Coast Mountain Bus Company route 2 'Macdonald'

2 Macdonald
New Flyer XDE60 – 21003 seen at Macdonald Street heading towards 16th Avenue.
Service Area	Vancouver
Termini	Burrard Station Dunbar Loop W. 16th Avenue at Carnarvon Street*
Operations	Vancouver Transit Centre
Vehicles	NFI DE60LFR NFI XDE60 Nova Bus LFS HEV **
Branches	2 Burrard Station 2 Dunbar Loop 2 To 16th Avenue*
* 16th Avenue branch service ** In the event of a bus shortage or snowfall

2 Macdonald is a bus route operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Route Details

This is a north-south route running in Vancouver connecting Dunbar Loop and Downtown Vancouver via Kitsilano, with a branch service to W. 16th Avenue & Carnarvon Street. It is a Frequent Transit Network (FTN) route with service 15 minutes or better for 15 hours or more, seven days a week.

Northbound trips starting at Dunbar Loop head east on W. 41st Avenue, north on MacKenzie Street becoming Quesnel Drive, east on W. King Edward Avenue, north on Macdonald Street becoming Point Grey Road, east on Cornwall Avenue, north on Burrard Street across the Burrard Street Bridge, west on Dunsmuir Street becoming Melville Street and north on Thurlow Street to Thurlow Street & Melville Street where it terminates.

Southbound trips depart from Burrard Station at Thurlow Street & Melville Street heading north on Thurlow Street, east on W. Pender Street, south on Burrard Street and across the Burrard Street Bridge, then west on Cornwall Avenue becoming Point Grey Road becoming Macdonald Street, west on W. King Edward Avenue, south on Quesnel Drive becoming MacKenzie Street, and west on W. 41st Avenue to Dunbar Loop.

Service in both directions between Burrard and Waterfront stations run as a direct, non-stop express.

Southbound trips alternate between the Macdonald routing to Dunbar Loop and the 16th Avenue routing to W. 16th Avenue & Carnarvon Street. On weekdays, there is no evening service on the 16th Avenue branch. Trips running on the 16th Avenue branch operate as 2 To 16th Avenue and travel an alternate route beyond Macdonald Street & W. 16th Avenue.

Northbound trips on this branch start from W. 16th Avenue & Carnarvon Street head east on W. 16th Avenue to Macdonald Street, then north on Macdonald Street, where it continues the regular routing to downtown.

Southbound trips on this branch depart from Burrard Station travelling via the regular route until Macdonald Street & W. 16th Avenue, where it heads west on W. 16th Avenue to W. 16th Avenue & Trutch Street where it does a U-turn and heads east on W. 16th Avenue to Carnarvon Street.

Points of Interest

• Burrard Station (Bays 1 & 4 – Dunbar Loop) (Bay 7 – Burrard Station)
• Hotel Vancouver
• Robson Street Shopping District
• St. Paul's Hospital
• Burrard Street Bridge
• Vanier Park
• Space Centre
• Kitsilano Beach & Pool/Community Centre
• Carnarvon Park
• Dunbar Loop (Bay 2)

History

This section is only focused on the history of the current 2 route. For the history of the former 2, see the next section below. The current 2 was introduced in June 1997 after being discontinued in April 1997 and ran in different parts of Vancouver.

