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2022-2027 Customer Experience Action Plan

Our five-year Customer Experience Action Plan reimagines the customer journey and outlines a roadmap forward.

TransLink’s new Customer Experience Action Plan outlines how we will deliver transit that is faster and more reliable, easier to use, more personalized, safer and more comfortable, and helps make our communities better.

This is a plan for all of our diverse customers throughout the Metro Vancouver region. We know that each step along the customer journey is an opportunity for us to make a positive impression and improve the customer experience.

See the Customer Experience Action Plan:


View the interactive version

On this page

    Our Customer Promise

    To always put you first — your safety, your time, and your connection to the people and places that matter the most.


    Customer Experience Updates from CEO Kevin Quinn

    Stay up to date with messages from our CEO Kevin Quinn about TransLink's Customer Experience Action Plan.


    Action Plan Highlights

    We’ve changed the way we think about customers.

    With market research, engagement with customers and employees, and a review of the best customer practices of other sectors we’ve identified five types of customers who use transit for different reasons.

    We’ve tailored our improvements based on these customer types to meet each of their needs.

    Building on customer research and a best practice review of trends across industries, we have developed five priority areas for the next five years to improve the customer experience. Read more about each priority and initiatives related to them below.


    Personal choices icon

    More Personalized

    Tailoring our services to meet customer needs and preferences.

    Transit Volunteer Program

    Q2 2022

    Provide a volunteer presence at transit hubs to assist customers

    Email Program

    Q2 2022

    Offer customers the option to sign up for tailored email, keeping them up to date on the things that affect them and their transit journey.

    Learn more about the email program

    Contactless Debit Payment

    Q4 2022

    Offer customers another payment choice by accepting contactless debit cards at Compass Card readers

    Compass for Kids

    Q4 2023

    Offer a Compass product to support free fares for kids 12 and under and offer tailored information to young customers about safety and services

    Incentive & Rewards Program

    2023

    Offer customers rewards for frequent transit use

    Compass Modernization

    2024

    An account-based Compass system will create opportunities for more personalized payment plans and offerings

    Improved Text Alerts

    2024

    Make more information available through text alerts, including elevator and escalator outages


    Pointer finger icon

    Easier to Use

    providing services that are effortless and convenient to use.

    SCOT (SkyVoice) & PA Replacement

    Ongoing

    Improve the quality of audio announcements on both platforms and trains, as well as radio systems, for two-way communication with customers

    Onboard Information Displays

    Q3 2022

    Consider how to integrate more advanced information displays on buses

    Special Seasonal Buses

    Q3 2022

    Offer bus trips that accommodate seasonal travellers to regional parks, beaches, and ski hills

    Online Booking for HandyDART

    Q4 2022

    Allow customers to book their trip online

    Vanpool Program

    2023

    Add 50 vans to existing vanpool program to serve industrial areas not well served by transit

    Multimodal Hubs

    Ongoing

    Expand facilities and programs for multimodal access to high-volume transit hubs

    Bus Passenger Information Display

    2025

    Expand real-time information displays at on-street bus stops

    Compass Modernization

    2025

    Offer integrated payments with other transportation modes

    Update Wayfinding Standards

    2023

    Update our current wayfinding standards to include multilingual signage and cultural recognition


    Checkmark icon

    Timely and Reliable

    Ensuring that our riders can rely on transit to get them where they need to go, on time and without hiccups.

    Bus Expansion

    Ongoing

    Add new buses to expand and upgrade our fleet

    Enterprise Asset Management System

    Q4 2022

    Implement an Enterprise Asset Management System to improve the life cycle management of our assets – including facilities, vehicles, and equipment

    Marpole Transit Centre

    2025

    Serve as a primarily battery-electric bus depot


    Smiley face icon

    Safe and Pleasant

    An environment where riders feel they will have an enjoyable and welcoming experience.

