Incorporated 1886 and again in 1889 (both BC)
as the
Vancouver Street Railways Company.
Reconstituted as the VERy&LCo 21 May 1890 (BC).
Entered receivership May 1893.
Acquired at bankruptcy by the CRy&LCo.
Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company (28 June 1890 - April 1894)
Incorporated 1886 and again in 1889 (both BC)
as the
Vancouver Street Railways Company.
Reconstituted as the VERy&LCo 21 May 1890 (BC).
Entered receivership May 1893.
Acquired at bankruptcy by the CRy&LCo.
Consolidated Railway and Light Company (April 1894 - 17 April
1896)
Incorporated April 1894.
Acquired Westminster & Vancouver interurban
1895.
Name changed to CRyCo 1896.
Consolidated Railway Company (17 April 1896 - 15 April 1897)
Acquired transit services in Victoria in 1896.
Sold at bankruptcy to the BCER.
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British Columbia Electric Railway Company (15 April 1897 -
30 March 1962)  Incorporated 03 April 1897 (Imp).
Also operated transit service in
Victoria and interurban service on the
Saanich Peninsula and
the Lower Mainland.
Sold to the province 1962.
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British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (30 March 1962 - 31 August 1973)
The Buzzer Vol 58, No. 3
(02 February 1973) and CC66 cites
Metropolitan Transit System.
Provincial government entity.
Operator of transit services in Vancouver and Victoria.
(CUTA 1976-77).
Greater Vancouver Transit System (31 August 1973 - 31 March 1983)
Operated under contract by the BCH&PA 1973 - 31 March 1980.
Operated by the
Metro Transit Operating Company under contract
to the
Urban Transit Authority from 01 April 1980.
WVMT operations absorbed 1980 although WVMT remained the
contracted operator of the "Blue Buses."
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Vancouver Regional Transit System (01 April 1983 - 31 March 1999)  Operated 1983 - 01 June 1985 by MTOC."The Vancouver Regional Transit System services are operated by BC Transit, West Vancouver Municipal Transportation Department (Blue Buses), and B.C. Rapid Transit Company Ltd. (SkyTrain)." (Vancouver Transit Guide, 1986). "Services are operated for the Vancouver Regional Transit System by BC Transit, the West Vancouver Municipal Transportation Department, Independant Bus and Transportation Inc., and British Columbia Rapid Transit Operating Company Ltd. (SkyTrain)" (BC Transit 1989/90). Maple Ridge network absorbed 16 December 1991, with Independent Bus and Transportation, Ltd. continuing as the contract operator for local routes until 19 October 1992 when BC Transit took over (Brian Mills, 2001). (CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992) (Images: Blinkpunkt Straßenbahn (ETB), BC Archives I-09409 [123k] (SkyTrain)) |
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 System logo |
Service area population | 1,400,000 | Vehicle fleet | 7?? buses, 244 trolleybuses, 150 SkyTrain cars, 2 SeaBus ferries (1998) |
Data source: | CUTA 1991/2 BC Transit web site 1998 CTHF/SSG 1998 |
TransLink, the Regional Transportation Network (01 April 1999 - present)
Established July 1998 (BC) as
Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority and renamed TransLink
01 April 1999.
On 01 April 1999
Coast Mountain Bus Company (originally to be
Coast Mountain BusLink) assumed responsibility for bus operations in the
Vancouver area, excluding the West Vancouver "Blue Buses". CMB is a subsidiary of
TransLink.
TransLink itself operates the Skytrain,
Seabus, Albion Ferry, major roads and bridges,
West Coast Express and the AirCare emission
testing program for cars. Starting 31 May 1999
Bowen Island Community Transit began operating
transit service on Bowen Island, under contract to TransLink (CTN 1999).
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 System logo |
Vehicle fleet: | 832 buses (CMBCo), 38 buses (WVMT), 244 trolleybuses, 150 SkyTrain cars, 2 SeaBus ferries (2000) |
| Data source: | TransLink web site 1999, CTHF/SSG 2000 |
Jitney Association of Vancouver (30 March 1915 - ?)
The "jitney craze" in Vancouver played out in similar fashion to
other Canadian cities. The first jitneys appeared mid November 1914
and by April 1915 there were about 325 in service. By June 1915 there were
664 licenced jitneys in Vancouver when new bonding requirements reduced the
field to about 250. There were 450 licenced jitneys as of 01 Novemeber 1915.
By February 1916 there were 160 licenced jitneys, and 285 by June 1917.
Various operators and associations came and went
quickly. CR&MW made note of the following:
City of North Vancouver (circa August 1918 - 1918?)
