Vancouver
City Transport
Vancouver’s public transport system is an efficient, integrated network of bus, light-rail (SkyTrain), SeaBus and ferry services which are operated by TransLink, formerly - and occasionally still - known as BC Transit (daily 6.30am-11.30pm; tel 521-0400, www.translink.bc.ca ).
Tickets are valid across the system for bus, SkyTrain and SeaBus. Generally they cost $1.75 for journeys in the large, central Zone 1 and $2.50 or $3.50 for longer two- and three-zone journeys - though you’re unlikely to go out of Zone 1. These regular fares apply Monday to Friday from start of service until 6.30pm. After 6.30pm and all day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, a flat $1.75 fare applies across all three zones.
Tickets are valid for transfers throughout the system for ninety minutes from the time of issue; on buses you should ask for a transfer ticket if the driver doesn’t automatically give you one. Otherwise, you can buy tickets individually (or in books of ten for $13.75) at station offices or machines, 7-Eleven, Safeway and London Drugs stores, or any other shop or newsstand displaying a blue TransLink sticker (so-called “FareDealer” outlets). You must carry tickets with you as proof of payment. Probably the simplest and cheapest deal if you’re going to be making three or more journeys in a day is to buy a DayPass ($7), valid all day across all three zones; Zone 1 monthly passes are $63. If you buy these over the counter at stores or elsewhere (not in machines) they’re “Scratch & Ride” - you scratch out the day and month before travel. If you lose anything on the transport system go to the lost property office at the SkyTrain Stadium Station (Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm; tel 682-7887 or 985-7777 for items left on West Van buses). If you don’t want to use public transport, car and bicycle rental and taxis are easy to come by .
Buses
The useful Transit Route Map & Guide ($1.50) is available from the infocentre and FareDealer shops, while free bus timetables can be found at the infocentre, 7-Eleven stores and the central library. The free Discover Vancouver on the Transit pamphlet from the infocentre is also extremely useful, though there is talk of discontinuing production of this guide. You can buy tickets on the bus, but make sure you have the right change (they don’t carry any) to shovel into the box by the driver; ask specially if you want a transfer ticket. If you have a pass or transfer, simply show the driver. Normal buses stop running around midnight, when a rather patchy “Night Owl” service comes into effect on major routes until about 4am. Note that blue West Van buses (tel 985-7777) also operate (usually to North and West Vancouver destinations, including the BC Ferries terminal at Horseshoe Bay) in the city and BC Transit tickets are valid on these buses as well.
Seabuses
The SeaBuses ply between downtown and Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and they’re a ride definitely worth taking for its own sake: the views of the mountains across Burrard Inlet, the port and the downtown skyline are superb. The downtown terminal is Waterfront Station in the old Canadian Pacific station buildings at the foot of Granville Street. There is no ticket office, only a ticket machine, but you can get a ticket from the small newsagent immediately on your left as you face the long gallery that takes you to the boats. Two 400-seat catamarans make the thirteen-minute crossing every fifteen to thirty minutes (6.30am-12.30am). Arrival in North Vancouver is at Lonsdale Quay, where immediately to the left is a bus terminal for connections to Grouse Mountain and other North Vancouver destinations. Bicycles can be carried onboard.
Ferries
The city also has a variety of small ferries - glorified bathtubs - run over similar routes by two rival companies: Aquabus (tel 689-5858) and False Creek Ferries (tel 684-7781, www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca ). These provide a useful, very frequent and fun service. Aquabus run boats in a continuous circular shuttle from the foot of Hornby Street to the Fish Docks on the seawalk to Vanier Park and the museums, to Granville Island (both $2), and to the Yaletown dock by the road loop at the east foot of Davie Street ($3). False Creek Ferries also run to Granville Island ($2), and also to Vanier Park ($3 from Granville Island, $2 from the Aquatic Centre) just below the Maritime Museum - a good way of getting to the park and its museums . You buy tickets on board with both companies. Both companies also offer what amount to mini-cruises up False Creek, with connections from Granville Island to Science World and the Plaza of Nations. You can pick up the Aquabus boat at the Arts Club Theatre on Granville Island, the foot of Hornby Street downtown or - with False Creek Ferries - below the Aquatic Centre at the foot of Thurlow and northern end of Burrard Bridge, on Granville Island or below the spit and small harbour near the Maritime Museum in Vanier Park.
Skytrain
Vancouver’s single light-rail line - SkyTrain - is a model of its type: driverless, completely computerized and magnetically propelled, half underground and half on raised track. It covers 22km (an extension is under construction) between the downtown Waterfront Station (housed in the CPR building with the SeaBus terminal) and the southeastern suburb of New Westminster. Only the first three or four stations - Waterfront, Burrard, Granville and Stadium - are of any practical use to the casual visitor, but the 39-minute trip along the twenty-station line is worth taking if only to see how the Canadians do these things - spotless interiors and Teutonic punctuality.