Vancouver Transit Fanning Guidebook

[VancouversLocalNerd]

I think you mean the ex-C40s are retiring April 2011 not 2010

Also the DE40LFs may still be inactive for the moment but they can still be photographed easily at OTC.

[Enviro 500]

I think you mean the ex-C40s are retiring April 2011 not 2010

Also the DE40LFs may still be inactive for the moment but they can still be photographed easily at OTC.

Thanks for proofreading! Fixed and re-uploaded!

Dave

[ilikebuses]

Could you please put my website down onto the guidebook please?

Link:http://buspics.org/busgallery Includes mine & will2145

Thanks.

[Enviro 500]

Could you please put my website down onto the guidebook please?

Link:http://buspics.org/busgallery Includes mine & will2145

Thanks.

Done! This change will be reflected in the upcoming issue to be published after all C40s are retired.

Dave

[elib300]

Ahh yes, his basement is always the "Toys R Us" for transit fans, definitely worth a visit if you happen to make a stop in Victoria! His basement is filled with transit pins, postcards, diecast models and replicas!

Dave

is this guy still selling stuff?

[captaintrolley]

is this guy still selling stuff?

YES HE IS. He's got TONS of stuff.

[elib300]

YES HE IS. He's got TONS of stuff.

How do I purchace his stuff? Does he have a store for bus geeks =D?

[captaintrolley]

How do I purchase his stuff? Does he have a store for bus geeks =D?

You go to his place with money in your wallet. You leave broke, but with a 'busload' of really cool stuff.

[Enviro 500]

The Vancouver Transit-Fan Guidebook is desperately in need of an update! Between this latest edition and the previous update, the ex-C40s, C40LFs and DE40LFs have found their ways to bus heaven! =(

This update is revised mainly for the purpose of providing accurate fleet information for our potential transit-fan visitors in the future, with a minor update on bus-spotting locations (Georgia/Cambie AM light angle). No new information have been added to the eat + sleep sections, feel free to reply to this topic, PM or FB me privately if you have information that you would like to be included in the next update!

Dave

[DD453T]

I think that an update is needed to reflect that 981 is now toast as well as some of the 95/96 d40lfs going to scrap, and the introduction of d60lf to surrey

[AverageJoe]

Just thought I'd share a very cool iPhone app that I got. It's a tiny app that looks up the locations of where Vancouver buses are using their current GPS data, put it on a map so you can see the locations of all buses on a given route number, or all buses that stop at a given stop, using a 5-digit bus stop number.

Searched "N19" just now, at 0335 PST, the thing shows 5 buses and gives all their exact locations and direction of travel. I could imagine how useful it would be for chasing buses around the city.

It's free, no ads. Not sure if it's available for other smartphones. Do a search for "Radar for metro vancouver buses" and you'll find it.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this app at all -- just a happy and addicted user.

[Express691]

Iphone right?

Alternatively, people can use LiveTransit Vancouver. Does the same thing but only 10 routes can be shown.

I use it in place of next bus, for the routes I use most.

P.S. how is this in the guidebook thread?

[SidneyTransitfan]

It's been a while since anyone posted in this topic, but I just thought I'd like to comment on something I attempted (and failed) last week.

With the new FVX bus running between Abbotsford and Langley, I decided to catch the last WCE train (E5) from Pitt Meadows to Mission and then catch the bus back. (For the WCE ride, see here:

).

The problem is I hadn't researched the departure times of the FVX Westbound from McCallum P&R, all I knew was the last departure was around 8:30pm. (8:27pm to be precise, as I found out later.) The WCE arrived early, the 31 Connector arrived on time but arrived in Abbotsford four minutes late due to a freight train on the CN Mainline. I ran with all the energy I could muster two kilometers to McCallum (as the 3 would have arrived ten minutes too late). Unfortunately I got to McCallum just in time to see the westbound FVX turn around the north roundabout and down the ramp to Hwy 1. Three minutes' sooner and I probably would have caught it.

In the end I decided to wait for the Eastbound bus to Chilliwack (as I know where the Greyhound station is there) and wait for a bus back to Vancouver. I arrived in time to catch a late-running service (thank heaven for something running late!) and my mistake only cost me about $25.

