Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) is the contract operator for
bus transit services in
Metro Vancouver and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, known locally as
TransLink, the entity responsible for public transit in the region. The buses form part of the integrated transit network of the
Lower Mainland.
Coast Mountain Bus Company operates the buses throughout Greater Vancouver, except for some routes in
West Vancouver, which are run by
its own municipal transit system. One contract operator provides select Community Shuttle service, and another contract operator provides HandyDART services:
The regional transit network including bus routes, service levels and fares are set by
TransLink.
B-Line
B-Lines are a type of
express bus route with
bus rapid transit elements using mostly 60-foot (18 m) low-floor articulated buses. All B-Line routes currently in operation feature all-door boarding as of January 1, 2018[update].[4]
On January 6, 2020, two of the existing B-Line routes (the 95 and the 96) were rebranded as RapidBus routes (routes
R5 and
R1 respectively), and the following routes began service:[5]
A Fare Paid Zone is a clearly marked territory on which passengers must have valid
proof of payment and present it for inspection upon request of a transit employee. Initially, these were only in effect in
SkyTrain and SeaBus stations and vehicles until June 25, 2007, when the law was changed. Now, all buses, including
West Vancouver Blue Buses, are designated Fare Paid Zones. The reason for implementing Fare Paid Zones on buses was to remove the responsibility of fare enforcement from bus drivers, as too many of them were being assaulted in disputes over fare payment. Fare enforcement on all buses are now the responsibility of the Transit Police and Transit Security Department. Officers may board a bus at any time and conduct a fare inspection. Those who fail to pay the fare and retain proof of payment could be removed from the bus and/or fined $173.[8]
Facilities
Current facilities
Burnaby Transit Centre: Located at 3855 Kitchener Street, Burnaby, it was built in 1986. This transit centre is split into two facilities (north and south,) separated by Kitchener Street. Serving the North Shore, parts of Burnaby and Vancouver, Burnaby Transit Centre is also home to many support services such as Environmental Services, Trolley Overhead, Facilities Maintenance, Fire Prevention, and Non-Revenue Vehicle Maintenance. Beginning in September 2016, North Shore transit routes operate out of this transit centre. Fleet Overhaul at this location is where the majority of body repair and repainting is carried out, as well as engine and component overhaul, while minor repair is most likely carried out at the bus's home garage.
Hamilton Transit Centre: Located at 4111 Boundary Road, Richmond, this facility opened in September 2016, and took over operations of various South Delta, Richmond, Burnaby and New Westminster routes. It is the second transit centre to have abilities to house CNG buses.
Port Coquitlam Transit Centre: Located at 2061 Kingsway Avenue, Port Coquitlam, it opened in August 1978. It was the first garage to support Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles. Serves the Tri-Cities, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows areas.
Richmond Transit Centre: Located at 11133 Coppersmith Way, Richmond, it opened on September 4, 2000. It is the main base for the suburban routes served by Orion V highway coaches and local routes in Richmond, White Rock, Delta, and some Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver routes.
Surrey Transit Centre: Located at 7740 132nd Street, Surrey, it opened in May 1975. It is the base for most Surrey, Langley, and North Delta services and some White Rock and Ladner services. As of May 2018, it is the third transit centre to have abilities to house CNG buses.[9]
Vancouver Transit Centre: Located at 9149 Hudson Street, Vancouver, it opened on September 2, 2006. It is the garage for Vancouver bus services. This garage serves the trolley routes, as well as most of Vancouver's buses.
Former facilities
North Vancouver Transit Centre (1946–2016): This depot, built in 1945, was located at 536 East 3rd Street, North Vancouver. It was the base for most North Shore services not operated by West Vancouver Municipal Transit. It closed in September 2016, and all North Vancouver routes now operate from Burnaby Transit Centre.
Oakridge Transit Centre (1948–2016): Located at 949 West 41st Avenue, it opened in 1948. Oakridge was to be decommissioned and likely sold for re-development beginning in 2007. However, with the arrival of several New Flyer and Nova Bus orders starting in 2006, it remained an active support facility, conducting retrofitting on these vehicles in preparation for revenue service. Additionally, the Oakridge yard was home to many retired coaches, including E901/902 trolleys, New Flyer D40s, and other vehicles. In the second quarter of 2008, as part of a re-organization and expansion at Burnaby Transit Centre, Oakridge took over many of the tasks formerly located at the other facilities. The Community Shuttle service was one of the groups moved, making Oakridge an active transit centre once again. However, in September 2016, the shuttle operations were shifted to the new Hamilton Transit Centre. The property has since been sold for $440million to a developer.[10]
The 3700 bus operators, represented by
Unifor Local 111, and the 1100 maintenance employees, represented by
Unifor Local 2200, work out of the six regional depots.
The
SeaBus staff of 80, including marine attendants, deck officers, engineers, coordinators (also represented by Unifor Local 2200), and office staff work from their North Vancouver location.
The 600 staff involved in scheduling, training, operational planning, and administrative services are spread throughout the system, as well as at CMBC's head office in
New Westminster are represented by the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 378.
Coast Mountain Bus Company operates the Transit Security Department for TransLink. Transit security officers are mobile, ride buses and trains, inspect fares, issue fines and patrol TransLink properties (bus loops and exchanges, SkyTrain stations, SeaBus, etc.) and are authorized to arrest persons who commit criminal offences on or in relation to any TransLink properties per the
Criminal Code. Transit security officers are also authorized to enforce Transit Conduct and Safety Regulations, as well as the Transit Tariff Bylaw under the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act (SCBCTA Act).
