The approval of the R6 RapidBus service by the Safe Surrey Coalition-led City Council gives the green light toa desperately-needed upgrade to transit service along Scott Road.

The new project will connect Scott Road SkyTrainStation to the Newton Exchange Bus Loop and improve commute times by 22 per cent.

According to Translink, the existing 319 transit bus that currently covers this route is the top bus route and one of thefastest wing corridors in the South of the Fraser region, with 7.5 million passenger boardings in 2019.

This route is a transit gap that was well known about by past Surrey City Councils under the control of Surrey First, yetignored in favour of a failed LRT proposal that over a decade, built nothing and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

The Safe Surrey Coalition has a far more pragmatic approach to governance, according to Surrey City Councillor DougElford.

"We are a party and City Council that addresses the needs of our city with practicality and this RapidBus service is acollaboration with Translink that will really add north-south transit capacity," says Elford.

"The baffling focus on thefailed LRT proposal by past councils completely ignored what is well known in Surrey to be a difficult transit commute,and so we are very pleased that the RapidBus is proceeding."

The support for better service along Scott Road has been overwhelmingly supportive in extensive communityconsultations.

90 per cent of Surrey residents surveyed support or strongly support corridor transit upgrades. Supportwas strongest among young residents and new Canadians.

With Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Newton and the large number of employers across Scott Road, this is anupgrade designed to make maximum impact on those residents that rely on public transit, adds Surrey City CouncillorMandeep Nagra.