Bowen Island Community Transit Ltd.

Bowen Island Community Transit Ltd., part of the Bowen Transportation Society, plans and provides peak-hour express bus service based on Bowen Island, BC and serving the municipalities of Vancouver and West Vancouver.

History

Bowen Island Community Transit was established by Peter King in 1999 as a private contractor under Coast Mountain Bus Company. They were responsible for running two community shuttle routes on Bowen Island until their contract expired in December 2016. Operations and TransLink-owned assets, such as vehicles and other equipment, were transferred to First Transit, who were awarded the new contract for Bowen Island shuttle operations in November 2016.

In January 2015, Bowen Island Community Transit began operating the Bowen Island Express Bus as a temporary service at the behest of BC Ferries to compensate for the Bowen Queen's reduced vehicle capacity while the Queen of Capilano was in for refit. Due to unexpected demand, the service continued to operate after the Queen of Capilanowas returned to service later that year. The service originally operated with 30-foot transit buses, but increasing ridership and demand has resulted in vehicles being upgraded to 40-foot transit buses and 45-foot motorcoaches.

Coast Mountain Bus Company contract

Routes

• Coast Mountain Bus Company route C10 'Bluewater / Snug Cove'
• Coast Mountain Bus Company route C11 'Eagle Cliff / Snug Cove'

Retired/Transferred Fleet

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Transmission	Destination sign	Notes
C588		1996	Ford/CBB	E-450/Polar III	Ford PowerStroke 7.3L	Ford 4R100	Rollsign	1997 model. Ex-BC Transit. Retired in 2008.
S004 (1st)		1996/1997	Ford/CBB	E-450/Polar III	Ford PowerStroke 7.3L	Ford 4R100	Rollsign	1997 model, exact build date unknown. Ex-BC Transit C595. Retired in 2003 and replaced with new S004.
S003-S004 (2nd)		2003	Ford/Goshen	E-550/GC II 5500	Ford PowerStroke 7.3L	Ford 4R100	Luminator Horizon	Transferred to DW Services Ltd. in 2009.
S005		1993	Ford/Overland	E-350/ELF		Ford 4R100		Ex-BC Transit C703
S302-S304		2008	GMC/ElDorado	C5500/Aero Elite	GMC Duramax 6.6L	Allison 1000	Luminator Horizon	Transferred to DW Services Ltd. in 2013.
S390, S391 S393		2012	Chevrolet/ElDorado	G4500/Aerotech	Vortec 6.0L	GM 6L90-E with Telma retarder	Luminator Horizon	to First Transit with contract, January 2017

Independent operations

Bowen Island Express

It is an east-west peak-hour express bus service running between Horseshoe Bay and Downtown Vancouver. The Bowen Island Express generally follows the same route as CMBC route 257, deviating in its use of motorcoaches and bypassing of Park Royal, Marine Drive and 15 St, entering and exiting Highway 1 via Taylor Way. The service's schedule is designed to align with that of Cormorant Marine's water taxi service.

Former Independent Operations

• Cypress Mountain Parking Lot Shuttle: a shuttle running between the parking lots in the Cypress Mountain ski area. This shuttle was originally operated by Cypress Coach Lines and briefly taken over by Bowen Island Transit at an unknown point in time. As of December 2019, operation of this service has returned to Cypress Coach Lines.
• Charter service: charter service was provided until all of the company's own vehicles were retired or placed into storage.

Active Fleet

All active units are leased from Cypress Coach Lines.

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Transmission	Destination sign	Notes
532		2004/2005	Prevost	LeMirage XL-II	Detroit Diesel Series 60		N/A	Late model with projector headlights Equipped with wheelchair lift
560		1995	Prevost	H3-45	Detroit Diesel Series 60		N/A

Stored Fleet

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Transmission	Destination sign	Notes
2307		2003	Orion	VII 07.501	Cummins ISC	Allison B400R	Luminator MAX3000	Ex-Grand River Transit Acquired from auction, August 2018. In storage due to a fuel system issue occuring in December 2018
(unnumbered)		2006	Blue Bird	Xcel 102	Caterpillar C7	Allison 5-speed	Rollsign	Ex-TransWest, originally used as Microsoft campus shuttle Acquired from Northwest Bus Sales in September 2017 to replace 8139 Entered service December 21, 2017 In storage for unknown reasons

Retired/Returned Fleet

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Transmission	Destination sign	Notes
520		2003	Ford/Krystal	E-550/KK32	Ford Power Stroke 7.3L	Ford 4R100	Light box	Leased from Cypress Coach Lines for regular service; returned in late July 2019 Still used occasionally as backup vehicle for 532 and 560
7026		1997	New Flyer	D30LF	Detroit Diesel Series 40	Allison B300R	Luminator	Ex-Capital Metro Retired due to alternator failure and sold or donated to an unspecified fire department on the North Shore Scrapped in November 2019
7617, (1)		1997	New Flyer	D30LF	Detroit Diesel Series 40	Allison B300R	Luminator	Ex-Community Transit 7617. (1): Ex-Capital Metro Current status unknown following disposal of 7026
8139		1998	New Flyer	D40LF	Detroit Diesel Series 50	Allison B400R5	Luminator	Ex-Community Transit Acquired March 2017 to replace the Thomas SLF unit. Fleet number decals removed on all areas except roof. Scrapped following a catastrophic engine failure.
(unnumbered)		2001	Thomas/Dennis	SLF 230	Cummins ISB	Allison AT-545	Unknown	Returned to Northwest Bus Sales after multiple transmission failures and traded for 8139 in March 2017.