To honour I Love Transit Week, what would be more fitting than to highlight love on transit?

Annie and Mike are one such couple that found each other while riding on our system!

The two musicians first met while waiting for the 351 Crescent Beach to head home for Christmas. Instruments in hand, the pair struck up a conversation that continued all the way to White Rock.

The relationship blossomed from there, but Annie and Mike never forgot their relationship’s transit roots.

So much so, that when the 351 service was altered after opening of the Canada Line, the couple made sure to commemorate the ride. Jumping on the very last 351 to ever run all the way to Vancouver, the pair marked their last trip by handing out homemade brownies to everyone on board!

But this was just the beginning. Transit continued to hold a special place in Annie and Mike’s heart, and even worked its way into more of their relationship milestones.

Let’s just say that Mike took it to the next level when he asked Annie to marry him on the bus!

As he tells it, last year the two were busing home for Christmas when he had the driver call Annie to the front. Mike then popped the question in front of everyone on board!

The couple were hitched earlier this year, and managed to also include transit and travel in their wedding celebration!

In awe of Annie and Mike’s tribute to love and transit, I asked them a few questions about their relationship on board.

Any guesses as to why so many of your relationship milestones happened in transit?

We both have never owned cars. We choose where to live based on where we work and near the major transit routes and bike routes. Our current apartment is right on the 99 B-Line and we can get downtown or to the SkyTrain with only a half hour bus or bike ride.

Besides your wedding photos, how did you incorporate transit into your wedding?

We mentioned on our invitations that we encouraged guests to use the 351 Bridgeport Station to be their designated driver. And of course, our ceremony was right at the end of the 351 route!

What are you up to now? Do you still take transit together?

Of course. We are both musicians and music teachers so we are always biking and transiting around the city. We just took 30 kids to Bard on the Beach on transit for the UBC music camp we ran this summer, so transit is very much a part of our work and personal lives!

UPDATE: Jarred and Nina

Riding transit has fostered more than a few romances! Jarred Greff and Nina Schmidt  also met on the bus and then tied the knot on transit! We checked in with the pair to see how married life has been treating them.

What are you two up to these days?

Since the last time we spoke with TransLink, we’ve been up to quite a lot actually. We’ve travelled to Germany, Mexico, Los Angeles, Denmark, San Francisco and Regina. We’ve also been busy with a new company that we have started in addition to our day jobs.

You mentioned you are running a business? What’s it all about?

Our company is Greff Growler and we design and manufacture insulated growler carriers that find their way to microbreweries, juiceries, cold pressed coffee shops as well as retail boutiques. My brother Scott and myself along with my wife Nina are the core of Greff Growler.

Are you two still riding transit together?  Celebrate anniversaries on the bus? (Just kidding, but you never know….)

We definitely still ride transit. However, for the summer months, our bikes are our main modes of transportation.

Author: Laura Tennant