The R4, which regularly has long lineups at the Exchange bus loop, has left students annoyed and frustrated.
The bus — which runs from campus to Joyce-Collingwood station — is the only RapidBus that goes directly from campus through South Vancouver. Since the start of classes in September, the bus stop has seen long lines as students wait to go home.
When asked about the overarching problems with the R4, students were quick to state scheduling inconsistencies, line length and crowdedness.
“Sometimes on the app, like Google maps or the Maps app, it’ll say that the bus is coming at a certain time. Typically though it’s a bit late so either you’re seeing the bus go right before your eyes or you have to wait like five to ten minutes,” said Ethaniel Tan, a second-year sauder student.
Simon Lee, a second-year arts student, conveyed the same problem. “Just now, the schedule was wrong. I waited twenty minutes in line. That’s the main concern.”
When it comes to crowdedness, Dani Beyene, a first-year arts student commuting from Surrey, said that finding a seat is based on luck. “I find it an inconvenience after waiting in the lines. I end up just like getting on the bus and there are no seats on the bus left and I have to stand the whole time.”
Concerns of COVID-19 have also impacted students commuting. “On the busses, it does get crowded and that makes me nervous. Especially when people start coughing,” said Beyene.
Ayaka Matsuno, a fourth-year chemistry student, thinks that the crowdedness of the R4 is due to the suspension of the 480 bus, which went directly to Richmond. The line was suspended in April 2020 due to the pandemic.
Lee, a commuter from Richmond, was impacted by this change. “I live in Richmond and I wish the 480 could come back ... I have to take the R4 now cause it’s not there.”
When asked what TransLink could do to fix the long lines and crowded busses, students overwhelmingly said the company could add more busses to the schedule.
But, TransLink Media Relations Advisor Dan Mountain said in a written statement that they are “providing sufficient service on the R4 to meet overall demand from UBC.”
“We have been monitoring this route since the beginning of the school year and we have added more service at times when we saw more was needed to ensure enough capacity is available,” said Mountain. “The R4 receives the second-highest service frequencies of any bus route in the region, and during peak hours, frequencies on the R4 are similar to the 99 B-Line already”
Mountain explained that the R4 route has been impacted by construction around the 41st Avenue Corridor. No immediate action can be taken, however.
“We do recognize, however, that uneven surges in demand and other operational issues, such as construction and road congestion, can lead to queuing at the UBC bus loop ... We will continue to monitor this route and adjust service as ridership patterns evolve.”
Though the AMS hasn’t received direct concerns from students in regards to the R4, AMS VP External Saad Shoaib encouraged students to reach out to them with their concerns.
“We're going to definitely push TransLink and make sure that TransLink is understanding the concerns that students are facing regarding the R4 lineups … [we] always have been in constant communication with TransLink on those concerns,” he said.
“As a student who took the R4 … I totally understand the concerns that students have. And I think that it's just really important that we are hearing the concerns as well so that we're better able to advocate for students,” said James Cabangon, the associate vice-president external.
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