Written by Gordon Bohlmann, president of the Marpole Business Improvement Association
The Marpole neighbourhood in southwest Vancouver is one of the city’s oldest and is no stranger to change. Over decades, Marpole has morphed and stretched to accommodate new bridges, residents, and roadways. Some changes have strengthened the community. Others have tested it. And some have posed real risks to its future.
The Granville Street Bus Prioritization project falls squarely into that last category.
TransLink and the City of Vancouver’s plan to significantly remove on-street parking as early as next month is not a minor adjustment. It removes a critical asset and buffer for businesses, residents, and customers. The result will be real economic harm to Marpole’s small, independent businesses and a reduction in the pedestrian comfort and character of Granville Street.
The proposal, which spans from West 5th Avenue to SW Marine Drive, is being framed as a transit improvement. But in practice, it delivers less service, with fewer stops and only marginal travel time savings across the eight affected blocks in Marpole.
At the same time, the neighbourhood inequity is hard to ignore. South Granville retains permanent parking and bus bulges, while in Marpole, vital on-street parking and buffers are being removed from the commercial district.
If the benefits are limited and the impacts are significant, the question becomes clear: where is the balance?
The data from local businesses tells a consistent story.
A survey of Marpole BIA members found that 86 percent consider on-street parking important to their business. Among those expecting negative impacts, 79 percent project a decline in business of 30 percent or more. These are not abstract concerns. They are real projections from business owners already operating in a challenging environment.
Marpole’s small business community employs approximately 1,500 people and serves thousands of local residents. A recent in-person survey found that 70 percent of customers access the Granville Street commercial district by a combination of car and walking. That reality underscores something simple but important: accessibility matters.
Parking access and walkability are not competing priorities in Marpole. They work together to support a functioning local economy.
For more than 25 years, and in the decades prior as the Marpole Landlord and Tenants Association, the Marpole BIA has worked to support community economic development. That work has always been grounded in balance – recognizing the need to support transit while also ensuring businesses can operate and communities can thrive.
This proposal does not reflect that balance.
And just as importantly, the process used to arrive here has fallen short of what was promised.
When TransLink introduced its Bus Speed and Reliability Report in April 2024, it was positioned as a starting point for dialogue.
That commitment matters. It creates an expectation that local knowledge and economic realities will shape outcomes.
There have been meetings with City and TransLink staff, and some adjustments have been made. But those changes have been incremental and do not meaningfully address the core concerns raised by businesses.
What remains missing is a clear justification for the scale of impact being proposed. There has been no localized economic impact analysis, and no evidence that the potential harm to small businesses has been fully weighed against the limited transit benefit. Instead, businesses are being asked to absorb the consequences first, with impacts to be measured only after the fact.
This is not about opposing transit. Marpole businesses support improved transit and understand its importance to the future of Vancouver. This is about ensuring that solutions are designed with communities, not imposed on them.
Local businesses are not obstacles to progress. They are partners in getting it right.
There is still time to reset.
That means pausing to honour the commitments that were made. It means undertaking a localized economic impact assessment. It means working directly with businesses to find solutions that improve transit while protecting the vitality of the community.
Because in the end, this is not just about bus lanes or parking. It is about trust.
And right now, Marpole deserves better.
