One of the many reasons why Metro Vancouver stays livable!
BURNABY, British Columbia, Canada, March 2011: As the cherry and plum blossoms re-appear and daylight stretches later, Metro Vancouver gets ready to welcome people from other parts of the world. And TransLink's integrated, modern, good-to-the-environment public transportation system makes it easy to get around.
With gasoline currently in the neighborhood of US$5.60 per gallon, that makes Vancouver even more livable!
Whatever your tastes, public transit can get you where you want to go. Service runs 21 hours a day and icons like SkyTrain and SeaBus make it a "destination transit system."
SkyTrain - the world's second-longest (after Dubai) driverless automated rail system launched at the 1986 transportation-themed World's Fair. Today, there are three SkyTrain lines:
Canada Line welcomes many travelers arriving at Vancouver International Airport. You can get downtown in less than half an hour for C$8.75 (C$7.50 after 6:30pm and on weekends), which includes a one-time $5 surcharge for arriving travellers - a third of the cost of a cab ride. Or change trains at Bridgeport Station and visit Richmond, the fast-growing multicultural city with its Asian-style shopping centers, Historic Steveston and "the best Chinese food outside China."
Expo and Millennium Line - these lines run 30 feet above ground with a magnificent view of the North Shore mountains, Mount Baker in Washington State and the city of Vancouver. It also doesn't hurt that the three SkyTrain lines take you to no fewer than 10 major shopping malls!
SeaBus - unlike other modes, SeaBus is the one element where usage increases during the summer. That's because that 12-minute trip across Vancouver harbour between downtown Vancouver and the North Shore is a thrill in itself, with views of mountains, the working harbor, Stanley Park and even the occasional harbor seal checking you out.
Get on the bus! With some 200 bus routes - including one of the last remaining fleets of zero-emission electric trolley buses in North America - it's remarkably easy to get to beaches, nightlife on Granville and Robson Streets, Major League Soccer and Canadian football at Empire Field, baseball at Nat Bailey Stadium ("the prettiest little ballpark in baseball") or the eclectic circus on Commercial Drive.
The TransLink Trip Planner can give you the directions you need or call Customer Information (604-953-3333).
A DayPass is the most economical way to pay fares, with unlimited travel in any direction all day. Buy a DayPasses at any FareDealer (you can find locations on the TransLink website - www.translink.ca), at SkyTrain stations and on BC Ferries from Victoria and Nanaimo.
For non-English speakers, SkyTrain Attendants have access to the provincial language service and interpreters in up to 150 languages.
Summertime, and the livin' is easy; and what could be easier on a summer vacation than to leave the car behind and let someone else do the driving? TransLink makes it happen.
Source: TransLink
