Coast Mountain Bus Company route 8 'Fraser'
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Service Area | Vancouver | |
Termini | SE Marine Drive at Poplar Street* Waterfront Station | |
Operations | Vancouver Transit Centre | |
Vehicles | NFI DE60LFR ![]() NFI E40LFR ![]() NFI E60LFR ![]() NFI XDE60 ![]() Nova Bus LFS ![]() Nova Bus LFS HEV ![]() | |
Branches | 8 SE Marine Drive 8 Waterfront Station 8 To 41st Avenue*** | |
* Early morning weekday trips terminate at Fraser Street & SE Marine Drive |
8 Fraser 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 running in Vancouver primarily along Fraser Street. Service runs daily every 15 minutes, increasing to every 12 minutes during peak hours. It is part of the Frequent Transit Network (FTN) providing service 15 minutes or better for 15 hours or more of the day. It is one of over a dozen routes that form as part of Vancouver's trolleybus network.
Trips depart from SE Marine Drive & Poplar Street heading west on SE Marine Drive, north on Poplar Street, east on E. 65th Avenue, north on Fraser Street, west on E. Broadway, north on Kingsway merging onto 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 W. Cordova Street & Seymour Street, trips continue east on W. Cordova Street, south on Main Street merging onto Kingsway, east on E. Broadway, south on Fraser Street, and west on SE Marine Drive to SE Marine Drive & Poplar Street.
Early morning weekday trips terminate at Fraser Street & SE Marine Drive. Select evening northbound trips run as 8 To 41st Avenue and short-turn at Fraser Street & E. 41st Avenue.
Points of Interest
Waterfront Station (Bay 3)
- Gastown
- Chinatown 溫哥華唐人街/華埠
Main Street–Science World Station (Bay 1 – SE Marine Drive) (Bay 2 – Waterfront Station)
- Pacific Central Station (Amtrak)
- Mount St. Joseph Hospital
- Robson Park
- Mountainview Cemetary
- John Oliver Secondary School
History
Main article: Trolleybuses in Vancouver
The 8 was part of the first trolleybus route in the system when the network was launched on August 15, 1948. The route – originally without a route number as was the case with many trolleybus routes at the time – ran as the Fraser–Cambie, running from Fraser Street & Marine Drive to Cambie Street & W. 29th Avenue. In 1949 as other trolleybus routes came online, the Fraser portion of the Fraser–Cambie was split and merged with the Davie Street route to become the Fraser–Davie.
In October 1952 as part of an assignment of route numbers to bus services, the route was assigned and named 6 Fraser/8 Davie.
Over the decades, the 8 maintained its routing from Fraser & Marine Drive to the West End. However, it was interlined with a variety of other routes over the years. Current routes that used to be interlined with the 8 were:
As was common practice at the time, there were different route numbers for each direction of travel. The 8 towards the West End and the 6 towards Fraser & Marine. The two numbers were amalgamated into 8 for both directions in 1986.
In 1997, the routing structure was dramatically altered, resulting in the loss of the Davie Street portion and the introduction of service along Granville Street. This change from 1997–2003 resulted in the 8 to run as the 8 Fraser/Granville until it was revised to run simply as 8 Fraser/Downtown.
Route History
Below is the history of the current iteration of the 8 route. For more details on the history of the former West End and Davie Street portions before September 1997, see the 6 Davie/Downtown.
