Coast Mountain Bus Company route 5 'Robson / Downtown'

5 Robson/Downtown
New Flyer E40LFR – 2110 on route 5 Robson in Downtown Vancouver.
Service Area	Vancouver
Termini	Davie Street at Denman Street Cambie Street at Dunsmuir Street
Operations	Vancouver Transit Centre
Vehicles	NFI E40LFR Nova Bus LFS * Nova Bus LFS HEV *
Branches	5 Robson 5 Downtown
* In the event of a route diversion or bus shortage

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

Route Details

This is an east-west circular route combined with the 6 Davie/Downtown, connecting Downtown Vancouver and the West End running primarily on Robson Street. This route is the northern half of the circular service. Service runs daily every 10 minutes, increasing to every 5–6 minutes during peak hours. 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.

Eastbound trips depart from Davie Street & Denman Street coming off a 6 Davie heading west on Davie Street, north on Denman Street, east on Robson Street, north on Burrard Street, east on W. Pender Street, and south on Cambie Street to Cambie Street & Dunsmuir Street.

Westbound trips depart from Cambie Street & Dunsmuir Street heading north on Cambie Street, west on W. Pender Street, south on Burrard Street, west on Robson Street, south on Denman Street, and east on Davie Street to Davie Street & Denman Street where it continues as a 6 Downtown.

Some late-night eastbound trips short-turn at Burrard Station. Five early morning weekday trips come off a 10 Waterfront Station and start at Richards Street & W. Hastings Street and head south on Richards Street, west on W. Pender Street and then the regular westbound route. One westbound trip on early Sunday/holiday mornings starts at Robson Street & Burrard Street.

Points of Interest

• Davie Village
• West End Community Centre
• King George Secondary School
• Robson Street Shopping District
• Burrard Station (Bay 1 – Robson) (Bay 7 – Downtown)
• Stadium–Chinatown Station

History

Main article: Trolleybuses in Vancouver

For many decades, the 5 route was not combined with the 6 to form a circular service in the West End area. Up until the 1990s, it was part of the 3 and ran as the 3 Main/5 Robson.

The service was introduced on October 16, 1948, to replace the former streetcar service. However, a temporary bus service ran through the West End during a transitional period from streetcar to trolleybus. The streetcar service replaced was the 5 Robson–Broadway East, running from English Bay to Commercial & Broadway. In October 1952 as part of an assignment of route numbers to bus services, the route was assigned and named 2 Broadway East/5 Robson until the 5 route was split off to join the 3 Main as 3 Main/5 Robson in 1953.

Portions of the following routes were at one point part of the 5:

• 3 Main/Downtown
• 9 Alma/Boundary (as the 2 Broadway East)

From 2003–2016, there was a NightBus component to the 5 that ran as the N6 West End/Downtown NightBus.

Route History

Below is the history of the current iteration of the 5 route. For more details on the 6 before September 1997 and the former Main Street portion of the route, see the 3 Main/Downtown.

• April 1997 - Service proposed to help improve the reliability of West End bus services and to provide a direct connection between the West End and the entertainment district near the stadiums and main library
• September 1997 - Service introduced as the Robson portion of the 3 Main/Robson is split off
• October 2001 - Downtown terminus revised to Waterfront Station instead of Robson Street & Hamilton Street due to low ridership and funding shortfall. Service on Pender Street, Cambie Street, Robson Street and Hamilton Street (Vancouver Public Library) discontinued. Late night Owl Service after 1:40 a.m. discontinued
• April 2006 - Along with the 6 Davie/Downtown, the route becomes the first accessible trolley route in the system, using New Flyer E40LFRs. Service rerouted due to the construction of the Canada Line and is revised to operate northbound along Seymour and southbound along Richards in lieu of service along Granville Street
• April 2007 - Route made fully accessible
• February 2010 - Route detoured due to the Olympics and the closing of Robson Street between Howe and Hornby with the Robson Square Mound Remediation Project; route revised to operate eastbound along Robson until Thurlow, Thurlow, Barclay/Smithe Diversion onto Burrard Street, Pender to Homer, a loop around Homer, Hastings and Richards back to Pender and then return service along Pender Street and Burrard back to Robson and its regular route
• March 1–21, 2010 - Vancouver 2010 Paralympic service: Due to the zip-line and other Olympic/Paralympic festivities at Robson Square, eastbound trips revised to go via Robson, Thurlow, Smithe, Burrard, Pender, Homer and Hastings. Westbound trips revised to go via Richards, Pender, Burrard, Robson
• September 2016 - 800 Robson at Robson Square permanently closed to traffic, service re-routed from Robson and Burrard via Burrard, Pender, Homer, and Hastings to Richards Street
• December 2016 - Eastern terminus moved to Cambie at Dunsmuir from Waterfront Station following simplifications and extension of the 6 to Yaletown–Roundhouse Station and merging of C21 and C23 service. Service on Granville Street discontinued
• January 2022 - COVID-19 service adjustment: AM peak hour service reduced from every 5–10 minutes to every 6–12 minutes and weekday late-morning service reduced from every 6–10 minutes to every 10 minutes. PM peak hour service reduced from every 5–8 minutes to every 6–8 minutes
• April 2023 - Late afternoon and early evening weekday service increased from every 6–12 minutes to every 5–10 minutes. Three early morning weekday trips revised to start from Waterfront Station, coming off a 10
• January 2024 - Two more early morning weekday trips revised to start from Waterfront Station, coming off a 10

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 8102–8117 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 17506–17564 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 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 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 99 100 101 104 106 110 112 116 119 123 128 129 130 133 134 136 143 144 145 150 151 152 153 155 156 159 160 179 183 188 191 209 210 211 212 222 228 229 230 231 232 236 240 241 245 246 247 249 250 253 254 255 257 301 310 311 312 314 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C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C15 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C35 C36 C37 C38 C40 C41 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C70 C71 C73 C74 C75 C76 C84 C86 C87 C88 C89 C90 C92 C93 C94 C95 C96 C98 C99 N6 N16 – Games Express – Metrotown Shuttle – North Vancouver Games Express – Sexsmith Park & Ride Shuttle – TrainBus TransLink Transit Services Fare Information – Cash Fares – Fare Structure – Universal Pass (U-Pass) – West Coast Express Fares Plans and Projects Expo Line Fraser Highway Extension – Millennium Line Broadway Extension – Pattullo Bridge Replacement Other Divisions Cycling Network – Roads and Bridges – Transit Police