I looked at the June sign up sheets and paddles, I can confirm all of those changes.
About the 49, I couldn't be happier the service planners are finally doing this. But as we've discussed before, the other routes in Killarney/Champlain Heights should really be reworked, especially to give some new connections to the River District south of Marine Dr. And perhaps a bus on 54th/57th between the upcoming Canada Line station and Metrotown isn't too far off, which would be a much better replacement for the portion that's just been cut off.
As someone who drives the 22 currently I can say the changes to the route are definitely a good idea. Even before bridge construction started, I can't tell you how many times I've seen people on Knight get screwed over indirectly by traffic on Burrard and to the beach. The change will mean their buses are on schedule and spaced out evenly 250% more often, believe me. And on the Burrard side, the change gives ALL of the buses serving the bridge some recovery time at Burrard Stn, which again helps keep them spaced out properly and taking their proper share of passengers. I can't tell you how many times I've pulled up to Burrard Stn Bay 1 in a 22 and been slammed, since the 2 was a few minutes off schedule and pulled in behind me. As a result the 2 picks up almost nobody for its whole run and the 22 gets even further behind which has consequences for people coming back the other way. It contradicts the purpose of the short 2 runs. This way at least the buses won't be taking each other's work.
I wouldn't be too worried about the stop locations. It's impossible to tell right now exactly where the new 22 will unload and pickup around the station, but I can't help but imagine it will at least unload in front of the entrance. I can see the point about having to walk all the way to Bay 4, as nobody knows where on earth that is anyway when they come up the escalators. It will definitely take recovery time at Bay 4 before heading back to Knight loop, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't pick up in front of the station beforehand. Waiting for the recovery time sucks (see the 100 at Marpole Loop), but in this case the headway sheets don't show a lot of it at the station (usually 4-5 minutes)...the significant recovery time for the 22 will still be at Knight Loop.
One group I can see getting a bit inconvenienced by this will be DTESers going to St Paul's. But the transfer to the 2 from the 22 should be easy as pie, even if potentially walking to Bay 4 when coming out of the station wouldn't be. And I hope they do get started on that new hospital construction. When it's done the 22 will once again service St Paul's.
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