Coast Mountain Bus Company route 4 'Powell / Downtown / UBC'
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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 |
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:
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[1]
- April 1957 - Interlining with the 17 Oak begins, running as 4 Fourth/17 Oak from Blanca Loop to Marpole Loop[2]
- 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[3]
- 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[4]
- 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[5]
- 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[6]
- April 1997 - Downtown terminus revised to Pender at Homer Street[7]
- April 2006 - Service rerouted due to construction of the Canada Line; service to travel along Seymour northbound and Howe southbound instead of Granville Street[8]
- December 2007 - Service becomes accessible and bike rack equipped with New Flyer Industries E40LFR low-floor trolleys[9][10]
- 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[11]
- 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[12]
- 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
- September 2024 - Weekend/holiday afternoon eastbound service increased from every 12–22 minutes to every 12 minutes
- September 16, 2024 - End of long-term detour in downtown following the conclusion of construction on the north end of the Granville Street Bridge
References
- ↑ The Buzzer September 19, 1952 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 01-01-2022
- ↑ The Buzzer April 24, 1957 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 01-01-2022
- ↑ The Buzzer February 18, 1983 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 08-05-2021
- ↑ The Buzzer February 28, 1986 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 24-09-2015
- ↑ The Buzzer August 26, 1988 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 13-11-2017
- ↑ The Buzzer December 13, 1996 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 26-03-2010
- ↑ The Buzzer April 4, 1997 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 25-03-2010
- ↑ The Buzzer April 24, 2006 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 23-04-2010
- ↑ The Buzzer February 2007 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 17-10-2009
- ↑ The Buzzer December 14, 2007 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 09-11-2009
- ↑ The Buzzer June 20, 2008 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 20-04-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer April 1, 2011 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 11-10-2014