Coast Mountain Bus Company route 4 'Powell / Downtown / UBC'

4 Powell/UBC
New Flyer E40LFR – 2143 on the Granville Street Bridge as route 4 to UBC.
Service Area	Vancouver University Endowment Lands
Termini	Eton Street at N. Renfrew Street Cambie Street at W. Hastings Street* University of British Columbia
Operations	Vancouver Transit Centre
Vehicles	NFI E40LFR Nova Bus LFS *** Nova Bus LFS HEV ***
Branches	4 Powell 4 UBC 4 Downtown* 4 To Blanca**
* All evening trips terminate in downtown instead of at Eton Street & N. Renfrew Street ** Early morning trips *** In the event of a route diversion or bus shortage

4 Powell/UBC is a bus route operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Route Details

This is an east-west route connecting East Vancouver and the University of British Columbia via Downtown Vancouver running primarily on 4th Avenue in the western part of Vancouver and along Powell and Dundas streets in the eastern part of Vancouver. Service runs daily every 12–15 minutes on weekdays and every 15–30 on weekends/holidays. It is one of over a dozen routes that form as part of Vancouver's trolleybus network. There is no evening service daily east of downtown.

Eastbound trips depart from the University of British Columbia running east on University Boulevard, north on Blanca Street, east on W. 4th Avenue followed by Hemlock Street going south and W. 5th Avenue going west to access Granville Street going north across the Granville Street Bridge and continuing on Granville Street heading north, east on W. Cordova Street becoming Powell Street then Dundas Street, north on Nanaimo Street becoming McGill Street heading east, south on N. Renfrew Street, and west on Eton Street to terminate at Eton Street & N. Renfrew Street.

Westbound trips depart from Eton Street & N. Renfrew Street heading west on Eton Street, north on N. Kaslo Street, west on McGill Street becoming N. Nanaimo Street heading south, west on Dundas Street becoming Powell Street, south on Main Street, west on E. Pender Street, south on Granville Street and across the Granville Street Bridge, then it exits Granville Street Bridge by West Cloverleaf, W. 5th Avenue and then Fir Street onto W. 4th Avenue, where it continues west, south on Blanca Street going south, and west on University Boulevard to the University of British Columbia.

On Fridays, weekends/holidays, and days preceding holidays after 9 p.m., there is no service on Granville Street and the route runs on Seymour Street northbound and on Howe Street southbound due to the closing of Granville Street for pedestrian use only.

There is no nighttime service east of downtown and all trips terminate at Cambie Street & W. Hastings Street. Service east of downtown is replaced by the 209 Upper Lynn Valley/Burrard Station service. Eastbound trips route via regular route, then east on W. Cordova Street and then south on Cambie Street. Returning to UBC, the route heads south on Cambie, west on W. Pender Street and continues the regular routing to UBC.

Early morning westbound trips departing Eton Street & N. Renfrew Street terminate at Blanca Loop.

Points of Interest

• UBC Exchange (Bay 11)
• University of British Columbia
• AMS Student Nest
• Pacific Spirit National Park
• University Golf Course
• Blanca Loop (Bay 2 – UBC)
• Jericho Beach Park
• Vancouver Art Gallery
• Granville Station
• Vancouver City Centre Station
• Waterfront Station (Bay 3 – Powell)
• Chinatown 溫哥華唐人街/華埠
• Vancouver Police Centennial Museum
• Japantown パウエル街
• Oppenheimer Park
• Hastings Park

History

Main article: Trolleybuses in Vancouver

As was the case with many trolleybus routes across the network, there has been several adjustments and realignments of the 4 route over the decades it has existed. Portions of the following routes were part of the 4's routing over the years:

• 7 Nanaimo Station/Dunbar
• 10 Granville/Downtown
• 17 Oak/Downtown

The 4 was introduced as the 4th Avenue in 1949 and travelled along two branches from Downtown Vancouver: one as 4th Avenue via 4th to Blanca along 4th Avenue and returning 10th Avenue and a second one as 4th Avenue via 10th to Blanca doing the reverse routing going via 4th Avenue, Alma, 10th Avenue and returning along 4th Avenue. The Powell portion of the route was separate and ran from Renfrew & Eton to Downtown Vancouver. This service replaced significant portions of the former streetcar route 4 Grandview–Fourth Avenue which ran from Cedar Cottage along Commercial Drive to W. 4th Avenue & Alma Street via Downtown Vancouver.

