All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems

Vancouver, British Columbia

Principal System

Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company (28 June 1890 - April 1894)
Incorporated 1886 and again in 1889 (both BC) as the Vancouver Street Railway Company. Construction of a horsecar system began in 1889 but it was converted to an electric streetcar system before service began. 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.

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.

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (30 March 1962 - 31 August 1973)
The Buzzer Vol 58, No. 3 (02 February 1973) and Canadian Coach 1966 cites Metropolitan Transit System. Provincial government entity. Operator of transit services in Vancouver and Victoria. (CUTA 1976-77, photos: Peter Cox, Angus McIntyre).

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.” (photo: Peter Cox)

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))

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). From 29 November 2007 the agency's full name has been South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority. (website).

System logo	Vehicle fleet:	832 buses (CMBCo), 38 buses (WVMT), 244 trolleybuses, 150 SkyTrain cars, 2 SeaBus ferries (2000)
	Ridership	187,912,227 (2009)
	Data source:	TransLink web site 1999, CTHF/SSG 2000 CTF [Aug. 2010] (ridership)

Union Steamship Company (1893 - 1899)
Ferry service between Vancouver and North Vancouver. Franchise arrangement with the City of North Vancouver. Municipality assumed operations briefly in 1899 before they were transferred to a new entity (Wilson).

North Vancouver Ferry and Power Company (1899 - 1958)
Ferry service between Vancouver and North Vancouver. Ferry service discontinued in 1958. (photo City of Vancouver Archives).

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:

• Vancouver Public Service (established 27 January 1915) Jitney association.
• Auto Public Service Co. of British Columbia, Ltd. (incorporated circa February 1915)
• Jitney Association of Vancouver (formed 30 March 1915)
• Vancouver Jitney Protective Association (formed circa May 1916) Merged with the VJL 28 October 1916.
• Vancouver Jitney League (merged with the VJPA 28 October 1916)

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).

Deep Cove Stage Lines (? - circa 1946)
Service to Deep Cove in North Vancouver. Absorbed circa 1946 by Pacific Stage Lines (John Day 2003).

Deep Cove Stage Lines (? - 01 August 1973)
Operation to Deep Cove. Acquired by the BC government in preparation for the establishment of the GVTS. (Canadian Coach 1968, Scrafton et al. 1970)

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).

Downtown Historic Railway (29 July 1998 - October 2008, summer 2011 (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. In conjunction with the 2010 Winter Olympics part of this line was operated (21 January 2010 - 21 March 2010) with modern light rail vehicles by the City of Vancouver as the “Olympic Line” LRT. (photo Dale Laird)

system logo	Vehicle fleet	2 interurban streetcars
	Data source:	DHR Website 1998

Pacific Commuter (03 July 2012 - ?)
Single weekdaily round trip between Vancouver and Cloverdale and Langley scheduled for commuters. Service describes itself as a “club”. Probably short-lived. (website 2012).

English Bay Launch (circa April 2013 - present?)
Weekdaily commercial commuter passenger ferry operation between Snug Cove on Bowen Island and Granville Island (Vancouver) and Coal Harbour (downtown Vancouver). (website 2013, Bowen Island Undercurrent 04 April 2013).

Aldergrove Trolley Company (03 June 2013 - 23 August 2013)
Weekdaily mid-day bus service (5 round trips) serving central Aldergrove, Gloucester and Pioneer Park areas. Service suspended 26 August 2013. (website 2013).

system logo	Vehicle fleet	1 bus
	data source:	website 2013

Bowen Express (05 January 2015 - present)
Express bus service between Bowen Island and downtown Vancouver operated by Bowen Island Community Transit under arrangements with BC Ferries (not TransLink). Intended to help alleviate restricted ferry capacity due to vessel refitting. (No fare integration or transfer arrangements with TransLink). Approximately 30 April 2015 the “Independent Transit Service agreement” was transferred to Peter King (Bowen Island Undercurrent 30 April 2015). (Bowen Island Undercurrent 12 February 2015).

