Surrey council votes to forge ahead with ‘100%’ detailed design for King George Bus Rapid Transit
Published 10:15 pm Monday, May 11, 2026
Surrey council voted to advance to a “100 per cent” detailed design for King George Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit from Whalley to Semiahmoo Town Centre on Monday night, but not without opposition.
Council was expected to vote on this on April 27 but heard funding has not yet been secured for construction of the project.
Mayor Brenda Locke deferred consideration of a related corporate report to council’s May 11 meeting, with King George Station being the “preferred” site of a pilot BRT station. There are 12 proposed BRT stops along the route, at Surrey Central Station, King George Station, 96 Avenue, 88 Avenue, 80 Avenue, 76 Avenue, Newton Exchange, 64 Avenue, South Surrey Park & Ride, the 32 Avenue Diversion, 24 Avenue, and Semiahmoo Town Centre.
Council heard during an April 27 presentation from Sarah Ross, TransLink’s vice-president of transportation planning and policy, that there is funding in place “for the work we’re doing now and to complete the detailed design, but we do not have funding in place for the full implementation of that.”
Councillors Mandeep Nagra, Linda Annis, Doug Elford and Mike Bose voted against this going forward.
“I think the only solution connecting to Newton on King George is SkyTrain,” Nagra said.
Annis asked what the estimated budget is to build the BRT. Scott Neuman, Surrey’s general manager of engineering, replied that TransLink hasn’t provided an updated cost estimate. Annis then remarked that without a cost – and that Surrey should be “thinking bigger” with Light Rail Transit (LRT) – she said she can’t support something she doesn’t have a cost for.
“I think we need to wait, find out what this is going to cost, and consider LRT,” she said.
Elford said he’s convinced Surrey needs elevated transportation down King George. “I took me an hour to get to City Hall today,” the Newton resident said, “and every time I tried a different route, up 132 or 128, it was just equally as busy so I just can’t imagine another lane of traffic taken out down the King George. Elevation is the way to go and that’s why I will not be endorsing this.”
Councillor Harry Bains said he doesn’t know anyone who thinks SkyTrain wouldn’t be an “amazing” option but added “we need transit today. The hour that it took you to get to work today, councillor Elford, isn’t going to be solved by waiting 15, 20 years for SkyTrain.
“I think we all know the financial situation of TransLink,” Bains said. “The viability of having SkyTrain in the short term is very unlikely – TransLink doesn’t have the money and I don’t know anybody at TransLink that’s saying they’re going to build SkyTrain. What the BRT does is it gives us rapid transit immediately.”
Nagra asked how long it would take to build the BRT.
Neuman replied that if council endorses this now city hall can advise TransLink to proceed to detailed design and the estimate for construction costs will be “firmed up as part of that process.”
The investment plan needs to be done by April 2027, he added. Nagra asked when the buses will be moving down King George if council approves this now. “If this moves forward today and the investment plan is approved with funding from the Province and the feds, you could see buses realistically I would say end of next year, by the time construction’s commenced.”
Neuman told council TransLink has the funding to proceed through detailed design. “Then actual procurement, construction would be into the 2027 investment plan.” Funding for construction isn’t in place yet, he confirmed.
Council heard LRT is four to five times more expensive than building BRT and SkyTrain is about eight to 10 times the price of BRT.
“In my view this is the most realistic option,” Bains said. “If we ever get funding for SkyTrain, you’re not going to hear a no from me, I’m happy to see it. But again, we need people moving today, not 2o years from now.”
Councillor Pardeep Kooner said she believes the BRT could be completed by 2030 “and that’s a helluva lot quicker than waiting a decade.”
Mayor Brenda Locke said BRT makes sense.
“I don’t have any indication from the public that they’re looking forward to seeing LRT,” she said.