In October 1952, the 10th Avenue routing was separated into its own route, the 10 10th Avenue and the 4 was merged with the 17 Oak. in March 1983, the route was restructured to run down Nanaimo Street instead of Oak Street as it merges with the 24 Nanaimo route. The two routes were renumbered and renamed in March 1986 from 4 Fourth/24 Nanaimo to 4 Blanca/Nanaimo Station and in September 1988, the 4 extended west to UBC and service to Nanaimo Station was discontinued as it switched with the 7 Dunbar/Powell. The new eastern terminus became Eton & Renfrew and the 4 was renamed to its current name, 4 UBC/Powell.

Route History

For more details on the former Nanaimo Street and Oak Street portions of the route, see the 7 Nanaimo Station/Dunbar and 17 Oak/Downtown pages.

• 1949 - Service introduced as 4th Avenue, running two circular routes between Blanca Loop and Downtown Vancouver, replacing portions of the 4 Grandview–Fourth Avenue streetcar
• October 1952 - Service numbered to 4 4th Avenue and service revised to run only the 4th Avenue routing as the 10th Avenue routing becomes part of the 10 10th Avenue
• April 1957 - Interlining with the 17 Oak begins, running as 4 Fourth/17 Oak from Blanca Loop to Marpole Loop
• March 1983 - Service revised to run as 4 Fourth/24 Nanaimo after merging with parts of the 4 Fourth/17 Oak and 11 Stanley Park/12 Powell/24 Nanaimo
• March 1986 - Eastern terminus moved from Kingsway & Slocan to Nanaimo Station by extending south on Nanaimo Street from E. 22nd Avenue; service on E. 22nd and Slocan discontinued and service revised to run as 4 Nanaimo Station/Blanca in both directions instead of 4 Blanca and 24 Nanaimo
• September 1988 - Service extended to terminate at UBC Exchange and eastern terminus revised from Nanaimo Station to Eton & N. Renfrew with service on Nanaimo Street between Dundas and Nanaimo Station replaced by the 7
• December 1996 - Discontinuation of service on Powell Street in the evening daily as evening service revised to terminate in downtown, routing via Granville, Cordova, Cambie and then Pender to UBC. Service on Powell replaced by the 4 Upper Lynn Valley/Downtown
• April 1997 - Downtown terminus revised to Pender at Homer Street
• April 2006 - Service rerouted due to construction of the Canada Line; service to travel along Seymour northbound and Howe southbound instead of Granville Street
• December 2007 - Service becomes accessible and bike rack equipped with New Flyer Industries E40LFR low-floor trolleys
• June 2008 - Service revised to route via Main Street between Cordova and Pender instead of Carrall due to the construction of the Carrall Street Greenway
• September 2010 - Service revised to operate along Granville Street
• April 2011 - Trips running as 4 Upper Lynn Valley discontinued in favour of new route 209 Upper Lynn Valley/Vancouver to reduce rider confusion
• April 2013 - Route split in half due to Powell Street construction. 4 UBC/Downtown service operated by trolleybuses looping via Cordova, Cambie and Pender. 4 Powell/Downtown service operated by diesels looping via Hastings, Granville, Cordova.
• June 2013 - Powell Street construction results in the 4 Powell temporarily moving to Hastings between Main and Clark.
• September 2013 - 4 Powell shuttle revised to maintain coverage on Cordova/Powell Street, eastbound buses use Cordova to Heatley, then switch to Hastings. Westbound buses leave Hastings at Heatley, use Powell to Main, then return to Hastings to travel to Granville.
• January 17, 2022 - Bus stop balancing begins with the construction of bus bulbs at select stops and the removal of 15 eastbound and nine westbound redundant stops. No stops to be removed in the downtown core as part of this portion of the project
  • W. 4th Avenue/Blanca Street corridor: Removal of 16 stops and introduction of 5 new/consolidated stops
  • East Vancouver: Removal of eight stops and introduction of one new/consolidated stop
• April 2023 - Western terminus temporarily revised to Blanca Loop instead of UBC due to construction on University Boulevard. Saturday afternoon service increased from every 15–20 minutes to every 12–15 minutes
• September 2023 - Western terminus reverted back to UBC following the completion of construction on University Boulevard
• March 4, 2024 - Long-term detour in downtown due to construction on the north end of the Granville Street Bridge
  • Eastbound via regular route to Granville Street Bridge, then north on Seymour Street off-ramp, west on Davie Street, and north on Granville Street
  • Westbound via regular route to Granville Street, then west on Davie Street, and south on Howe Street merging onto the Granville Street Bridge