Beyond-Shuttle (circa 11 October 2018 - present)
Privately operated shuttle between Surrey and UBC. Operated by Beyond Travels Inc. with the approval of TransLink. Initally plan to call the service B-Shuttle denied by TransLink due to potential confusion with their “B-Line” express services.

New Westminster and Burnaby Systems

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.

Moorhouse Stages (1924 - 25 July 1946)
Owner E.F. Moorhouse. In 1945 was operating scheduled service from New Westminster to Langley, to Ladner [Delta], to Coldicutt Villas [White Rock], to Sunbury [Delta], and to Port Mann [Surrey] (BC PUC 1946). Purchased in 1946 by B.C. Motor Transportation Limited aka Pacific Stage Lines.

Lochdale Transportation (August 1941 - circa 1947)
Owner E.H. Neville. Operator of scheduled passenger service in Burnaby (BC PUC 1945 p. L18, 1946, 1947, 1948). It's not exactly clear when Neville changed the name of his bus operation from Lochdale to Neville. (photo: Heritage Burnaby).

Neville Transportation Company (circa 1947 - 01 July 1947)
Owner E.H. Neville. Transit service in Burnaby acquired 1947 by the BCER (Canadian Coach 1966, photo: Peter Cox).

Downtown Uptown Connector (October 2015 - 28 May 2017 (Thursdays - Sundays))
Also called The DUC. Free local shuttle service in central New Westminster. Sponsored by River Market and the City of New Westminster. Operated by contractor Universal Coach Line Ltd. (New Westminster Record 13 July 2016, website 2016).

logo (2016)

Data source:

website (2016)

Q to Q Ferry (04 August 2017 - 24 September 2017 [weekends], 19 May 2018 - 28 October 2018)
Pilot demonstration ferry service between Westminster Quay and Queensborough on Lulu Island. 2017 service operated Friday evenings, and all day Saturdays, Sundays, & holiday Mondays in August and September. Service in 2018 was daily. Sponsored by the City of New Westminster.

West Vancouver Systems

West Vancouver Launch Service (1905 - 1908)
Owners John Lawson and William C. Thompson. Ferry service between Vancouver and West Vancouver. Incorporated in 1909 as the WVTCo (Wilson).

West Vancouver Transportation Company (08 November 1908 - 1912)
Ferry service between Vancouver and West Vancouver. Wilson calls this the West Vancouver Ferry Company. 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). Operated ferry service between Vancouver and West Vancouver 1912-1947. Introduced jitney service connecting with the ferries circa 1915. Service merged with the GVTS 1980, although it retains it's on-street identity as a separate operating arm of Translink. (photos: Peter Cox, City of Vancouver Archives, Angus McIntyre).

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. (photos: British Columbia Archives: Visual Records Catalogue, call number G-02874, City of Vancouver Archives)

Columbia Stage Lines (1934 - 23 May 1969)
Suburban services to Port Moody and Coquitlam (Canadian Coach 1966, 1969). (Photos: Peter Cox, Gordon Henry Collection).

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)

Shoreline Shuttle (01 June 2018 - 03 September 2018)
Summertime free bus service connecting Inlet Centre, Rocky Point Park and Moody Centre. Operating Friday evenings and Saturday & Sunday afternoons and evenings only. Sponsored by the City of Port Moody.

Richmond, Delta and Surrey Systems

Richmond Transportation Co., Ltd. (? - 01 October 1946)
Operator of scheduled passenger service between Vancouver and Sea Island [Richmond] (BC PUC 1946). Suburban transit service in Richmond acquired 1946 by the BCER (Canadian Coach 1966).

Semiahmoo Stages (circa 1946 - circa 1952)
Application to operate local bus service in White Rock by W.E. Taylor & Son in 1945 denied by the Dominion Transit Controller (BC PUC 1946 p. N11). Service in White Rock approved in 1946 for R.W. Taylor and R.D. Hawthorne doing business as Semiahmoo Stages (BC PUC 1947). Listed as of 01 March 1947 as Semiahmoo Bus Service (BC PUC 1948). Operating licence as of 28 February 1948 and 01 March 1949 was held in the names R.W. Taylor and James H. Ferguson (BC PUC 1949, 1950). The licence was transferred 16 January 1950 to Ruth Ann Taylor, who still held it 01 March 1951 (BC PUC 1951 p. K26, 1952). Another change in ownership renamed the enterprise WRBL (Brown).

