David Eby's BC NDP commit $250 million toward TransLink's new Bus Rapid Transit line in Surrey

In its second public transit-related platform announcement this week, the BC NDP have made a specific promise to fulfill TransLink’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project — the King George Boulevard BRT line between SkyTrain’s Surrey Central Station and Semiahmoo Town Centre in South Surrey, which would effectively also reach White Rock.

Today, BC NDP leader David Eby announced his party, if re-elected, the provincial government would commit $250 million toward the new BRT line in Surrey.

This provincial funding would leverage additional funding from the federal government.

In total, the King George Boulevard BRT line is expected to cost about $700 million as of 2026 — up from between $250 million and $300 million in TransLink’s 2023 funding request to the federal government.

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Eby says this project will result in “smoother daily commutes, and drive economic growth and higher paying jobs in the community.”

The King George Boulevard BRT would be a 19-km-long rapid transit route with extensive dedicated bus-only lanes, traffic signal priority for buses at intersections, and special train station-like bus stops with weather protection, digital displays, and other features. Altogether, the BRT line would have 12 stations.

With such bus-priority measures, TransLink estimates the King George Boulevard BRT would have an end-to-end travel time of about 40 minutes, making it as fast or faster than driving during peak periods. It would also replace the existing R1 King George Boulevard RapidBus route, which runs between Guildford Town Centre and Newton bus exchange via Surrey Central Station. The BRT would not replicate the R1’s existing route between Guildford Town Centre and Surrey Central Station.

According to the public transit authority, ridership on this BRT line could reach over 25,000 riders per day by 2035. In 2025, the R1 RapidBus saw about 14,000 boardings per weekday on average.

TransLink has not established any timeline for building the King George Boulevard BRT line. However, it previously noted that BRT could have a construction and implementation timeline of three to five years, after funding is fully secured.

Meanwhile, in the separate civic election campaign period, some Surrey municipal parties and candidates have been calling for a SkyTrain extension on this King George Boulevard corridor from Surrey City Centre, reaching at least Newton or as far as South Surrey.

Currently, construction is well underway on SkyTrain’s 16-km-long Surrey-Langley extension of the Expo Line along Fraser Highway. The $6-billion Expo Line extension project is expected to reach completion and open in late 2029.

The BC NDP’s announcement today did not mention any commitments to realize TransLink’s other two prioritized BRT line projects — the Langley-Haney Place BRT line and the potential Metrotown-North Shore BRT.

However, Eby’s party made the new platform commitment of making the B.C. Bus Pass free for 350,000 low-income seniors across the province, and expand the income eligibility of the program so that tens of thousands of additional residents with financial pressures can access TransLink and BC Transit services for free. Currently, people enrolled in the B.C. Bus Pass program pay a nominal annual fee of $45.

Earlier this week, the BC NDP made its first TransLink-related campaign pledge, promising to introduce legislation to create a new revenue source for Metro Vancouver’s public transit authority. No details were provided on what this new legislated funding source would be. Eby has ruled out a new TransLink vehicle levy, road tolls, or mobility pricing. Without a new revenue source or continued provincial operating subsidies, TransLink faces the return of its fiscal cliff issues beginning in 2028, which could result in major service cuts if left unresolved.

So far, the BC NDP have not made any specific platform promise to advance the project of extending SkyTrain’s Millennium Line from Arbutus to the University of British Columbia. However, it is well known that detailed technical design and planning work has been well underway for several years to support the project’s business case and seek a funding contribution from the federal government. UBC SkyTrain was named as a key priority in the BC NDP’s previous platform in the October 2024 provincial election.

For electing MLAs in provincial ridings and to help determine which provincial party will form the next provincial government, the provincial general election’s main voting day is Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, with advance voting taking place over six days from Friday, Oct. 16 to Wednesday, Oct. 21.

The municipal election’s main voting day is Saturday, Oct. 17, a full week before the provincial election. This separate election will fill municipal government positions for mayor, City Council, and other local representatives.

You might also like:
• David Eby's BC NDP promises new TransLink funding source without higher costs for drivers
• BC NDP's David Eby says he will not create a new annual TransLink levy of up to $150 on every vehicle in Metro Vancouver
• Cost of TransLink's King George Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit line soars to $700 million
• Lorne Doerkson's B.C. Conservatives propose replacing ICBC's no-fault system, consider private auto insurance competition
• Lorne Doerkson's B.C. Conservatives promise 10-lane George Massey Bridge instead of $8.5-billion, eight-lane immersed tunnel