Fraser Valley – The Fraser Valley Regional District Board of Directors confirmed their support for the 2020/2021 Transit initiatives to extend the Fraser Valley Express Bus (Route 66) direct to the Lougheed Skytrain Station.
This link, once complete, will provide the first-ever direct public transit option to the Translink Skytrain system from the Fraser Valley. The motion before the Board was still subject to approval from area service participants – the City of Chilliwack and the City of Abbotsford, who will share the cost of the service with BC Transit and the FVRD.
The FVX expansion plan was unanimously supported by Chilliwack City Council on May 21 at their Regular Open Council Meeting, leaving only the City of Abbotsford to provide approval. Abbotsford Councilor and FVRD delegate Patricia Ross told FVN/chillTV: It is expected that this item will be on the June 10th Abbotsford council agenda. I made my feeling (absolute support!) clear at the FVRD board meeting last Wednesday.
The Fraser Valley Express expansion, along with expansions to Agassiz-Harrison-Hope, and North Fraser are part of an impressive list of public transit investments initiated by the Fraser Valley Regional District.
FVRD Chair Jason Lum has been a vocal advocate for transit expansion and has worked extensively across the region to raise awareness about the importance of investing in transit options in the Fraser Valley. Most recently Lum was a panelist alongside New Westminster Mayor and TransLink Mayor’s Council Chair Jonathan Cote, as well as MLA Bowinn Ma, Parliamentary Secretary for TransLink, and MLA Jordan Sturdy, Official Opposition Critic for Transportation at the Lower Mainland Local Government Association AGM where he presented the case for additional transit investments from the Provincial and Federal Government. “I am very pleased that our transit expansion plans are moving ahead. Our ridership has increased exponentially, our revenue has exceeded all of our expectations which means we require very little tax subsidy, and most importantly we are providing people in the Fraser Valley an affordable, sustainable, travel option.”