White Rock Bus Lines (circa 1952 - 1964)
White Rock [Surrey] bus service owned by husband and wife Jim Ferguson and Vi (Viola) Ferguson, who later sold the operation to Dick Baker and Jim Draggon who owned Vancouver Bus Lines and Metro Bus Lines. Operation sold again in 1964 to become SBS. (Brown)

Surrey Bus Service Ltd. (1964 - 1974)
Suburban service in southern Surrey (Canadian Coach 1971). Owners: Ralph Wyborn and Joyce Wyborn. Local bus service in Surrey assumed by GVTS 1974. Company continued as a school and charter bus operation into the early 1990s. (Brown).

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 (Canadian Coach 1966, 1973). Incorporated as B.C. Motor Transportation Limited (Canadian Coach 1967, Kelly & Francis, photo: Peter Cox).

Delta International Coach Lines, Ltd. (circa 1950 - circa 1951)
Operator of scheduled passenger service at Boundary Bay [Delta] and between Boundary Bay and locations in Point Roberts, Washington (BC PUB 1952). Does not appear in the PUB lists for 01 March 1950 or 01 March 1952.

Maple Ridge System

Maple Ridge Bus Service, Limited (May 1947 - ?)
Inital franchise to operate from the municipality granted 27 January 1947. Operator of scheduled passenger service on several routes in Maple Ridge. Company based in Haney. Still operating as of 01 March 1952. (BC PUB 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, Canadian Coach 1971). (Scrafton et al. 1970 cites Maple Ridge Bus Lines).

[Maple Ridge Transit System] (1976 - 16 December 1991)
Operation conducted for BC Transit by contractor Independent Bus and Transportation, Ltd. Routes added to the Vancouver Regional Transit System 1991 (Brian Mills, 2001). (Transit Canada 1976, BC Transit 1988). (not listed separately in BC Transit 1989/90).

Langley System

S.W. Wilson (circa 1941 - circa 1948)
Operator of scheduled passenger service between Langley Prairie and points in Langley Municipality (BC PUC 1944 p I23, 1946, 1948).

Charles Morrow (circa 1948 - circa 1951)
Operator of scheduled passenger service in Langley municipality (BC PUC 1949, 1950, 1951).

Langley Bus Lines, Ltd. (circa 1951 - ?)
Operator of scheduled passenger service in Langley municipality and adjacent portions of Surrey and Matsqui municipalities (BC PUC 1952). Was still operating as of 01 March 1952 (BC PUC 1953).

Modes

References

• Barr, Capt. James, Ferry Across the Harbor: The Story of the North Vancouver Ferries, Vancouver: Mitchell Press Limited, 1969.
• Brown, Jack, with Ralph Wyborn, Surrey Bus Service Limited, a world wide web page at the URL: http://www.surreyhistory.ca/surreybus.html 2011.
• NewDavesRailPix: British Columbia, a World Wide Web gallery of photos at the URL: http://newdavesrailpix.com/odds/bc/bc.htm, 2000.
• NewDavesRailPix: British Columbia Electric Railway, a World Wide Web gallery of photos at the URL: http://newdavesrailpix.com/bcer/bcer.html, 2000.
• Day, John M., Downtown Historic Railway, a world wide web page at the URL: http://home.istar.ca/~johnmday/DHRly.html, 1998.
• Ewert, Henry. “British Columbia's Street Car Centenary,” Canadian Rail, No. 417, July-August 1990.
• Ewert, Henry. The Story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company, Whitecap Books, North Vancouver (British Columbia), 1986.
• Kelly, Brian and Daniel Francis. Transit in British Columbia: The First Hundred Years, Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., Madeira Park (British Columbia), 1990.
• Wilson, Stevie, “You Should Know: The Awesome History of the Long Forgotten North Shore Ferries” Scout Magazine, 19 February 2013.