Surrey is in bad need of rapid transit, the latest report by Metro Vancouver concludes. (CBC)Metro Vancouver has shifted its priorities in rapid-transit expansion: Surrey is in and the Broadway corridor in Vancouver is out.

In its latest report, "2040 Shape our Future," the federation of 22 municipalities in the Lower Mainland says that once the Evergreen Line to Coquitlam Centre is completed, rapid transit should be expanded in Surrey before a line out to the University of British Columbia is built.

Surrey Coun. Judy Villeneuve says the report confirms what most people already know: An effective transit system in the city is long overdue.

"You can get anywhere in Vancouver by bus, and in Surrey you can't," Villeneuve told CBC News.

The Vancouver suburb has the fastest-growing population in the Lower Mainland, Villeneuve said, taking in up to 10,000 people a month, and it desperately needs an effective transit system.

"I don't want to put Surrey over Vancouver," Villeneuve said, "but the reality is Surrey does not have a transit network worth anything so people can actually get [from] place to place by bus. So it is our turn to have our fair share of transit."

No capacity left

Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs called the report a blow to the city.

"We simply can't turn our backs on the enormous number of commuters who are taking transit and are facing tremendous constraints, especially on the Broadway corridor," he said. "There is just no capacity left there."

Meggs said he plans to talk with staff at Metro Vancouver about the shift in priorities, and while he agrees Surrey needs help, he also believes that shouldn't mean Vancouver is left in the cold.

"I think the Surrey case is as solid as a rock and I think that Vancouver's is as well," Meggs said.

"And, in fact, last year … there was agreement unanimously at Metro and across the region that there should be major investment in transit over the next 10 years" that would handle both Surrey's and Vancouver's needs while completing the Evergreen Line as well, he said.

With files from the CBC's Emily Elias