Coast Mountain Bus Company route 17 'Oak / Downtown'

17 Oak/Downtown
New Flyer E40LFR – 2148 on the 17 UBC via Downtown at Marine Drive Station in 2010 before it was shortened to run to downtown only.
Service Area	Vancouver
Termini	Marine Drive Station Robson Street at Hamilton Street
Operations	Vancouver Transit Centre
Vehicles	NFI E40LFR Nova Bus LFS * Nova Bus LFS HEV *
Branches	17 Oak 17 Downtown
* In the event of a route diversion or bus shortage

17 Oak/Downtown is a bus route operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Route Details

This is a north-south circular route connecting Marine Drive Station and Downtown Vancouver running primarily on Oak Street. It is part of the Frequent Transit Network (FTN) providing service 15 minutes or better for 15 hours or more of the day, seven days a week. It is one of over a dozen routes that form as part of Vancouver's trolleybus network.

Trips depart Marine Drive Station heading north on Cambie Street, west on SW Marine Drive, north on Oak Street, east on W. 12th Avenue, north on Cambie Street and across the Cambie Street Bridge, then continuing west on Smithe Street, north on Hamilton Street, and west on Robson Street to Robson & Hamilton Street. Continuing from Robson & Hamilton, trips head west on Robson, north on Granville Street, east on W. Pender Street, south on Cambie Street, east on Nelson Street and across the Cambie Street Bridge heading south. Continuing on Cambie Street, trips continue south, west on W. 12th Avenue, south on Oak Street, east on SW Marine Drive, and south on Yukon Street to Marine Drive Station.

On Fridays, weekends/holidays, and days preceding holidays after 9 p.m., there is no service on Granville Street. Trips use Seymour Street.

Points of Interest

• Marine Drive Station (Bay 1)
• Marine Gateway
• Marpole Community Centre
• Van Dusen Botanical Gardens
• BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre
• BC Children's Hospital
• GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre Vancouver Hospital and Health Science
• Vancouver General Hospital
• Broadway–City Hall Station (Bay 2 – Downtown) (Bay 3 – Oak)
• Vancouver Central Public Library
• Robson Square
• Vancouver Art Gallery
• Vancouver City Centre Station
• Granville Station
• Pacific Centre
• BCIT Downtown Campus
• Queen Elizabeth Theatre

History

Main article: Trolleybuses in Vancouver

The 17 Oak/Downtown route has been altered multiple times through its existence and had different branches. It has primarily run along Oak Street connecting Marpole Loop and Downtown Vancouver. But for a significant amount of time, the 17 also travelled to Blanca Loop and later UBC. Its most recent form prior to its current routing was operating as the 17 Oak/Downtown/UBC, running from Marine Drive Station to UBC via Downtown Vancouver, with some trips short-turning in downtown. Today, only the Marine Drive Station to Downtown Vancouver via Oak Street portion runs as the 17.

These current routes run on portions that were formerly part of the 17 route:

• 4 Powell/UBC
• 7 Nanaimo Station/Dunbar
• 10 Granville/Downtown

While these current routes used to be interlined with the 17:

• 4 Powell/UBC
• 15 Cambie/Olympic Village Station (while it ran as a trolley route as the 15 Cambie/Downtown)
• 19 Metrotown Station/Stanley Park (while it ran as the 11 Stanley Park)

In the late 2000s, there was one morning trip serviced by a New Flyer Industries E60LFR from Marpole Loop to Oak Street & W. 41st Avenue as a school special. The bus then went not in service and continued on the 20 Victoria/Downtown.

Route History

For more details on the history of the former UBC portion, see the 10 Granville/Downtown page.

