SPORTS
PHOTO ESSAY
ONLINE SPECIAL
Formula One club
Pinball revival
Positive failures
New women-led motorsports
Vancity Pinball and Arcade in
Turning mistakes into
club at Langara breaks gender
East Vancouver brings new life
stereotypes. P8
to old games. P6
something you can be proud of.
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APRIL 2, 2026 • VOL. 59 NO. 3 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
The Hudson Effect P. 7
Langara alumnus Hudson Williams spikes a rise in enrolment in film arts at Langara College, said department chair Jonas Quastel. PHOTO COURTESY OF FILM ARTS DEPARTMENT
Catch 22 for bus route 49
Faster commute, fewer stops but lost parking for residents along the avenue BY VALENTINA BARRERA
T
ransLink plans to speed up Route 49 by adding bus lanes and removing stops, but residents say they’ll lose the street parking they rely on along 49th Avenue. The proposal affects 28 stops between Crown Street and Boundary Road. Route 49 carries 8.5 million trips annually, yet one in four buses run off schedule. Carol Kong, assistant branch manager of transportation design for the City of Vancouver, said in a statement to the Voice that the project aims to improve bus reliability and service. “The planned bus improvements on 49th Avenue are delivered in partnership with TransLink,” Kong said. “Businesses, residents, and transit users were able to provide feedback
via surveys, email, and in-person meetings.” Some residents say consultation has been insufficient. Ajay Brach’s elderly parents live along the route. “They haven’t consulted anyone. They haven’t asked anyone for their feedback,” he said. Brach said his parents were struggling with the changes. “I think they’re quite devastated,” he said. Brach said visiting his parents often requires parking several blocks away. Some of us have kids. And then we have to walk with, imagine, three or four kids, several blocks to visit them. So it just kind of deters us [from] wanting to go to visit them.” Brach said the plan ignores other possible solutions. “There’s tons of options … but they chose to do the laziest, in my opin-
ion,” he said. door boarding policy in the future, Transit advocates say all-door but no details are available at this boarding could improve travel times time,” said TransLink media relations without disrupting the neighbour- in an email to the Voice. hood. Agar said “It makes shorter boarding transit faster,” times could also said Denis Agar, lower operating executive direccosts. tor of Movement “Time is YVR, a Vancoum o n e y. T h e ver transit advolonger a bus cacy group. The route takes, the group launched more it costs to a petition for allrun,” he said. — AJAY BRACH, RESIDENT door boarding in “We think allearly March. door boarding TransLink’s current policy limits can save about $15 million a year.” all-door boarding to RapidBus routes Movement YVR said the estimate is and several high-volume routes, based on a three per cent travel time including the 145, a shuttle to SFU reduction using TransLink service that has used all-door boarding since hours and operating costs, for about 2002. $15.4 million in annual savings. “We are planning to review our allVancouver’s neighbour, Seattle,
“There’s tons of options ... but they chose to do the laziest, in my opinion.”
Wash., is switching to all-door boarding system-wide this month. All-door boarding also reduces crowding, Agar said. “When passengers board only at the front, buses get packed near the driver while space remains at the back,” he said. “With all-door boarding, you can have people board evenly throughout the bus. It’s really such a no-brainer.” Riders say crowding and delays are already part of their commute. “It’s busy. It’s fast, but sometimes it’s too full,” said Ngawang Eden Gyeltshen, a first-year health science student at Langara. “Sometimes they just pass by you because it’s full.” Jaiden Ranta, a first-year general science student at Langara, said front-door boarding doesn’t always work. “The door opens and everyone just floods in,” she said.