Bus pulls in to restored stop at 35th and Dunbar.
By Carol Volkart
Two bus stops that mysteriously vanished from Dunbar Street more than a year ago are back in operation.
The 36th Ave. northbound stop and the 35th Ave. southbound stops returned to service last week, thanks to the efforts of retired long-time bus driver Angus McIntyre and the Dunbar Residents’ Association.
Between them, says DRA vice-president Colleen McGuinness, they’re proof of why every neighbourhood needs champions.
If McIntyre hadn’t cared enough about transit to notice the missing stops and raise the alarm, and if the DRA hadn’t been concerned enough about their loss to ask TransLink what was going on, the missing stops would, well, still be missing.
And the losers, says McGuinness, would be the residents who depend on those stops, especially seniors and those with mobility problems whose access to transit was worsened by their removal.
“Seniors who count on travelling by bus must be able to get to bus stops. If they’re too far away, they’re inaccessible,” says McGuinness, former chair of the city’s seniors’ advisory committee.
The saga of the bus stops began last summer when McIntyre, a DRA board member who keeps a careful eye on transit issues, noticed two stops had suddenly disappeared, with no community consultation or explanation. He was especially mystified because those same stops had supposedly been saved when TransLink backtracked on its plans to remove 40 percent of Dunbar’s bus stops in its Bus Balancing project in 2021-22.
McIntyre took his discovery to the DRA board, which wrote TransLink asking for an explanation. The answer astounded them.
TransLink explained that a resident who lived close to the 36th stop had repeatedly asked for its removal, saying it was too close to the next stop and expressing concerns about its proximity to her home. TransLink said it reviewed the request and agreed the 36th and 37th stops were close and that ridership was low. After consulting with the city, it removed the stop and its pair across the street in April 2024 for a six-month trial period that became permanent in November.
“Be assured that this was a unique circumstance for this particular pair of stops, rather than an effort to further reduce local service to the community,” said the Feb. 12 letter from TransLink, which seemed eager to make amends.
“We are open to reinstating the stops and have already started conversations with the City on implementing this,” the letter said. “Please be advised that this may take up to six weeks, and we will share an update once the reinstatement is confirmed.”
The DRA responded in March that it certainly did want the stops reinstated, saying it was “disconcerting” that it took only a single resident’s request, with no community consultation, to disrupt travel in the neighbourhood. “It seems unfair to those in the neighbourhood who have always used that bus stop.”
When the six weeks stretched into May with dust still gathering at the bus stops, McIntyre sent TransLink a gentle nudge. The response was almost immediate: The stops would be reinstated by May 26.
But TransLink had one more surprise in store. When McIntyre happened to pass the stops on May 23, he found shiny new poles and signs already up.
A year and a month after they were removed, the stops were back in action.
Of course that’s good news but again translink has no regard for it’s customers whos use of transit employs them. The stop at Dunbar and 26th north is still not put back for. A blind person despite a half year of constant asking and foi’s. Getting off at 25th and crossing back to 26th is not an option due to how wide 25th crossing is so not safe for blind person. Instead I get off at 18th and cross where it’s safer then walk down and catch the 7 back up to 25th and then it turns east On 25th going east. This adds at least another half hour to my trip. Also Mckensie stops are still not put back. Translink will simply disregard riders needs choosing instead to service only high useage areas. What if it was brought to their attention they have a job because of all ridership?
Thanks for pointing out the big consequences of seemingly small changes in our transit system for the visually impaired. That’s quite a detour you have to make! Seems like there should be a better way of ensuring transit works for those who especially rely on it.