The fall and winter months bring about unpredictable weather in our part of the world. Sunshine in the morning can turn into showers in the afternoon — but that doesn’t deter Lauren Malo from cycling.

She says, “If I want to ride or walk to school, it’s great to know that on my way home, if it starts to rain, I’ve got transit to act as my raincoat.”

The Metro Vancouver transit system is fully accessible to bikes, which means Lauren can escape the rain by riding transit with her bike.

Buses are equipped to carry up to two bikes on a rack affixed to the front of the bus, while bikes are allowed on SkyTrain outside of busy hours and directions. SeaBus and the West Coast Express have space for bikes too.

Lauren is a master’s student at the University of British Columbia‘s School of Community and Regional Planning.

To get to campus by bike, she rides along the new Beach Avenue Bikeway to connect to the Seaside Greenway, which takes her across the Burrard Street Bridge and to Spanish Banks. Lauren finally bikes up the big hill on NW Marine Drive to reach campus.

On transit, Lauren takes the 44 UBC Express. It’s one of eight bus routes to universities that was restored or received increased service in September 2021 as students return to in-class learning and reconnect with the people and places that they love.

Some days she bikes or takes transit both ways, but other days, she does a combination of the two. Lauren, who’s also a student transportation planner at TransLink, naturally gives transit and multi-modal travel a glowing review.

“I think UBC students should consider transit for getting to school because it’s convenient, safe, and comfortable,” she says. “It gets us where we want to go, and it can really suit your lifestyle with the ability to combine with multimodal options like biking and then taking transit.”

Ready to start cycling?

Explore the best options for you using our Metro Vancouver Cycling Maps. It includes key connections to transit hubs, locations of bike lockers and parkades, and indicate areas with steeper hills. They also show the comfort levels of each route based on how separated it is from traffic.

There are practice bus bike racks at North Vancouver City Hall Plaza, or Production Way–University, Moody Centre and Main Street–Science World Stations. You can practice with these racks before your bike takes its first trip on the bus.

Asked what her favourite transit mode is, Lauren says, “I think the bus is really awesome because the network is so expansive. It is where you need it, especially if you’re not along a main transit corridor.”