I Love Transit Week is back this year, October 7-11, and our theme is A Greater Vancouver — the future of transportation in Metro Vancouver. Teachers, unleash your inner explorer and take learning beyond the classroom! We have two exciting contests for you and free bus travel for your students:

Win a Field Trip (Grades 3–12)

We call it I Love Transit Camp! It’s a unique opportunity for kids (along with their teacher and chaperones!), grades 3 through 12, to get a behind-the-scenes field trip to TransLink where they’ll learn how transit works and have some fun at the same time.

One winning class will get the opportunity to attend I Love Transit Camp in early November (exact date will be determined with the winning teacher). Watch the video above, and check out all the fun that was had in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

We’ll pick up the winning class from their school in a transit bus, equipped with snacks to fuel your day, around 9 a.m. We’ll visit a bus depot — the place where our buses sleep at night — and SkyTrain Control, which is the heart of our automated SkyTrain network, before returning you back to your school by 4 p.m.

The day will include snacks, a pizza lunch, prizes, t-shirts and a chance meet some of the key people (and the Transit Police dog!) that help TransLink move close to a half-a-million people a day and plan for the future.

To enter, visit translink.ca/ilovetransit, fill out the form and tell us in 150 words or less what the future of transportation in Metro Vancouver looks like and what/where will it connect you to! Is it to your best friend’s house, perhaps Toronto, or somewhere even more ambitious like Mars? Let your imagination go wild. There are no wrong answers.

Wanna put your class’ application over the top? Photos, videos, drawings, recordings, poems and whatever else you can dream up that best represents your vision can accompany the submission. Send them to thebuzzer@translink.ca with the subject, “I Love Transit Application” or drop it in the mail to The Buzzer, c/o Social Media Team, 400 – 287 Nelson’s Court, New Westminster, BC, V3L 0E7. See below for some ideas of winning submissions.

Contest closes at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 and you’ll want to read the terms and conditions for the full details.

Need some help to get started? You can download and print out our Imagine 2050 colouring sheet, have a look at the rubric our judges will be using, or check out these prompts for your class:

• It’s 2050, describe your trip to work using public transportation of the future.
  (What’s new and changed? What’s stayed the same? What’s surprising about public transit 20 years from today?)
• You are riding on a bus, reading with your head down. The bus stops to pick up some passengers and you look up. The view out the window is not what you expected! You’ve been fast forwarded to the future! What do you notice? How has transit changed for the better?
• Use all of the following words in your essay about the future of transit: New, Faster, Fun, Moving, Sustainable, Future, More, Less, Happy.

Want an idea of what we’re looking for? Check out the winning submissions from 2017 and 2018. Questions? Email thebuzzer@translink.ca and we’ll be happy to answer them!

DayPass contest (K-12)

Enter for a chance to win up to 35 DayPass Compass Tickets loaded for your class, including teachers and chaperones, to use for your next field trip! DayPasses provides unlimited transit use on all buses, SkyTrain and SeaBus for one day from the first tap in until the end of the service day.

*Please note that we have a limited number of Day Passes available, so not everyone who applies will necessarily win. 

Contest closes at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 and you’ll want to read the terms and conditions.

Free bus travel for students (K-12)

Students in kindergarten through grade 12 ride the bus for free during I Love Transit Week – Oct 7-11, 2019. We ask teachers who are planning to take advantage of free bus travel for field trips to plan the transit portion during off-peak hours, between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

*Please note that this does not include SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express. As well, regular fares apply to adults accompanying children and high school students on the system. 

You’ll want to visit translink.ca/ilovetransit to learn more and enter our contests!