Kathryn Langmead has been an avid transit user in Vancouver since she moved to the city nearly 60 years ago.
“I never got my license or felt like spending money on a car,” the now-retired landscaper and hairdresser told Vancity Lookout. “[I’ve always taken the bus] for environmental reasons, I’ve relied on transit in this city since I was 18.”
Langmead lives near Fraser and 49th, at the northern border of Sunset, a Southeast Vancouver neighbourhood where residents have historically been underserved by transit.
Where she lives, there are several busy bus routes with stops that feel inaccessible, and others that are outright dangerous, Langmead said.
“I don’t feel safe or protected,” she said, noting the bus stop at Fraser and East 33rd Avenue. “There’s a steep hill, [narrow sidewalk], there’s no benches, no shelter, and it's a super busy street…if a car got out of control and rolled up on the sidewalk, that’s it.”
Volunteers take bus stop bench building into their own hands
The need for improved transit infrastructure, particularly in neighbourhoods around East and South Vancouver, has become so dire that a group of concerned citizens recently took matters into their own hands.
Inspired by the work of the San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective, a group of roughly a dozen volunteers built and installed wooden benches at several bus stops throughout the city.
The vast majority of these benches were placed in South Vancouver, including one very near Langmead’s residence at St. Catherine’s and East 49th, which she referred to as “a total asset.”
Software developer and Coquitlam resident Joe Czepil said he met several other volunteers after he got involved with Movement, a non-profit advocacy group fighting for better transit in Metro Vancouver.
“Everyone deserves to be able to move around the city freely, especially people coming off a long day of work or those with limited mobility,” said Czepil.
Having taken up woodworking as a hobby, Czepil led workshops for volunteers at the East Vancouver MakerLabs where the benches were first constructed before being installed in August. “I started learning woodworking about a year ago… so I offered to host a workshop and teach people [how to build benches]... and use the more dangerous tools that other people were uncomfortable with.”
While Czepil said that it felt “super empowering” to be able to contribute meaningfully to the community, he added that “a lot of people [also felt that] if a few volunteers can get together for a few days and install five benches, why can’t the city do that at a reasonable pace as well?”
Joe Czepil leading a bench-making tutorial at MakerLabs./Photo provided by Joe Czepil
While things like bus maintenance and route planning are TransLink’s responsibility, in most cases, it is the city’s job to maintain and build the infrastructure at bus stops.
“Municipalities own the streets,” Denis Agar, executive director at Movement, told Vancity Lookout. “You can paint a diamond on the street and put up a sign that says ‘Bus Only’ and immediately make transit more competitive and attractive for people.”
He added that “the benches are a way of prodding cities and reminding them that they have full control over bus stops.”
South Vancouver, in particular, has been in desperate need of improvements to both transit routes and basic infrastructure.
While areas primarily made up of single-family homes are typically not high-transit-using neighbourhoods, Agar said that “there's a remarkably high rate of transit ridership in South Vancouver.”
South Vancouver is located between two Skytrain lines. It is home to roughly 100,000 people and a large number of multi-generational households, with the largest share of racialized residents (80 per cent) and immigrants (56 per cent) in the city. Household income in the area is also below many other Vancouver neighbourhoods.
South Vancouver also has particularly high rates of population growth among groups that are less likely to drive, such as seniors and youth under 15.
South Vancouver bus routes ‘should be a lot more frequent’
While there are a number of routes desperately in need in South Vancouver, Agar said that the 49, which runs from UBC to Metrotown via East 49th Avenue, is “essential.”
“It moves twice as many people [daily] as our national railway. It needs bus lanes, rapid level service…and shelters at benches at every stop,” he said.
Two of the five benches installed by volunteers were also along the 100 bus route on Marine Drive. For Agar, given the population growth brought on by the expansion of the River District, routes along Marine Drive “should be a lot more frequent.”
One way to do that, he said, is to invest more heavily in the new 80 bus, an express route along Marine Drive that began service in 2023 and terminates at the River District. “It’s an excellent new route, but it’s just not very frequent and doesn’t run on evenings and weekends,” he added.
Of those surveyed in a recent report, 83 per cent of respondents said that affordable, reliable public transit was a priority warranting “considerable time and resources” from the next council, coming in second after housing.
TransLink will need more funding to expand its service, which will be part of an important multi-level government discussion in the spring of next year.
TransLink has long had well-documented financial struggles, including a $72 million shortfall in 2025. Contributions from provincial and federal governments were down by 22 per cent this last year.
When asked which of the parties running in the municipal election seemed supportive of the transit-related action that rider advocacy groups like Movement have been asking for, Agar said COPE has incorporated several transit promises into its platform.
OneCity has announced it will implement smart traffic signals to allow buses to move more seamlessly throughout the city. Agar added that Green Party mayoral candidate Pete Fry has “really indicated his enthusiasm” for transit-related development, but has not yet released a platform.
“I do have to give ABC some kudos for voting unanimously for our bus lane motion a couple of years ago,” said Agar. The motion calls for the implementation of dedicated bus lanes along eight priority corridors in Vancouver, including 49th Avenue.
He added that the city has been working to deliver it, though “not at the speed that the motion calls for.”
The Vancouver Liberals have said they will prioritize completing the SkyTrain extension to UBC and create commercial incentives to lower rents for businesses affected by transit improvements.
TEAM Vancouver said it will enact an “all-of-the-above” transportation strategy, which includes expanding bus service and implementing new stops in underserved neighbourhoods. Vote Vancouver promised free transit for youth and Bright Future Vancouver has proposed free transit for youth and low-income seniors, as well as rapid bus priority corridors.
Agar added that we know that improvements in transit and the infrastructure people rely on while using it are possible.
Some cities, like Burnaby, he said, have “taken that to heart,” recently installing benches, lighting, and shelters at a rate of nearly one per week, and are now on track to reach 370 new bus shelters by 2030.
While seniors like Langmead are grateful for any improvements, she said she hopes to see more action taken to make transit safer and more accessible in South Vancouver in particular. “There are a lot of elderly people and immigrants living in this area who tend not to advocate for themselves,” she added. “[But benches like these] should be at every bus stop.”
