After four years of detours, trolley buses will return to Granville Mall on Tuesday, September 7!

The trolleys were moved in April 2006 for Canada Line construction, and for redevelopment of the mall by the City of Vancouver. But trolley wire has been reinstalled and service will now be returned to the corridor.

That means the 4, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 50 will use Granville Mall as part of their routes from September 7 onward. NightBus will remain on Seymour and Howe. (Have a look at the new specially created Granville Mall route map for full details.)

But be aware: as Granville Mall is also an immensely successful entertainment zone, buses are going to use an alternate route on weekends after 9pm.

On Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and on the evenings before a holiday, buses will use Seymour (northbound) and Howe (southbound) from 9pm until the close of service. We’ll post signs on bus stops to let people know, and we’ll be working with the City and the Police to strike the appropriate balance for Granville Mall between transit corridor and entertainment district.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Granville Mall is the preferred location for our many bus routes because it provides superior transit infrastructure and better connections with other services. For the infrastructure, the bus stops are better as there is significantly more space on the sidewalks for our customers and the pedestrians. This dramatically improves accessibility.

And for connections, service on the Granville Mall provides easier connections with the Canada Line (Vancouver City Centre), Expo/Millennium Lines (Granville Station), West Van and North Van Service (on Georgia and Granville).

As always, feel free to leave your comments below—I know there must be some thoughts on this :)