’re making walking and cycling better. This means new paths, new crosswalks, improved sidewalks and lighting.
Bus travel time savings: To make the RapidBus faster, we’re making changes to the streets to improve travel times. This includes bus lanes, queue jumps, and in-lane bus stops.
Traffic flow and goods movement: Scott Road is an important driving connection for personal vehicles, for goods movement and industrial vehicles. The street designs we’ve developed present minimal impact to drivers. In some cases we even improve traffic flow and travel times for people in motor vehicles.
Access to businesses and residences: Scott Road is an important commercial corridor, with accesses to businesses throughout. While some driveways may need to be adjusted, the majority of accesses are unchanged.
Landscaping: The RapidBus project will include landscaping elements along the Scott Road and 72 Avenue corridor. This includes identifying locations for additional trees, shrubs or other greenery as part of R6 construction. In the case where a tree has to be removed for construction, two trees would be planted to replace it. These are typically planted in the central median of the road, or in the planting strips beside the sidewalk. An overall Corridor Greening Plan is also being developed.

How will the RapidBus connect with other bus routes?

The proposed R6 RapidBus route does not enter Scottsdale exchange to ensure faster and more reliable travel times. The R6 will not loop behind the mall or go around the bus loop and will therefore be able to provide a more direct service. Customers can still connect easily to other local routes at other shared stops on Scott Rd and 72nd Ave.The route details will be confirmed through the planning and design process.

By stopping at 72nd and Scott Rd instead of Scottsdale Exchange, RapidBus will provide convenient access to major destinations such as the Guru Nanak Gurdwara or the Scottsdale Centre mall as well as Strawberry Hill.

When will this route be in place?

The R6 Scott Rd RapidBus is anticipated to be launched in late 2023.

Will truck traffic or general vehicle traffic get worse on the Scott Rd. corridor as a result of transit priority?

The proposed transit priority on the corridor will be built by creating additional lanes. The traffic analysis conducted does not show any significant changes in congestion. In some cases the additional transit priority will help reduce congestion in certain areas.

What are the next steps?

An engagement summary report will be released in January 2022. Your feedback from the public consultation will inform the design phase. Construction will begin in Spring 2023. The R6 RapidBus is anticipated to launch in Fall 2023.