I Love Transit Week’s theme this year was Beyond—the future of transportation in Metro Vancouver.

We wanted teachers and students to unleash their inner explorer and take learning beyond the classroom. So we challenged them to come up with their own vision for the future of transportation in Metro Vancouver to enter for a chance to attend I Love Transit Camp, a unique opportunity to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of TransLink’s operating facilities.

There were no shortage of creative ideas from these up and coming transit fans—from solar-powered transit vehicles to automated buses. We couldn’t just pick one winner for I Love Transit Camp! That’s why we decided to send two classes to camp.

First up was Ms. Melville’s Grade 4 and 5 class from Pebble Hill Elementary School in Delta! On Oct. 19, we took them to the Coast Mountain Bus Company bus depot at Burnaby Transit Centre (BTC) and SkyTrain’s Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC).

At BTC, we visited fleet overhaul where they do major repairs to buses and the electronics shop where they repair fareboxes before going through the bus wash to cap off our time there! Over at OMC, the class met with TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond, and Transit Police and Diesel—the Transit Police dog. We also visited the SkyTrain Control Centre and they got a peek inside the control panels of a Mark III SkyTrain car.

We did it again on Nov. 14 when we took Ms. Kandola and Mr. Chow’s IB Geography 12 class from Richmond Secondary School from—you guessed it—Richmond! For the big kids, we added a visit to the sign and upholstery shops at BTC. At SkyTrain, we invited a trio of planners to chat with them about the 10-Year Vision, the ideas they presented in their video, and how we plan SkyTrain operations.