• 1951 - Service introduced as Oak, replacing the 17 Oak Street streetcar route
• October 1952 - Service revised to operate as 7 Dunbar/17 Oak as the trolleybus network is restructured and bus routes are assigned route numbers
• April 1957 - Service revised to operate as 4 Fourth/17 Oak. Service ran as 4 Fourth from Marpole Loop to Blanca Loop via Downtown Vancouver and as 17 Oak on the return trip
• February 1968 - 17 Oak routing revised to go via Granville Street Bridge, north on Granville Street, east on Davie Street, north on Seymour Street instead of Granville Street Bridge and north on Seymour Street
• September 1975 - 17 Oak service proposed to go via Granville Street, 6th Avenue to Oak Street instead of via Cambie Street
• March 1983 - Interlining with the 4 Fourth ends and interlining with the 11 Stanley Park begins
• November 1984 - Cambie Street Bridge reconstruction: Service revised to operate as 17 Oak/To Downtown Only using diesel buses and service rerouted onto Granville Street Bridge instead of Cambie Street Bridge running non-stop along Broadway and Hemlock northbound, Fir southbound. Interlining with the 11 Stanley Park ends and interlining with the 15 Cambie/To Downtown Only begins
• January 1986 - Routing revised to take Cambie Street after the completion of the Cambie Street Bridge reconstruction
• September 2000 - AM peak hour service of every 7.5 minutes extended to provide additional capacity during the tail end of the AM peak period
• December 2002 - Saturday midday service increased from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes
• September 2003 - Interlining with the 15 Cambie/Downtown ends as the route is extended to UBC, replacing portions of the 10 Hastings/UBC. Routing in downtown revised to take Granville Street instead of Burrard Street
• April 2006 - Re-routed in downtown via Seymour northbound and Howe southbound instead of Granville due to Canada Line construction
• January 2007 - Service on Broadway between Oak and Cambie, the Cambie Street Bridge, Cambie Street in downtown and on Seymour Street north of Robson discontinued due to Canada Line construction. All trips were revised to use Granville Street Bridge regardless of direction. Southbound trips revised to go via Granville Street, cloverleaf, 4th Avenue, Hemlock, Broadway to Oak. Northbound trips towards downtown revised to go via Oak, Broadway, Granville Street Bridge, Seymour, Robson, Howe
• June 2007 - Route becomes fully accessible with service provided by New Flyer Industries E40LFR trolleys
• September 2009 - Southern terminus revised from Marpole Loop to Marine Drive Station as service is extended east along Marine Drive
• September 2010 - Re-routed in downtown via Granville, Cordova, Richards, Pender, Granville instead of going via Granville, Seymour, Robson to Robson & Seymour, then Robson, Howe, Granville and regular routing to UBC
• April 2011 - Service revised to run between Marine Drive Station and Downtown Vancouver following a reshuffling of trolley routes involving the reintroduction of the 14 Hastings/UBC and the shortening of the 10 Granville/Hastings. Service between Downtown Vancouver and UBC discontinued and replaced by the re-introduced 14 route
• April 2014 - Service temporarily revised to terminate at Marpole Loop instead of Marine Drive Station due to Marine Gateway construction
• April 2015 - Service to Marine Drive Station restored
• June 2020 - Broadway Subway construction: Routing revised to go via Cambie Street and 12th Avenue; service on Broadway between Cambie and Oak and on Oak between Broadway and 12th Avenue temporarily discontinued
• April 2021 - 15 stops in both directions removed as part of the bus stop balancing project to improve bus travel times. Initially, 18 stops were to be removed but three were reinstated (NB Oak & W. 22nd; SB Oak & Balfour; NB Cambie & 8th) following a pre-project public consultation period and their removal would have resulted in a spacing that was too wide or they served an essential purpose for the community
• January 2022 - COVID-19 service adjustment: AM peak hour service reduced from every 8–12 minutes to every 10–12 minutes. PM peak hour service reduced from every 10 minutes to every 12 minutes
• April 2023 - Peak hour service reduced from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes
• April 2024 - Discontinuation of the 17 To Broadway afternoon school special trip that ran from SW Marine Drive & Oak Street to W. Broadway & Oak Street using diesel buses
• January 2025 - Various proposed service changes as part of the Burrard Peninsula Area Transport Plan:
  • Service proposed to keep the current routing on W. 12th Avenue between Cambie Street and Oak Street instead of returning to W. Broadway following the completion of the Broadway Subway in 2027
  • As part of a long-term proposal, the northern terminus is proposed to move to Waterfront Station to simplify the routing in the downtown area

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 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 24001–24016 24101–24150 Community Shuttle Fleet 18510–18527 19503–19535, 19538–19549 19550–19554 21501–21562 23601–23606 23651–23665 24506–24548 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 8102–8117 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 16501–16562 17506–17564 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 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