This Sunday, June 17 isn’t just Father’s Day everyone, it’s also the SeaBus’ birthday! Yup, it’s been almost 35 years of service between the North Shore (North Vancouver) and downtown Vancouver via the Burrard Inlet. I don’t get to take the SeaBus as often as I used to, and regular users might not feel the same as myself, but every time I take it I feel like I’m on some sort of adventure!

A lot has changed for SeaBus over the past few years. Some recent milestones are a new SeaBus (the Pacific Breeze), a new look for The Beaver and the the Lonsdale Quay awning, our AGM on the SeaBus and temporary 10-minute service to accommodate the large 2010 Winter Olympics crowds. In celebration of this great occasion, here’s some interesting trivia about our bus on the water:

• We are getting close to 5.4 million crossings
• The busiest day for the SeaBus was during the Olympics – roughly 48,000 people boarded the SeaBus using three boats
• Our second highest passenger crossings in one day was 42,000 people on August 8, 2001 – it was one of three days of free transit using two boats
• We still have two Sea Bus employees who were part of the original group in 1977 – they are both Captains
• The SeaBus terminals were the first two transit locations to have automated fare machines
• The SeaBus fare 35 years ago was 35 cents and the fare machine would actually photocopy the coins you inserted and produce a cash register style receipt as proof of payment (here’s a post with pics of the machine!)

As noted, the SeaBus has moved thousands of people over the years and many stories can be told about it. We’d love to hear your stories about the good old boat. So, please, share them with us!

Edit: the old ticket machine from 1977!

Hey — our friends over at SeaBus and CMBC passed along this photo of the old ticket machine from 1977. One of our staff brought it into the SeaBus offices for the 35th anniversary!