    Bus Facilities Customer Amenities Program

    2022 to 2025

    Improve amenities at bus exchanges, including shelters, seating, lighting, and information for customers

    Bus Shelter Improvement Program

    Q4 2022 and Ongoing

    Partner with local municipalities and private entities to increase and improve bus shelters across the region

    Community Safety Officers

    2024

    Create a new tier of Transit Police employees to increase safety personnel visibility and engagement with customers, and improve response coverage for our growing transit system

    SkyTrain Fleet Upgrade

    2024 to 2028

    Refurbish mid-life trains, and replace 40 end-oflife trains, to increase standing capacity, add air conditioning, and provide a quieter ride for customers

    Community Policing Centres

    Q4 2023

    Expand the Transit Police Community Policing Centre program to cities outside of Vancouver, with trained volunteers who can deliver customer outreach, transit safety education, and incident reporting

    SkyTrain Station Upgrades

    Ongoing

    Renovate SkyTrain stations to increase capacity; reduce platform crowding; and improve accessibility, amenities, and integration with neighbourhoods

    Learn more about the SkyTrain Station upgrades


    Leaf icon

    A Better Reason to Ride

    Positioning transit as an opportunity to make a difference.

    Electrify the Bus Fleet

    Ongoing & next batch of buses to arrive in 2022

    Replace all retiring conventional diesel buses with battery-electric buses, providing a quieter, smoother, and more sustainable ride

    Climate Action Strategy

    Q1 2022

    Detail how TransLink is taking clear steps to become zero emissions in all its operations, and to enhance the resilience of the transit system in the face of climate change

    Learn more about the climate action strategy

    Indigenous Cultural Recognition Policy

    Q4 2022

    This policy will provide clarity on the delivery of Indigenous cultural recognition on our transit network and will be discussed with Indigenous Nations

    Carbon Footprint Calculator

    2023

    Develop a new tool for showing customers their carbon savings by choosing transit over a personal vehicle

    Low-Carbon Fleet Strategy

    Ongoing

    Lay out a path for meeting TransLink’s environmental targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and use only renewable energy in all operations by 2050


    How We Got Here

    TransLink’s last Customer Experience Action Plan outlined improvements from 2019 to 2025. In two years, we:

    • Completed 51 out of the 62 – over three quarters of the projects we identified.

    • Improved reliability, expanded services, and introduced new amenities.

    We delivered new and convenient ways for customers to pay through Tap to Pay, along with improved access to real-time information, and new services such as RapidBus.

    In 2020, we had to rethink our strategy.

    The pandemic changed the way our customers work, travel, and move throughout our region. This plan follows on the success of our first Customer Experience Action Plan to better reflect the changing needs of our customers as a result of the pandemic.

    We surveyed customers, measured trends, and studied best practices during the pandemic to personalize the Action Plan to our customers’ changing needs.


    Cleaning Text Line

    The Cleaning Text Line is a convenient way for customers to report areas in select SkyTrain stations that require cleaning or maintenance attention. By receiving real-time feedback, this program aims to improve overall cleanliness and make our transit system more welcoming for customers.

    Using their mobile devices, customers can send a text message to report any cleanliness issues at the five participating Expo Line stations:

    • Commercial–Broadway Station

    • Main Street–Science World Station

    • Metrotown Station

    • Surrey Central Station

    • King George Station

    Report a SkyTrain Station Issue

    Smartphone icon

    Have a cleanliness or maintenance issue to report at a participating SkyTrain Station? Use the link below to send us a text on your mobile device:


    Note: standard carrier text messaging rates may apply.

    To access the link to report a cleaning or maintenance issue at a participating SkyTrain station, please view this content on your mobile device.


    Next Steps

    We are committed to measuring the impact of the investments we are making for current and future customers and ensuring that we continue to listen to our customers in every decision we make.

    This Action Plan will be updated every two years as we know customer needs will continue to change and evolve.

    Your Ideas

    To share any ideas on how you think we can improve the customer experience, please email cxideas@translink.ca.