• April 1997 - Portions of the 2 proposed as a new bus route connecting Yaletown and False Creek North with Downtown Vancouver, potentially involving changes with the 1 Beach/Gastown
• June 1997 - Service introduced as 2 Yaletown/Downtown/Macdonald–16th Avenue, a revised short-turn of 22 Downtown trips extending to Yaletown on weekdays and Saturdays only
• October 2001 - Yaletown portion of the route discontinued due to extremely low ridership and funding shortfall. Terminus revised to Keefer & Taylor
• September 2002 - Service between Burrard Station and Keefer Street & Taylor Street discontinued due to low ridership
• December 2010 - Sunday and holiday service introduced
• June 2016 - Route extended to Dunbar Loop to replace the 22 during the Burrard Corridor Rehabilitation Project – initially as a temporary measure. Northbound trips renamed from 2 Burrard Station to 2 Downtown. Schedule adjusted to alternate between 16th Avenue short-turns and the former 22 Burrard Station–Dunbar Loop portion
• September 2020 - 23 stops in both directions removed as part of a six-week pilot project for bus stop balancing to improve bus travel times. Permanent discontinuation of two AM peak trips from Macdonald Street & W. 4th Avenue to downtown operated by Burnaby Transit Centre that used articulated buses (these trips were already being cancelled as early as April 2020 due to low ridership related to the COVID-19 pandemic)
• November 2020 - End of bus stop balancing pilot project results in two removed stops being reinstated at Macdonald & W. 13th and the remainder of removed stops permanently removed
• January 2022 - Northern terminus revised from Burrard Station to Waterfront Station. Service on Dunsmuir Street, Melville Street, Thurlow Street, and W. Pender Street between Thurlow and Burrard discontinued
• June 2022 - Service to Waterfront Station discontinued. January 2022 routing changes rolled back and northern terminus reverted back to Burrard Station due to the suspension of Burrard Station upgrade works
• April 2023 - Various daily service adjustments
  • Peak hour service reduced from every 6–8 minutes to every 7–8 minutes
  • Midday weekday service reduced from every 7–10 minutes to every 10–12 minutes
  • Weekday evening service reduced from every 8–10 minutes to every 10–15 minutes
  • Weekend/holiday midday to late afternoon service reduced from every 10 minutes to every 8–12 minutes
  • Evening and night weekend/holiday service increased from every 20–30 minutes to every 12–15 minutes
• June 2023 - Service renamed from 2 Macdonald/Downtown to 2 Macdonald as part of an introduction of stacked destination signs on route 2. Northbound trips revised to runs as 2 Macdonald to Burrard Station instead of 2 Downtown and southbound trips revised to run as 2 Macdonald to Dunbar Loop or 2 Macdonald to 16th Avenue instead of 2 Macdonald or 2 Macdonald–16th
• January 2024 - Introduction of articulated buses. Rollout was initially planned for September 2023 but was deferred due to delays related to the delivery of new buses. Various daily service adjustments due to the change in vehicle type:
  • Weekdays: Westbound AM peak hours service reduced from every 6–8 minutes to every 8–9 minutes in the common section
  • Weekends/holidays: Westbound trips reduced from every 8–9 minutes to every 10 minutes in the common section
• December 2, 2024 - Burrard Station terminus moved from Bay 4 at Thurlow Street & Melville Street to Burrard Street & W. Pender Street temporarily due to construction. Northbound trips revised to continue on Thurlow Street, east on W. Pender Street, then south on Burrard Street to the temporarily terminus. Change anticipated to last until July 2026

2 Park & Ride/Downtown

Prior to the current routing structure of the 2, the route used to be a peak-hour express route connecting Downtown Vancouver and the PNE Park & Ride. The service was introduced around 1970–1971 and ran towards downtown in the morning and the PNE Park & Ride in the afternoon. The purpose of this route was to provide a direct, express connection between the downtown core and commuters from the eastern parts of the Lower Mainland who would park their vehicles at the PNE Park & Ride – which was the closest Park & Ride facility to downtown in Vancouver – as direct bus service between downtown and the eastern suburbs was limited at the time. The service often saw low ridership due to competition with other express and local routes that ran along the Hastings corridor.

When the service was discontinued, it ran every 12 minutes.

Below is a timeline of the significant changes to the 2 Park & Ride/Downtown route:

• 1970–1971 - Service introduced as 2 Park & Ride/Downtown, running from PNE Park & Ride to Hornby Street & Beach Avenue during peak hours only
• April 1981 - Service revised to interline with the 22 Macdonald–16th Avenue. Westbound routing revised to take Hastings, Carrall, Pender, Burrard instead of continuing on Hastings Street
• May 1996 - Service discontinued
• June 1996 - Service cancellation reverted and trips revised to interline with the 1 Beach/Gastown and western terminus moved to Waterfront Station
• April 1997 - Service discontinued due to low ridership and service duplication by Hastings Street suburban bus services

June 2016 Service Change

Prior to the June 2016 service changes, the 2 ran as 2 Macdonald–16th Avenue/Burrard Station. Service ran every 15 minutes daily, increasing to every 10 minutes during peak hours with no early morning or late-night service. There was also no evening service on Sundays/holidays. From Burrard Station to Macdonald Street & W. 16th Avenue, the 2 ran in tandem with the 22 Knight/Macdonald and shared the same stops and routing. This operation arrangement was due to the fact that a significant portion of the 2 is actually a former branch of the 22, as prior to the June 1997 service change there was a 22 Macdonald–16th Avenue service.

