All aboard! We’re excited to share William Hui’s updates with you as he rides transit from Vancouver all the way to Tijuana, Mexico. Follow along each morning at 11 a.m. over the next few days as we document William’s travels on The Buzzer.

The journey so far

• 🚌 Kilometres travelled: 1,065 km
• ⌚ Hours travelled: 95.8 hours
• 💲 Total fares: $62.05 USD

Places visited

Vancouver: The journey begins! William’s well-versed in this route as it was the same one he followed back in 2013. Beginning at Waterfront Station, William hopped on the Expo Line to Commercial-Broadway Station, and then on the Millennium Line to Lougheed Town Centre Station. From there, William took the BC Transit 66 bus to Highstreet Mall, then the 1 bus to Bourquin Exchange, ending with the 3 bus to B Street and 4th Avenue at the Sumas border crossing.

Crossing the border: William notes that while the border crossing process is not too bad (he was in and out within 10 minutes), signage for pedestrian walk throughs are only clear when you get right to the border crossing. He also notes that while understanding, the Border Guard couldn’t believe that William was taking transit all the way to Tijuana! This serves as a good reminder to always have your documents ready to prove your route when asked by border authorities.

Bellingham: William spent some time exploring Downtown Bellingham, which he did not have the opportunity to do before. The time between transit departures allows him to take some time between stops to explore. He notes that the waterfront area here was a great walk, and the weather has been fantastic, a great advantage for transit travel.

Everett: William boards the double-decker here via Sound Transit and settles in for the ride, he notes he visited several bus exchanges and park and rides in this time and got to ride in the HOV lane most of the way – a perk when travelling on transit!

Lakewood: William ends his 11.5-hour journey in Lakewood, Washington, for some rest and rejuvenation, and a good night’s sleep for the next leg. While headed out for the next bus ride, William was greeted by beautiful weather and equally stunning landscapes in Lakewood. Also, this departure marks his FIRST trip on zero fare transit, available in Washington State.

Olympia: In Olympia, Washington, William had some time to walk around and visit this state capitol while waiting for a connection. Once on the bus, William says that “travelling South on I-5, barrelling down the I-5 in these vans was fun – they can be going fast and you feel every bump in the road”.

Longview: Unfortunately, the direct route on I-5 does not offer a connection in downtown Centralia, so William couldn’t visit that town this time around. Instead, he had a chance to visit Longview and do some exploring before another transfer in Vancouver (Washington).

Portland: After a relatively long layover and a great chance to explore Downtown Portland, William exited the city to expansive farms and fields and travelled through the forest to the coast, before arriving in Tillamook in the evening.

Lincoln City: William says, “Per the schedule, I had a negative time for my connection to Newport, my bus was scheduled to arrive at 11:22 but the other bus was supposed to depart at 11:20. Fortunately, the dispatchers at Lincoln City Transit was able to hold the bus so I could connect. Yay! Many thanks to the Lincoln City Transit staff who made this transfer possible.

“Highway 101 weaves between the Oregon coastline and the forest. I saw a sign that says, ‘the forest meets the sea’ and it was quite true – the forest would sometimes just suddenly disappear, and you’d be at the beach. I also saw some great scenery by the coast. The sun even ventured out from time to time.”

Florence and Newport: Today’s journey didn’t involve any big cities, but William had time to walk around at these two layover points. These were small, but scenic towns on the Oregon coast with their own charm and friendly people.

Arrival in Coos Bay: As it’s a town that was founded on the lumber industry, many lumber mills are in and around the area of Coos Bay.

A few reflections from William on this first leg:

This trip began on a Monday, and I found the Monday traffic was better than Friday traffic from the 2013 Portland trip. Smart cards are a game changer with no need to carry coins. Shout out to Whatcom Transport Authority (based in Northwest Washington) for their free and reliable Wi-Fi on all buses I rode on. ALL connections were on time and the weather has been fabulous.

Travelling directly down I-5 from Olympia to Portland was very convenient. While transit systems had zero fares, buses were not full. It was great being able to explore Olympia, Longview and Portland on longer layovers. This leg included was one of my first days using cash, and I had to remind myself to carry exact change. The 2-hour ride from Portland to Tillamook was the longest and costliest segment so far ($15 USD) and is the most significant deviation from my last trip. The end of this leg’s journey was mainly forests and coastline, with more forest than coastline. There were no conventional buses from Tillamook to Coos Bay – all the transit services I took were in shuttles and vans. All of the shuttles were fairly empty, with the exception of the Florence to Coos Bay service – that bus was almost full.

The weather was towards the end of the trip was cloudier and a bit wet. A big thank you to the kind folks at Lincoln County Transit who held my connection to Newport at the Chinook Winds Casino! The clouds rolled in today and the mountains were shrouded in fog. We travelled through forests and visited the coast from time to time.

Read about William’s next leg!