A lot can change in 20 years, including these 17 transit things that were totally normal in 1999. Take a trip down memory lane and remember these iconic moments in Metro Vancouver’s transit history.
Now you can tap your Compass Card or contactless credit card and be on your way!
When TransLink took over transit in 1999, the Millennium Line was announced by the provincial government and about to break ground. Construction began in October 1999 and the new line opened in 2002.
As part of the project, SkyTrain added 60 Mark II cars to the fleet to the new line and to meet booming ridership. The Mark II cars were the next generation that followed the original Mark I cars that arrived when the Expo Line opened in 1985.
A Mark II train undergoing testing at SkyTrain’s Operations and Maintenance Centre in the early 2000s. (Photo: John Wollenzin)
But did you know – the first bit of work designing the next generation of SkyTrain cars began about a decade earlier?
A mock-up of what a Mark II could look like was developed by BC Transit in 1991. It was displayed at the PNE and Scott Road Station to gauge the public’s reaction and test seating configurations.
Built from wood by a movie production company – oddly at Celtic Shipyards in south Vancouver, it was only half a car and had mirrors at the end to make the interior look larger.
Tags: TransLink 20
Three of the new products that just launched in the TransLink Store!
Twenty-years ago this month, TransLink began operating with a strong vision: to remain a unique, made-in-B.C. solution, unmatched by any transportation authority in the world. Throughout this week and the rest of the month, we’ll be celebrating our 20th anniversary!
Anniversaries are a time to celebrate where we’ve come from, but also how we’ve changed and where we’re headed. That’s why we threw it back to 1999 for the latest line of merchandise in the TransLink Store! We added a 1999 New Look bus model, t-shirt and keychain.
As a thank you for choosing us to get around and allowing us to serve the region over the past 20 years, we’re giving away THREE TransLink Store prize packs with the new merch! Read more »
A staffer scrapes off the BC Transit logo from a a bus in preparation for TransLink’s launch.
Nearly 130 years ago, on June 25, 1890, transit burst onto the scene in Metro Vancouver with the interurban streetcar.
Over the years, myriad companies – both private and public – have operated transit in the region.
Between 1890 and 1962, transit was operated privately; first by Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company, and later BC Electric Railway Company (BCER).
The BCER was sold to the provincial government and BC Hydro took over transit. Later came the Metro Transit Operating Company and BC Transit.
Finally, in April 1999, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority began operation with a strong vision: to remain a unique, made-in-B.C. solution, unmatched by any transportation authority in the world. Our mandate expanded to include roads. Read more »
Tags: TransLink 20
Take your childhood bus home!
For TransLink’s 20th anniversary, we’re throwing it back with an all new line of retro products in the TransLink Store.
The featured product is GM’s iconic New Look “fishbowl” bus which rolled through Metro Vancouver streets from the 1970s until the early 2000s. In fact, locals can still spot, and even charter this bus thanks to the Transit Museum Society of B.C. (TRAMS).
It’s gone from the streets, but not from our hearts.
This bus model is also available as a keychain and a t-shirt!
Head on over to the TransLink Store to grab yours today!
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An employee installs the TransLink logo on the side of this bus after scraping off the BC Transit logo.
Twenty-years ago this month (April 1 to be exact!), TransLink began operating with a strong vision: to remain a unique, made-in-B.C. solution, unmatched by any transportation authority in the world.
We’re inviting you to celebrate our 20th anniversary with us!
As a thank you for choosing us to get around and allowing us to serve the region over the past 20 years, we’ll be hosting four pop-up photo booths throughout April.
- Friday, April 5 at Waterfront Station, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday, April 13 at Party for the Planet, Surrey Civic Plaza near Surrey Central Station, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 17 at Metrotown Station, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Thursday, April 25 at Lougheed Town Centre Station, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
It’s a rare opportunity to snag a FREE photo with the “Vancouver icons” background, so bring your friends and strike your best pose.
On The Buzzer blog, look out for stories that celebrate our shared transit history starting on Monday. We’ll have a contest for your chance to win a TransLink Store prize pack. Finally, we have new merchandise that pays homage to the ’90s.
Transportation shaped Metro Vancouver’s past. Together, we’ll shape the future of how we move and live.
Lol isn’t it funny that TransLink’s birthday lands on April 1 — April Fools’ Day?!
I mean, a little bit, I guess…if that’s the kind of humour that floats your boat? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
April marks the start of the fiscal year. That’s why we have some good company when it comes to April 1 birthdays!
Apple celebrates its birthday on this day, so does the Wrigley candy company and Gmail. And fun fact — Nunvaut was created on April 1, 1999 too!
Tags: TransLink 20
All 23 Nova Bus LFS Suburban buses for our suburban routes are now in service!
All 23 new suburban buses built by Nova Bus are now in service!
This is an exciting development as it marks the first step in renewing and expanding our long-haul, suburban bus fleet and bringing low-floor buses to our suburban routes, which are currently “high floor.” Since 1996, we’ve been transitioning our entire fleet to the more-accessible low-floor buses. Suburban buses are the last group to transition. Read more »
People who live, work, play, or travel through Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are invited to have their say in the next phase of the Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Area Transport Plan!
