Transit
The folks at TransLink have created an excellent online schedule but those unfamiliar with local bus numbers or names will be lost at the Translink Website. Or contact Translink the old fashioned way at (604) 953-3333 for start to finish directions from a real human being. While stuck in the interminable messaging queue think of it as practice for the real thing: waiting for buses that may never come.
During Peak Hours the Translink Zone System is in effect, meaning the fare increases depending on the number of zones crossed during the voyage. Translink defines Peak Hours as weekdays before 6:30 PM. After rush hour and all day during weekends and holidays the regular single zone fare ($3.20 ) applies throughout the Translink system in the Lower Mainland. Transfers are valid for 90 minutes in any direction, on any route. From downtown Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Horseshoe Bay, Bowen Island, New Westminster and Richmond are all two zones ($4.65) while Delta, Tsawwassen and Surrey fall into the three zone category ($6.35.) Discounted “concession” fares are available for kids, seniors, the handicapped and Compass Card users.
A DayPass, valid for unlimited travel for a full day costs $11.50.
Ferries
The schedules in this appendix were up-to-date for a millisecond just prior to publication. The BC Ferry Corporation, however, maintains a cadre of full-time schedule tinkerers who no doubt rendered everything obsolete moments later. Log in to the fleet’s website, for the latest tweaks. At this award-winning site you’ll find detailed information on ferry traffic patterns, delays, even parking lot capacity and usage in addition to more mundane information like when your ship was actually supposed to have come in and how much it would have cost if you could have gotten on. Walk on, it’s cheaper and certainly more certain.
Inter-City Buses
A variety of different transportation companies provides service between Vancouver and outlying areas. Each trip description will provide specific details where appropriate.
- Getting to Boundary Bay
- Getting-to Buntzen Lake
- Getting-to Hope & Lytton
- Getting to Horseshoe-Bay
- Getting to Manning Park
- Getting to the Gulf-Islands
- Getting to the San Juan Islands
- Getting-to the Sunshine Coast
- Getting-to Tofino
- Getting-to Tsawwassen
- Getting-to Whistler
- Getting Up-Island
- About the Author: Brian Grover