The North Vancouver City council operated a jitney service on the Lynne Valley road between
Center Road and city limits (CR&MW September 1918, p. 403).
False Creek Ferries (1982 - present)
Division of
Granville Island Ferries Ltd.
Point-to-point shuttle boat service on False Creek (Vanier Park to Science World).
(website 2000).
 System logo |
Data source: | False Creek Ferries web site 2000 |
Aquabus (1986? - present)
Point-to-point shuttle boat service on False Creek (DAW 1986).
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Downtown Historic Railway Inc. (29 July 1998 - present (summer seasons)) Heritage tramway service along the south shore of False Creek in Vancouver operated by the
Transit Museum Society (TRAMS) in cooperation with the
City of Vancouver. (photo Dale Laird)
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system logo |
Vehicle fleet | 1 streetcar (ex-interurban) | Data source: | DHR Website 1998 |
Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company (03 June 1891 - 13 April 1895)
Incorporated 26 April 1890 (BC). Included
by amalgamation 20 April 1891 the
Westminster Street Railway Company (inc. 26 Apr. 1890, BC).
Very limited service on the incomplete interurban line began 03 June 1891
(Ewert 1986).
New Westminister city service was reported on by a local newspaper
07 October 1891 but may have been operated for some time (Ewert 1986).
Acquired by the CRyCo at sherriff's auction 13 April 1895.
Neville Transportation Company (? - 01 July 1947)
Transit service in Burnaby acquired 1947 by the BCER (CC66).
West Vancouver Systems
West Vancouver Transportation Company (08 November 1908 - 1912)
Ferry service between Vancouver and West Vancouver. Purchased 1912 by
West Van. Municipal (Kelly & Francis).
West Vancouver Municipal Transportation (1912 - 1980)
Servicing West Vancouver. (Dawes et al. 1972,
other sources cite
West Vancouver Municipal Lines).
Service merged with the GVTS 1980,
although it retains it's on-street identity as a separate operating arm of Translink. (Photo: Peter Cox).
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Pacific Great Eastern Railway (01 January 1914 - 29 November 1928) While the PGE (later
BC Rail) was certainly never intended as urban transit, the
railway's North Vancouver to West Vancouver line was essentially
just a passenger interurban gascar railway from its
construction to the closure of the line in 1928.
(British Columbia Archives: Visual Records Catalogue,
call number
G-02874 [photo])
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Deep Cove Stage Lines (? - 01 August 1973)
Operation to Deep Cove. Acquired by the BC government in preparation for the
establishment of the GVTS. (CC68, Scrafton et al. 1970)
Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody Systems
Columbia Stage Lines (1934 - 23 May 1969)
Suburban services to Port Moody and Coquitlam (CC66, 69). (Photo: Peter Cox).
Sabina Intercity Transit Company (22 October 1969 - 31 August 1973)
Service in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody. Succeeded by the GVTS. (Photo: Peter Cox)
Richmond, Delta and Surrey Systems
Richmond Transportation (? - 01 October 1946)
Suburban transit service in Richmond acquired 1946 by the BCER (CC66).
Pacific Stage Lines (December 1924 - 01 April 1979)
Chiefly an intercity carrier, operated
some local and suburban services in the greater Vancouver area.
Suburban service in Surrey begun 08 November 1966 (CC66, 73).
Incorporated as
B.C. Motor Transportation Limited (CC67, Kelly &
Francis).
Surrey Bus Lines (? - circa 1974)
Suburban service in southern Surrey (CC71).
Maple Ridge System
Maple Ridge Bus Lines (early 1970s?)
(Scrafton et al. 1970).
CC71 cites a
Maple Ridge Bus Service.
[Maple Ridge Transit System] (1976 - 16 December 1991)
(TC76).
Operation conducted for
BC Transit by contractor
Independent Bus and Transportation, Ltd.
Routes added to the
Vancouver Regional Transit System 1991 (Brian Mills, 2001).
(BC Transit 1988).
(not listed separately in BC Transit 1989/90).
| Electric railway | 28 June 1890** - 21 April 1955> *** (Vancouver) 07 October 1891 - 04 December 1938> (New Westminster) 01 September 1906 - 23 April 1947> (North Vancouver) 29 July 1998 - present (Vancouver: DHR) | Motor bus | 19 March 1923 - present | Trolley coach §§ | 16 August 1948 - present | SeaBus* | 17 June 1977 - present | Heavy rail transit (SkyTrain & Canada Line) | 03 January 1986 § - present |
The author is always interested in comments, corrections and further information. Please email to: David_Wyatt@umanitoba.ca This page last modified: Monday, 31-Aug-2009 13:52:25 CDT