Due to the Burrard Corridor Rehabilitation Project, which involved extensive work on the Burrard Street Bridge, it was decided that the 22 would be shortened to Burrard Station and run instead as 22 Knight/Downtown. The 2 would replace the portion of the 22 between Burrard Station and Dunbar Loop. This was done to ensure a consistent operation and minimal delays to the 22. The schedule for the 2 was adjusted to have earlier and later trips daily and to alternate between the 16th Avenue routing and the former 22's Dunbar Loop routing. The branches of the 2 were also renamed from 2 Burrard Station to 2 Downtown (despite no changes in the northern terminus) and the 16th Avenue service was renamed from 2 Macdonald–16th Avenue to 2 Macdonald–16th for sign simplification purposes.

This change when initially announced was to be a temporary measure until the completion of the Burrard Corridor Rehabilitation project. It has since become a permanent change as no updates were given when construction work was complete on the future state of the 2 and 22 routes.

January 2022 Service Change

As part of the Burrard Station upgrades that were scheduled to begin in 2022 that involved a full closure of the station for two years, the 2 was extended from Burrard Station to Waterfront Station to provide a direct, frequent and consistent bus connection to SkyTrain at Waterfront Station. When the details of the Burrard Station upgrades were first announced in early 2021, it was already proposed that a direct bus service would run between Waterfront and Burrard to maintain SkyTrain access. However, the details at the time did not indicate if it would be a shuttle service or an extension of an existing route.

This change was first announced in an internal memo in October 2021 and a public announcement in December. However, it was not clear if this extension would be a temporary measure or a permanent change even when the construction work at Burrard is completed during both announcements.

In March 2022, TransLink announced that the Burrard Station upgrades would be temporarily suspended and the entire project to be rescoped "due to higher than anticipated construction bid prices during the procurement process." It was determined in April that as part of the June 2022 service changes that the 2 would revert back to terminating at Burrard Station as the extension to Waterfront Station was deemed unnecessary now that the project was being suspended.

Photo Gallery

• 
  2000 New Flyer D40LF – 7404 running along Point Grey Road on the 2 Macdonald–16th in 2018.
• 
  2018 Nova Bus LFS HEV – 18382 running along Quesnel Drive while heading back to Burrard Station.
• 
  2009 Nova Bus LFS HEV – 9478 at W. King Edward Avenue turning left onto Quesnel Drive towards Dunbar Loop.

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 Centre – Newton Exchange – Scott Road Station – Scottsdale Exchange – South Delta Exchange – South Surrey Park and Ride – Surrey Central Station – White Rock Centre Former Exchanges Airport Station – Brentwood Mall – Coquitlam Station – Coquitlam Recreation Centre – Coquitlam Town Centre – East Guildford Park and Ride – Lougheed Mall – Lougheed Park and Ride – Matthews Exchange – Meadow Ridge Centre – Pitt Meadows Park and Ride – Port Moody Station – PNE Park and Ride – Port Coquitlam Centre – Renfrew Loop – Richmond Centre – Richmond Exchange – Sexsmith Park and Ride – South Richmond Park and Ride – Upper Zoo Loop – Walnut Grove Park and Ride Routes R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Conventional 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14 15 16 17 19 20 22 25 26 27 28 29 32 33 41 44 49 50 80 84 99 100 101 104 106 110 112 116 119 123 128 129 130 133 134 136 143 144 145 150 151 152 153 155 156 157 159 160 179 183 188 191 209 210 211 212 222 228 229 230 231 232 236 240 241 245 246 247 249 250 253 254 255 257 301 310 311 312 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