You may remember last year we reached out to find out from you what are some of the issues and opportunities for improving transit and transportation in the area.
And the results are in! We’ve analyzed your input and developed a range of potential strategies and actions aimed at improving transit, strengthening regional cycling connections and making walking to transit safer and more enjoyable.
But first, we need your feedback to help prioritize and refine the potential strategies for improving transit, walking, and cycling.
So don’t wait, have your say in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows ATP! Help shape transportation in your community by taking the survey from April 2 to 18 at translink.ca/mrpm.
Public engagement for the 2019 Transit Network Review is open from April 2 to 18.
We’re inviting customers and neighbours across the region to have their say on potential transportation changes as part of our 2019 Transit Network Review!
It’s all part of our efforts to deliver a better transit system so it serves more people, supports areas of high ridership, provides transit options in growing areas, and delivers a basic level of transit access across Metro Vancouver.
Among the proposals in this review:
It’s important you take part.
The 2017 Transit Network Review informed the new bus routes in the Silver Valley, Clayton Heights, and Morgan Creek communities that launched in September 2017, and the decision to extend the 159 to Coquitlam Central Station.
No final decisions have been made. We’re considering these changes and asking for feedback now, so we can implement changes as part of our quarterly transit service changes that happen every spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Have your say in the Transit Network Review and help shape transit in your community. Taking the survey from April 2–18 at translink.ca/networkreview.
Metro Vancouver’s brightest will be putting their innovation caps on to come up with creative solutions to answer TransLink Tomorrow’s Open Call for Innovation this spring.
We’re looking for innovative ideas to address the new challenge statement:
How can we make the customer experience at TransLink’s stops, stations and exchanges more enjoyable?
Competitors are vying for an opportunity to partner with TransLink to receive support to help further develop their idea, access to their assets to test or demo their idea and the opportunity to pilot the idea on a larger scale in partnership with TransLink.
It’s open to anyone – we believe good ideas come from anyone and everyone. Learn more and submit your idea at translink.ca/opencall! The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 11:59 PM PDT.
The inaugural Open Call for Innovation launched on June 6, 2018 under the theme Seamless Mobility. Our first partnership is with Mobi bikeshare and carshares Evo and Modo to explore how together we can deliver a mobility-as-a-service app in Metro Vancouver.
We all got to move – we have people to see and places to go.
You can take transit, drive your own car, use Mobi bike share, use car share services like Modo and Evo, or a combination of these services to get there.
But we’re on the cusp of a revolution in how we move around, called new mobility, and with that, a shift in how we pay and plan for our journeys on transport services. We’re moving towards mobility as a service (MaaS).
The idea behind mobility-as-a-service is that consumers in the near-future will – through a single web interface like a smartphone app – be able to plan, book, and pay for a journey that may include segments on transit, ferry, car share, bike share, taxi and rental car. Wouldn’t that be great? Read more »
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation Basketball by photojournalist Alana Paterson
Over the last three years, we’ve activated the space on the third platform at Expo Line’s Stadium–Chinatown Station to showcase thought-provoking public art as part of Capture Photography Festival.
This year, we’ve teamed up with the festival to install Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation Basketball by photojournalist Alana Paterson and curated by Justin Ramsey.
Paterson’s images work to empower young Indigenous women in the face of continuing racism and intergenerational trauma caused by a dark history of colonization and the residential school system in Canada. The project both captures a visual identity of Indigenous women through sport and revitalizes the sense of strength, perseverance, and passion for which Indigenous “Warrior Women” are renowned.
From now until April 14, please tell us what you think about bus and SkyTrain service by completing the short surveys.
TransLink is a part of the International Bus Benchmarking Group (IBBG) and CoMET and Nova benchmarking groups, which measure the performance of larger transit agencies across the globe.
Each year, we ask our riders to participate in benchmarking surveys that help us look at best practices, customer satisfaction and performance measurements. Your feedback is extremely important to help make our bus and SkyTrain service even more awesome! Read more »
We’re adding a new SeaBus to the fleet as part of the 10-Year Vision and we’re thrilled to announce today the new vessel’s name — the Burrard Chinook!
What’s exciting about the new vessel is once it’s in service, it will allow us to deliver increased SeaBus service to our customers. It will increase every 10 minutes during peak periods and every 15 minutes at other times.
Construction began in November 2017, starting upside down with a sheet of metal. A keel-laying ceremony with a commemorative Canada 150 coin was held in February 2018.
In January, the vessel was christened in the Netherlands (watch the video above) where it’s now undergoing sea trials. It will then embark on an epic journey across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Panama Canal and up the coast to Vancouver. After the vessel arrives in local waters, it will go through some additional sea trials, and SeaBus employees will be trained on it before it starts carrying customers between Waterfront Station and Lonsdale Quay.
You can learn more by reading our media release!
SkyTrain Attendants will be staffing all trains.
In anticipation of the wintry weather, preparations are underway to provide as much service as possible for customers, but expect less frequency on SkyTrain than you may be used to. Read more »
