Vancouver is a pretty public transport friendly city. Depending on where you want to go of course, but it is fairly reliable, frequent and when weighed up against the high cost of insurance over here, very affordable. If you’re out of the super busy areas you may find yourself with a plethora of connections that don’t really meet up with your time schedule, but you will get where you need to go, eventually.
Public transport in Greater Vancouver consists of the Skytrain which links downtown with Burnaby; New Westminster and Surrey; the Seabus which links downtown with the North Shore and an extensive bus system linking in between.
The bus system has what they call ‘B-Line’ buses, which are express, frequent super buses. They run from airport station into the city; from the Skytrain at Broadway to University of British Columbia (UBC) and from the Skytrain at Lougheed Town Centre to Port Moody and Coquitlam.
The City is divided into three Zones with the cost of traveling increasing if you cross a Zone. At the time of writing, a 1 trip Zone 1 ticket will cost you $2.50, Zone 2 $3.75 and Zone 3 $5.00. It gets cheaper if you buy a book of 10 tickets from a 7-Eleven or your other option is a monthly ticket.
Getting around
When it comes to working out what public transport in Vancouver you need to take, the only thing I really need to say about this is to check out
Ok, that’s it, that’s all you need. Open the site, find the trip planner, plug in where you’re coming from, where you’re going and what time you want to either arrive or leave and just like magic you have instructions!
This site is also great for general info about the public transport system; it gives you maps, timetables, connections and even bike paths. It’s a great reference when trying to figure out where will be convenient to live if you are planning on relying on public transport.
Ferries
The other form of transport common in BC is the ferry system to Vancouver Island and the gulf islands in between. Check out the schedule and general info at
Schedules change with the change in season and the rising cost of gas (yes I really mean petrol) so always best to look on the net for an updated schedule. You won’t meet a regular island traveler who doesn’t have a horror story about queuing for hours then still missing the ferry. So my advice, if you can, walk on and leave the car behind, that way you can get there 20 minutes before and make it on the boat. Of course it does make Island exploring hard without a car, so check the buses or plan very, very well ahead of time. The ferries leave from Tsawwassen (pronounced TA-wassen) south of Vancouver to Victoria, Nanaimo and the southern Gulf Islands and Horseshoe Bay near West Van to Nanaimo and northern Gulf Islands. It’s definitely worth a ferry trip while you’re here, even if it’s just for the rice crispie squares and the chance of seeing a killer whale, seal or porpoise or two.
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This article was written by Sarah Stranan, who has recently moved to Vancouver, BC and started her own Osteopathy clinic, Sarah Stranan Osteopathy in Kitsilano.
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