Coast Mountain Bus Company route 257 'Horseshoe Bay / Vancouver'
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Service Area | West Vancouver Vancouver | |
Termini | Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal Dunsmuir Street at Cambie Street | |
Operations | Burnaby Transit Centre | |
Vehicles | NFI DE60LFR NFI XDE60 Nova Bus LFS * | |
Branches | 257 Horseshoe Bay Express 257 Vancouver Express | |
* During snowfall |
257 Horseshoe Bay/Vancouver Express is a bus route operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Route Details
This is an east-west express route connecting the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal in West Vancouver and Downtown Vancouver. Service runs daily every 20 minutes, with increased weekend/holiday service. Saturday daytime service and Sunday/holiday afternoon service is increased run every 15 minutes.
Eastbound trips depart from the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal heading north on Keith Road, east on Bay Street looping around the ferry terminal to merge onto Highway 1 heading east, then taking the 15th Street exit heading south on 15th Street, east on Marine Drive, south across the Lions Gate Bridge through the Stanley Park Causeway becoming W. Georgia Street, north on Cambie Street, and west on Dunsmuir Street to Dunsmuir & Cambie Street.
Westbound trips depart from Dunsmuir Street & Cambie Street heading west on Dunsmuir, south on Richard Street, west on W. Georgia Street becoming the Stanley Park Causeway and across the Lions Gate Bridge, then west on Marine Drive, north on 15th Street, west on Highway 1 taking the Horseshoe Bay Village exit, and north on Keith Road to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal.
257 Express Stops | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pick-up and drop-off service at all stops. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Points of Interest
- Stadium–Chinatown Station
- Queen Elizabeth Theatre
- Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
- Vancouver Art Gallery
- Burrard Station
- Hotel Vancouver
- Pacific Centre
- Granville Station
- Vancouver City Centre Station
- Royal Centre Mall
- Stanley Park
- Coal Harbor
- Lions Gate Bridge
- Park Royal (Bay 2 – Horseshoe Bay) (Bay 5 – Vancouver)
- Park Royal Shopping Centre
- Ambleside Park
- Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal
History
- September 1986 - Service extended from Gleneagles Park & Ride to Eagle Harbour via Marine Drive[1]
- November 1987 - Due to low ridership, the section between Gleneagles Park and Ride and Marine Drive & Gallagher (Eagle Harbour) eliminated[2]
- June 1988 - Stop introduced for Vancouver-bound buses at Marine Drive & 15th Street for drop-off only, 14th Street & Marine Drive for pick-up only for Horseshoe Bay-bound buses[3]
- April 1991 - Service improved to every 30 minutes during peak hours and every 120 minutes off-peak; routing rerouted to serve Westmount with stops introduced at Dundarave, the Recreation Centre & Library, and Ambleside[4]
- December 1991 - Westmount service discontinued and all trips revised to return running along 15th Street between the Upper Levels Highway and Marine Drive; limited service to Gleneagles Park & Ride discontinued except for one morning trip due to low ridership; Horseshoe Bay routing revised to go via Nelson Avenue and trips before 8:55am via Royal, Bay and directly onto Highway 1 bypassing Horseshoe Bay Village[5]
- September 1992 - Horseshoe Bay terminus moved to Keith Road[6]
- 1992 - Route is served by newly acquired Orion I units
- October 2001 - Three midday trips daily discontinued due to low ridership and funding shortfall[7]
- 2002–2009 - Route served by New Flyer Industries D60 articulated buses leased from TransLink
- 2009 - Route served by New Flyer Industries D60LFR articulated buses
- May 2016 - Horseshoe Bay Village portion of route eliminated. In addition, stops at Bute Street, Broughton Street, Cardero Street and the Lions Gate Bridge on/offramp were removed in both directions[8]
- August 2017 - PNE special trips discontinued
- September 2018 - Operations moved from West Vancouver Transit to Coast Mountain Bus Company's Burnaby Transit Centre and all trips revised to operate with articulated buses. Frequency increased to every 20 minutes for most of the day and service extended to start earlier and end later. Interlining with 259 Lions Bay/Horseshoe Bay discontinued. Stop introduced at 15th & Ottawa to be serviced by one PM weekday trip
- March 2019 - Stopping procedures revised to pick-up and drop-off at all stops on all days at all times to improve service operations. Stop at 15th & Ottawa revised to be serviced by all trips daily
- January 2021 - Weekend/holiday evening service increased from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes. Daytime Saturday and PM Sunday/holiday service increased from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes
West Vancouver PNE Specials
During The Fair at the Pacific National Exhibition from late August to early September, select trips extended to the PNE from Horseshoe Bay via regular route, Marine Drive becoming 3rd Street, Cotton Road, Main Street, Highway 1, McGill Street, Renfrew Street to Coliseum Loop. Return trips terminated at Park Royal. This service was discontinued in 2017 due to low ridership and more frequent connections with the 95 B-Line.
There were six PNE-bound trips daily. Four departed from Horseshoe Bay (two in the morning and two in the afternoon) and two started from Marine Drive & 25th Street (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Eight trips departed from the PNE, all in the afternoon. Two trips terminated at Park Royal and another two at Marine & 25th. The rest terminated at Horseshoe Bay.
References
- ↑ The Buzzer August 29, 1986 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 26-04-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer October 23, 1987 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 26-11-2017
- ↑ The Buzzer June 3, 1988 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 27-04-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer April 12, 1991 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 01-05-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer December 20, 1991 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 01-05-2020
- ↑ The Buzzer September 11, 1992 Issue translink.ca, retrieved 01-05-2020
- ↑ Service Cuts for October 15, 2001 listed by Route Number translink.ca, archived on Web Archive, retrieved 01-03-2021
- ↑ TransLink planning changes to four North Shore bus routes, nsnews.com, retrieved 07-20-2020
- 257 Horseshoe Bay/Vancouver Schedule, westvancouver.net, retrieved 09-28-09