 

Cutting through all the waffle in my post, basically if you want to return to Vancouver and not spend the night in the Fraser Valley -or fork out fare for Greyhound- do NOT take the last West Coast Express beyond Port Haney station (which is the last station in TransLink's service area).

[Millennium2002]

Oops. Heh. Nice try with that run though. Your warning will certainly be heeded. =)

Not sure where to put this... Does DW Services or Metro Transit still exist for some of the contracted Community Shuttle operations? Or is it now all run by First Transit? If it is the latter, the CPTDB Wiki may need some updating to match.

EDIT: I also just noticed that someone stuck some D30LFs into the Bowen Island Community Transit page for the CPTDB Wiki... is that actually true? I thought they were only provided (longer) community shuttles by TransLink and that the D30LF is its own private transit service.

[SidneyTransitfan]

On 6/2/2016 at 1:47 PM, Millennium2002 said:

EDIT: I also just noticed that someone stuck some D30LFs into the Bowen Island Community Transit page for the CPTDB Wiki... is that actually true? I thought they were only provided (longer) community shuttles by TransLink and that the D30LF is its own private transit service.

That was my fault. Upon hearing that the owner of the D30LFs was running his bus/es under contract to TransLink I assumed they were running the routes on the island as well as the service from the ferry into Downtown Vancouver. I had intended to go over and see for myself to confirm if this was true, but I never had the chance. It would seem that three or four 2012-built Chevy/ElDorado shuttles run over there now, I've updated the wiki page to reflect this and removed the references to the privately-owned D30LF fleet. I've also added the known previously-allocated vehicles as "Retired/Transferred Fleet".

[buizelbus]

Just want to add a list of the best places to take pictures from all loops/exchanges/major intersections with many buses or trains that I know.

 

Richmond Brighouse: Either from the merge lane at the original Richmond Centre stop here:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.1656296,-123.1366609,3a,75y,304.32h,71.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sV7tglDxcBCL7TltZAZ42xg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

or from the rooftop parkade for the mall after opening hours. So you won't get caught and it's less busy.

 

Stadium-Chinatown:

Pedestrian viaduct. 

 

Main Street: from the McDonalds side of the intersection at Main and Terminal.

 

22nd St:

Near the entrance, above the loop.

[KenrichYT]

What happpened to this thread

[Pops1719]

11 hours ago, KenrichYT said:

What happpened to this thread

It went inactive.

[GZ6113PHEV5]

Sorry for the interruption，what routes will usually have the E60LFRs？

[Express691]

13 minutes ago, GZ6113PHEV5 said:

Sorry for the interruption，what routes will usually have the E60LFRs？

3 Main

8 Fraser

10 Granville

20 Victoria

[GZ6113PHEV5]

Just now, Express691 said:

3 Main

8 Fraser

10 Granville

20 Victoria

Thanks

[Souluxy]

Hello, I’m a transit enthusiast from Calgary. I am planning a trip to Vancouver in July and will be in Vancouver for about a week. Does anyone have some recommendations for what to ride (routes/buses), fanning spots (that’s not a station), and fare information. Thanks for the help!

[ThatBusGuy]

7 hours ago, Souluxy said:

Hello, I’m a transit enthusiast from Calgary. I am planning a trip to Vancouver in July and will be in Vancouver for about a week. Does anyone have some recommendations for what to ride (routes/buses), fanning spots (that’s not a station), and fare information. Thanks for the help!

Welcome! Going in reverse order here...

Fares: you can find all the info you need here: https://www.translink.ca/transit-fares/pricing-and-fare-zones. To summarize the basics, there's a single zone fare for buses, while skytrain and seabus are grouped into 3 zones. On weekends and after 6:30pm, everything is treated as a single zone. I'd definitely recommend getting a Compass card if you're going to be riding buses/trains a lot, it makes the fares cheaper and it makes stuff like transfers and day passes much easier.

