Coast Mountain Bus Company route 3 'Main'

3 Main Marine Drive Station/Waterfront Station
New Flyer E60LFR – 2524 departing Main Street–Science World Station towards Marine Drive Station.
Service Area	Vancouver
Termini	Marine Drive Station Waterfront Station
Operations	Vancouver Transit Centre
Vehicles	NFI DE60LFR * NFI E40LFR * NFI E60LFR NFI XDE60 * Nova Bus LFS * Nova Bus LFS HEV *
Branches	3 Marine Drive Station 3 Waterfront Station
* In the event of a bus shortage or bus substitution. During snowfall, New Flyer E40LFR, Nova Bus LFS, and Nova Bus LFS HEV units may be used. In the event of a significant off-wire route diversion, New Flyer DE60LFR, New Flyer XDE60, Nova Bus LFS, and Nova Bus LFS HEV units are used.

3 Main 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 along Main Street. It is a Frequent Transit Network (FTN) route with service 15 minutes or better for 15 hours or more, seven days a week. It is one of over a dozen routes that form as part of Vancouver's trolleybus network.

Trips depart from Marine Drive Station heading north on Yukon Street, east on SW Marine Drive becoming SE Marine Drive, north on Main Street, west on E. Hastings Street, north on Seymour Street, and east on W. Cordova Street to Waterfront Station at W. Cordova Street & Seymour Street. Continuing from Waterfront Station, the route continues east on W. Cordova Street, south on Main Street, east on E. 65th Avenue, south on Sophia Street, west on SE Marine Drive becoming SW Marine Drive, and south on Yukon Street to Marine Drive Station.

In October 2009, real-time information displays manufactured by INIT were installed at 29 stops along the route on Main Street. The displays were installed as part of the Main Street Urban Showcase Project, jointly funded by Transport Canada, TransLink, and the City of Vancouver.

Starting on December 31, 2020, 27 of these displays were retired and removed as the 2G network they ran on (which enabled internet connectivity to display information) was no longer supported by TransLink's service provider starting January 1, 2021. Two displays at Main Street–Science World Station were replaced by newer models – the same ones used at RapidBus stops – and the remaining 27 displays were removed.

Points of Interest

• Waterfront Station (Bay 3)
• Gastown
• Provincial Court of British Columbia
• Carnegie Community Centre
• Chinatown 溫哥華唐人街/華埠
• Thornton Park
• Main Street–Science World Station (Bay 1 – Marine Drive Station) (Bay 2 – Waterfront Station)
• Science World
• Sunset Community Centre
• Punjabi Market ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕਿਟ
• Marine Gateway
• Marine Drive Station (Bay 1)

History

Main article: Trolleybuses in Vancouver

For several decades, the 3 ran all the way to the West End along Robson Street. Prior to the amalgamation of trolleybus route numbers to transition routes from two route numbers for each direction to one route number, the 3 ran as the 3 Main/5 Robson. In 1997, the Robson portion of the route was separated to the 5 Robson/Downtown.

Before the route was introduced in 1953, this was a streetcar service that last ran as the 3 Main/7 Dunbar from Main Street & 50th Avenue and Dunbar Loop via Downtown Vancouver. Before the introduction of the Davie streetcar, the Main Street service ran as the 2 Davie–Main Street/3 Main Street South from English Bay to Main & 52nd.

Route History

For more details on the former Robson Street portion after September 1997, see the 5 Robson/Downtown page.

• May 1953 - Service introduced as 3 Main/5 Robson, replacing the Main Street portion of the 3 Main/7 Dunbar streetcar and the Robson Street portion of the 2 Broadway East/5 Robson trolleybus route. Discontinuation of streetcar service along Main Street begins, with full conversion expected to be completed by autumn 1953. Ceremonial last run on the Main Street streetcar line happens on May 8, 1953
• April 1981 - Inbound downtown routing revised to take Hastings Street between Main and Granville streets instead of Pender Street
• March 1986 - Service renumbered from 3 Main/5 Robson to 3 Main/Robson
• April 1991 - Sunday/holiday evening shuttle service in the West End introduced to run as 3 Robson/Downtown
• September 1997 - Robson section split to form the 5 Robson/Downtown; interlining with the 20 Victoria/Downtown begins. Downtown terminus was at Robson & Richards and trips continued as a 20 Victoria, with the starting point at Davie & Richards with trips coming off a 20 Downtown
• December 2004 - Introduction of an AM peak hour overload running from 41st & Main to downtown to address overcrowding
• July 2005 - Service proposed to terminate in Chinatown, reducing service duplication into downtown due to low ridership and increasing service reliability
• September 2005 - Interlining with the 20 ends. Downtown terminus revised to Columbia & Pender in Chinatown
• December 2007 - Route becomes accessible and bike rack equipped
• January 2008 - Soft rollout of New Flyer Industries E60LFR units
• September 2008 - Various daily service adjustments following the full introduction of New Flyer Industries E60LFR units:
  • Weekday peak hour service every 6 minutes
  • Weekday and Saturday midday service every 7.5 minutes
  • Sunday/holiday midday service every 10 minutes
• December 2008 - Downtown terminus revised to Cordova & Seymour and routing revised to run via Hastings, Seymour onto Cordova. Service on Pender Street and Columbia Street discontinued
• September 2009 - Extended to Marine Drive Station with select trips short-turning at Marine & Main. Downtown terminus revised to Robson & Richards instead of Cordova & Seymour. Inbound routing revised to go via Hastings, Richards, Robson to interline with the 20 Victoria/Downtown. Outbound routing revised to come off the 20 and go via Robson, Seymour, Cordova
• September 2010 - Downtown routing reverted to via Hastings, Seymour, Cordova. Interlining with the 20 ends
• December 2010 - Sunday/holiday service after 7 p.m. reduced to every 15 minutes
• April 2014 - All trips revised to terminate at Main & Marine due to Marine Gateway construction; service along Marine Drive temporarily discontinued
• April 2015 - Service to Marine Drive Station reinstated
• September 2020 - All southbound trips revised to terminate at Marine Drive Station and discontinuation of short-turn trips at SE Marine & Main
• January 2022 - COVID-19 service adjustment: AM peak hour service adjusted from every 7–14 minutes to every 10–12 minutes. PM peak hour service adjusted from every 8–12 minutes to every 10–12 minutes. Evening weekday service decreased from every 9–16 minutes to every 12–19 minutes
• April 2022 - Stacked signage introduced: Northbound trips revised from 3 Downtown to 3 Downtown to Waterfront Station and southbound trips from 3 Main–Main Drive Station to 3 Main to Marine Drive Station
• January 2023 - AM peak hour service reduced from every 8–15 minutes to every 10–15 minutes. PM peak hour service reduced from every 10 minutes to every 12–15 minutes. Saturday midday service reduced from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes
• June 2023 - Service renamed from 3 Main/Downtown to 3 Main in both directions for stacked destination sign uniformity. Destination signs began to be gradually updated as early as June 14 but full rollout was initially scheduled for June 26

References

• Route diagram of 3 Marine Drive Station/Main/Downtown, as of September 2010. Translink. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
• Public timetable of 3 Marine Drive Station/Main/Downtown, as of September 6, 2010. Translink. Retrieved November 27, 2010.

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