- August 1948 - Service introduced as Fraser–Cambie
- 1949 - Service revised to run as the Fraser–Davie
- 1952 - Service ran as the 6 Fraser/8 Davie
- August 1957 - 8 Davie interlined with the 19 Kingsway and 6 Fraser with 15 Cambie[1]
- April 1981 - 6 Fraser interlining with 15 Cambie and 8 Davie interlining with 19 Kingsway ends and revised to become the 6 Fraser/8 Davie[2]
- March 1986 - Service renumbered to 8 in both directions from 6 Fraser and 8 Davie[3]
- April 1991 - Sunday/holiday evening service in the West End revised to run as 8 Davie/Downtown[4]
- September 1997 - Service to Downtown/West End renumbered to create route 6 Davie/Downtown.[5] Service revised to operate as 8 Fraser/Granville, replacing portions of the 20 Victoria/Granville
- September 2000 - Service during peak hours reduced from every 4–5 minutes to every 6–7 minutes to coincide with changes to suburban and express services along the Granville Street corridor
- October 2001 - Midday service adjusted to reduce service duplication following the introduction of the 98 B-Line. Late-night Owl Service after 1:40 am discontinued due to funding shortfall[6][7]
- September 2003 - Service revised to run as 8 Fraser/Downtown. Granville portion of the route replaced by the 10 Granville/Hastings. Service rerouted from Waterfront Station to Burrard Station and revised to travel on Pender Street instead of Cordova Street[8]
- September 2005 - Interlining with the 15 ends and service is revised to interline with the 20 Victoria/Downtown. Downtown terminus revised from Pender & Hamilton to Robson & Granville. Downtown starting point remains as Robson & Granville. Service on Pender Street discontinued and outbound routing revised to take Cordova Street once again
- April 2006 - Service rerouted due to the construction of the Canada Line. Service to run southbound by Richards, Robson and the north along Seymour instead of along Granville Street[9]
- April 2008 - Interlining with the 20 Victoria/Downtown ended to introduce articulated trolley service on the 20[10]
- September 2009 - Downtown routing revised to go via regular route, Hastings, Seymour, Cordova, and then regular outbound routing to replace portions of the 3 Main/Downtown as the 3 and 20 begin interlining with each other[11]
- December 2009 - New Flyer Industries E60LFR buses are introduced making the route an entirely articulated trolley service[12]
- April 2022 - Introduction of stacked destination signs: Southbound trips renamed from 8 Fraser to 8 Fraser to Marine Drive. Northbound trips were to be renamed from 8 Downtown to 8 Downtown to Waterfront Station, but remained displaying 8 Downtown
- June 2022 - Southbound trips renamed from 8 Fraser to Marine Drive to 8 Fraser to SE Marine Drive for clarity
- February 21, 2023 - Northbound trips renamed from 8 Downtown to 8 Downtown to Waterfront Station
- April 2023 - Saturday afternoon service reduced from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes
- September 2023 - Service renamed from 8 Fraser/Downtown to 8 Fraser in both directions for stacked destination sign uniformity
- January 2025 - Various proposed long-term service changes as part of the Burrard Peninsula Area Transport Plan:[13]
- Move the southern terminus from Marine & Fraser to Marine Drive Station to provide improved connections
- Move the northern terminus from Waterfront Station to Main Street–Science World Station instead
- April 2025 - Weekend/holiday midday service increased from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes
Photo Gallery
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1949 CC&F/Brill T-48 – 2174 on the 8 Davie.
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1975 Flyer E800 – 2603 turning off Granville Street and onto W. Pender Street as a 6 Fraser.
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1982 Flyer E902 – 2801 on the 8 Davie at W. Hastings Street & Cambie Street.
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1982 Flyer D901A – 3192 as an 8 Downtown at Robson Square.
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2018 New Flyer XDE60 – 18004 on loan from Burnaby to Vancouver on the 8 Fraser to 41st.
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2021 New Flyer XDE60 – 21009 at the Fraser terminus.
References
- ↑ The Buzzer August 23, 1957 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 09-09-2010
- ↑ The Buzzer April 3, 1981 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 16-05-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer February 28, 1986 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 26-04-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer April 12, 1991 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 01-05-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer August 8, 1997 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 08-11-2014
- ↑ Service Cuts for October 15, 2001 listed by Route Number, translink.ca, retrieved 21-04-2020
- ↑ Service Cuts for October 15, 2001 listed by Route Number translink.ca, archived on Web Archive, retrieved 26-02-2021
- ↑ The Buzzer September 5, 2003 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 27-02-2021
- ↑ The Buzzer April 24, 2006 Issue, translink.ca, retrieved 23-04-2010
- ↑ TransLink approves $150 million fleet expansion; BC gives $47 million, translink.bc.ca, retrieved 24-09-09
- ↑ Other September 7 bus adjustments 3, 8, 160 discontinued service, plus bus bay changes, buzzer.translink.ca, retrieved 07-09-09
- ↑ Bus service changes coming December 14: new 99 B-Line stops and more, buzzer.translink.ca, retrieved 10-12-2009
- ↑ Burrard Peninsula Area Transport Plan: Phase 2 Survey Discussion Guide translink.ca, retrieved 25-01-2025