It’s been a long time in the making, but today marks the first iteration of the new Buzzer! Before we tell you how we’ve reimagined the new site, let’s look at where we came from.

The Buzzer is more than 104 years old, publishing for the very first time on June 2, 1916 as a print publication distributed on the streetcars that made up public transportation in Metro Vancouver at the time.

The first issue wasn’t even called The Buzzer — it had no name at all and implored riders to enter possible names for the newsletter. The next issue of course announced The Buzzer as the winner with Current Comments in second place and Between The Lines third!

Originally, the publication was designed as a strategic weapon in a long-forgotten war between streetcars and “jitney” operators — private citizens who patrolled streetcar routes with their cars and offered rides for five cents.

George Kidd, general manager of B.C. Electric, who operated public transit at the time, thought The Buzzer would keep people informed about service and foster rider loyalty for the street cars. As it turned out, jitney service was abolished in July 1918, but The Buzzer has kept going — now for more than a century. Its online counterpart started publishing on Oct. 6, 2008.

The Buzzer has become a mainstay of public transit in Metro Vancouver, remaining a constant no matter how much transit itself has changed.

We’re very excited to bring you a reimagined online edition of The Buzzer. Here’s our promise to you:

• More posts from us, covering all the amazing events and places you can go on transit in Metro Vancouver
• More behind-the-scenes content
• More types of content — written stories, essays, Q&As, photo galleries, videos, and even a podcast!
• This will become a one-stop-shop to stay up-to-date on TransLink news

We’d love to hear from you in the comments on the new design and what kind of content you’d like to see from us.

Who’s behind The Buzzer?

Robert Willis

Robert has been The Buzzer‘s editor since 2011. He previously worked in journalism and communications including CBC on local and nation programs on radio and online. He has a small but mighty team at TransLink who’ve won numerous awards for their work including for the Seth Rogen: Guess Voice on Transit campaign, best blog, Best Twitter handle and more. He likes to take transit in any form. Curious about the untold story, Robert is keen to hear about the experiences of others on transit. He also loves robots and Japanese food.

Allen Tung

Allen rejoined TransLink in 2017, after a brief stint in 2014, where he is a content creator. His interest in urbanism was sparked when he learned about the wonders of CPTED. Allen likes to travel and thinks cities are best experienced through walking, transit and active transportation. He’s also a hockey, Vancouver Canucks and professional wrestling fan. The Oxford comma is growing on him.

Anh Phan

Anh is a content creator at TransLink. Before joining TransLink in 2020, she worked in research and communications. She is curious about anything related to civic tech, community-driven initiatives and the future of transportation. When not working, you can find her exploring new places with her camera.

Sarah Kertcher (on leave)

TransLink Staff

You’ll also see contributions from the TransLink Communications team from time to time! Moving forward, we’re still working out kinks on this new look to the site and you’ll see various updates in the months to some.

Have a story idea?

We want to make sure you’re finding stories you want to read out. So, if you have one or a suggestions, you can email us at thebuzzer@translink.ca!