Fanning spots: I don't do much photography or spotting personally, so I'll let someone else cover this one

Route/bus recommendations: you'll probably want to start in the core downtown area, there's a decent amount of variety there. It's a great place to see Vancouver's trolleys, and there's a decent chance of spotting one of the few remaining D40LFs. From Waterfront Station you can also take the Seabus to North Vancouver, which is a nice scenic trip. North Van is mostly dominated by Novas, but if you take the R2 RapidBus to Park Royal you'll find more variety there from West Vancouver's buses. A quick trip across the Lion's Gate Bridge will get you back downtown from there.

Taking the Expo Line south-east from downtown, you'll find some good variety at places like Metrotown Station, which has stuff like XN40s and community shuttles which are less common downtown. At Commercial-Broadway Station you'll find the Millennium Line as well as the 99 B-Line, the busiest bus route in North America. That route is pretty slow at the moment because of the construction of the Broadway skytrain line. It also connects to the Canada Line, which runs between downtown and Richmond, as well as the airport. Along that line you might be able to find some of our battery buses at Marine Drive Station on route 100, the only route they currently do. They're pretty uncommon at the moment so I'd recommend checking ahead of time if any are out. Also along the Canada Line is Bridgeport Station, where you can find a bunch of suburban buses including double deckers and Orion Vs.

Hope that's a somewhat helpful starting point! If you haven't seen them before there's some good websites that make tracking buses and viewing routes easier, including http://tcomm.bustrainferry.com/mobile/, https://sorrybusfull.com/, and Translink's own https://www.translink.ca/next-bus. Enjoy your trip!

[Souluxy]

2 hours ago, ThatBusGuy said:

Welcome! Going in reverse order here...

Fares: you can find all the info you need here: https://www.translink.ca/transit-fares/pricing-and-fare-zones. To summarize the basics, there's a single zone fare for buses, while skytrain and seabus are grouped into 3 zones. On weekends and after 6:30pm, everything is treated as a single zone. I'd definitely recommend getting a Compass card if you're going to be riding buses/trains a lot, it makes the fares cheaper and it makes stuff like transfers and day passes much easier.

Fanning spots: I don't do much photography or spotting personally, so I'll let someone else cover this one

Route/bus recommendations: you'll probably want to start in the core downtown area, there's a decent amount of variety there. It's a great place to see Vancouver's trolleys, and there's a decent chance of spotting one of the few remaining D40LFs. From Waterfront Station you can also take the Seabus to North Vancouver, which is a nice scenic trip. North Van is mostly dominated by Novas, but if you take the R2 RapidBus to Park Royal you'll find more variety there from West Vancouver's buses. A quick trip across the Lion's Gate Bridge will get you back downtown from there.

Taking the Expo Line south-east from downtown, you'll find some good variety at places like Metrotown Station, which has stuff like XN40s and community shuttles which are less common downtown. At Commercial-Broadway Station you'll find the Millennium Line as well as the 99 B-Line, the busiest bus route in North America. That route is pretty slow at the moment because of the construction of the Broadway skytrain line. It also connects to the Canada Line, which runs between downtown and Richmond, as well as the airport. Along that line you might be able to find some of our battery buses at Marine Drive Station on route 100, the only route they currently do. They're pretty uncommon at the moment so I'd recommend checking ahead of time if any are out. Also along the Canada Line is Bridgeport Station, where you can find a bunch of suburban buses including double deckers and Orion Vs.

Hope that's a somewhat helpful starting point! If you haven't seen them before there's some good websites that make tracking buses and viewing routes easier, including http://tcomm.bustrainferry.com/mobile/, https://sorrybusfull.com/, and Translink's own https://www.translink.ca/next-bus. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks, I  will def try and get the D40LFs before they’re retired like they are here!

[jmward]

On 6/6/2022 at 7:52 PM, Souluxy said:

Thanks, I  will def try and get the D40LFs before they’re retired like they are here!

Shout out to the Orion V suburban buses too. They're pretty unusual to begin with and we might be the last big Orion V operator in Canada. For now, some 2001 units are still running (fun detroit diesel engine if youre into that) ...but that won't be for long. Youll want to go to Bridgeport Station on the Canada line to see them.

There's normally a lot more of them out during peak hours, but route 601 is a good bet any time.