References

v·d·e Transit Centres Burnaby – Hamilton – Port Coquitlam – Richmond – Surrey – Vancouver Closed Transit Centres North Vancouver – Oakridge Under Contract First Transit – West Vancouver Transit Former Contractors Bonny's Taxi Ltd. – Bowen Island Community Transit – DW Services Ltd. – Metro Shuttle Service Ltd. – First Canada Current Fleet 2101–2199, 2201–2289 2501–2540 2541–2574 3309–3358 7447–7499, 7501–7504 8102–8117 8118–8156 9277–9285 9401–9499, 9501–9542 9543–9581, 9583–9590 9605–9699, 9701–9725 9726–9791 9797–9799 12001–12025 14001–14045 15001–15021 16001–16051 16101–16130, 16137 16201–16226 18001–18063 18101–18206 18301–18404 18451–18473 19001–19047 19101–19147 19301–19302 19303–19304 19401–19432 21001–21025 21401–21425 22001–22015 23001–23015 23201–23215 Community Shuttle Fleet 16501–16562 17506–17564 18510–18527 19503–19535, 19538–19549 19550–19554 21501–21562 23601–23606 23651–23665 24601–24634 Retired Fleet 1158–1192 1205–1223 1209–1210 2701–2947 3001–3021 3101–3210 3211–3257 3258–3282 3283–3299, 3301–3308 4101–4115 4116–4143 4144–4192 4193–4199, 4201–4278 5501–5508 5509–5521 6601–6630 7101–7150 7151–7197, 7199–7243 7244–7246 7247–7297 7298 7301–7374 7375–7399, 7401–7429 7430–7446 8001–8021 8022–8047 8048–8099, 8101 9101–9115 9116–9127 9201–9276 Retired Community Shuttle Fleet S001 S002 (1st) S002 (2nd) S003–S004 S006–S012 S013–S016 S017 S018–S056 S057–S059 S060–S061 S062–S102 S200–S236 S237–S257 S258–S301 S302–S356 S357–S380 S381 S382–S393 S410–S434 S435–S464 S465–S471 S501–S544 S1301–S1320 S1321 S1322–S1325 Paint Schemes Other List of Current TransLink Ad-Wraps – List of Former TransLink Ad-Wraps – RapidBus – TransLink Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic – TransLink Vancouver 2010 Olympic Operations – Trolleybuses in Vancouver SeaBus Current Fleet Burrard Beaver – Burrard Pacific Breeze – Burrard Otter II – Burrard Chinook Retired Fleet Burrard Otter Terminals Lonsdale Quay – Waterfront Station Bus Loops and Exchanges Vancouver 29th Avenue Station – Blanca Loop – Boundary Loop – Burrard Station – Commercial–Broadway Station – Dunbar Loop – Joyce Station – Knight Street–Marine Drive – Kootenay Loop – Main Street Station – Marine Drive Station – Marpole Loop – Nanaimo Station – Stanley Park Loop – UBC Exchange – Waterfront Station Burnaby & New West 22nd Street Station – Braid Station – Brentwood Station – Edmonds Station – Lougheed Station – New Westminster Station – Production Way Station – Metrotown Station – SFU Exchange – Sperling Station Tri-Cities Burquitlam Station – Coquitlam Central Station – Moody Centre Station – Port Coquitlam Station Richmond Bridgeport Station – Richmond–Brighouse Station – Steveston Exchange North Shore Capilano University – Lonsdale Quay – Lynn Valley Centre – Park Royal – Phibbs Exchange Pitt Meadows & Maple Ridge Haney Place – Maple Meadows Station – Pitt Meadows Station South of Fraser Carvolth Exchange – Guildford Exchange – Ladner Exchange – Langley Centre – Newton Exchange – Scott 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