Labour disputes
In 2001, over 3,400 workers rallied in a strike and disrupted transit service for 123 days, from April 1, 2001, to August 1, 2001. SkyTrain service was not affected.[12]
In January 2024,
CUPE 4500, a union representing transit supervisors and other bus system staff, went on strike. All bus and SeaBus service operated by CMBC in Metro Vancouver was cancelled on January 22 and January 23 as a result.[13] The union applied to the BC Labour Relations Board for permission to picket at SkyTrain facilities; if approved, this would mean any future job action by CUPE 4500 would shut down SkyTrain services on all three lines.[14]
Fleet roster
Current fleet
The following fleet is owned by
TransLink and operated and maintained by CMBC.
2105 was involved in a fatal MVA with a stolen van on April 8, 2014[16]
2237 was involved in a serious crash with an unmarked Vancouver Police SUV on June 4, 2021, at 41st Avenue between Knight Street and Dumfries Street[17]
16017 involved in a fatal MVA with a pedestrian on 6th St at 16th Ave in Burnaby in December 2018; subsequently suspended from service until late May 2019.[25]
Vossloh Kiepe propulsion[15] and Škoda traction motor
Electric trolley bus
2541–2574 (34)
2553 struck and killed a pedestrian at Main Street Science World station on September 19, 2012[33]
NFI
DE60LFR
Cummins ISL
Allison Hybrid EP 50
Hybrid
8118–8156 (39)
8146 involved in a fatal crash in Downtown East Side on July 7, 2018[34]
8152 involved in a fatal crash in Burnaby near Hastings and Holdom Avenue on May 23, 2018[35]
2012–2013
NFI
XDE60
Cummins ISL9
Allison Hybrid H 50 EP
Hybrid
12001–12025
(25)
12002 had a suspicious package found on board at Bridgeport Station in June 2020[36]
12024 used as test platform for new "RapidBus" livery, later given same livery as 2015+ units.[37]
2015–2016
NFI
XDE60
Cummins ISL9
Allison Hybrid H 50 EP
Hybrid
15001–15021
(21)
15006 was stolen from Surrey Central Station on January 2, 2020, while the driver was using the toilet. Bus was pulled over and recovered on Fraser Hwy and Pacific Hwy.[38]
15013 involved in a head on collision with a
Ford Mustang in February 2019 outside of Surrey Central Station[39]
All CMBC diesel buses are currently running on a 5% bio-diesel blend.[48]
Prefixes
Letter prefixes are prepended to the bus numbers on most conventional Coast Mountain buses, except trolleys. Generally, the prefixes are used to identify which garage the bus is operating from.
B – Burnaby
H – Hamilton
P – Port Coquitlam
R – Richmond
S – Surrey (or Community Shuttle)
V – Vancouver (formerly Oakridge)
T – Training vehicle (or HandyDART)
Former prefixes
These are prefixes not in use that were formerly used.
N – North Vancouver (until September 2016)
Numbering
Since 2012, Coast Mountain buses are numbered by the order year, series number and unit number. For example, bus number 12001 would have been ordered in 2012, is part of that year's "000" series (denoting New Flyer XDE60 articulated buses), and the first bus received. The order year may not reflect a bus' production year; bus number 12024 is the 24th bus in the same order placed in 2012 but was not produced until 2013. Series numbers vary by year and are often not reused on the same models each year. Community Shuttles since 2016 are always numbered in the "500" series. Prior to 2012, buses followed a legacy numbering system adopted from the former BC Transit Vancouver Regional Transit System, where buses would be numbered by series. Bus number 3334, for example, would be bus number 134 of the New Flyer C40LF/C40LFR 3200/3300 series. Unlike the current numbering system, all bus numbers ending in −00 would be skipped due to BC Transit policy. This was abolished when the new system was implemented in 2012. Exceptions to this are trolley buses, which follow a numbering scheme dating back to the
British Columbia Electric Railway era, and older Community Shuttles, which followed either a three-digit system or the four-digit system of
West Vancouver. These Community Shuttles carried "S" prefixes to denote "Shuttle" and their numbering systems did not skip bus numbers ending in −00.
Additional fleet notes
The first prototype 40-foot (12 m)
New Flyer/
Vossloh Kiepelow-floor trolley bus arrived at the Oakridge Transit Centre on July 2, 2005.[49] The 187 additional vehicles of that type arrived in 2006–2007, and all had entered service by the end of 2007. The first 60-foot (18 m) articulated trolley coach (#2501) arrived at the Oakridge Transit Centre in January 2007. The others started arriving in January 2008, and all 74 had entered service by the end of 2009.[50]
It was announced that the original bike racks on the 2006 New Flyer buses can only be used in daylight, as they blocked the headlights at night. All of them have been replaced with a modified "V2W" rack.
Retired fleet
The following fleet were owned by
TransLink and operated and maintained by CMBC or demonstrated with CMBC.
^"June 18, 2020 Board Meeting Agenda"(PDF). p. 15. Retrieved July 9, 2021. An option to purchase 25 additional double-decker buses has been awarded to Alexander Dennis with a tentative delivery timeline of Q2 2021. Terms of delivery are being negotiated in view of COVID-19 impacts.
^"TransLink begins battery-electric bus fleet expansion". TransLink. February 2, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023. The new Nova LFSe+ Electric bus is the first of 15 new buses that will more than quadruple TransLink's battery-electric bus fleet from 4 to 19 over the next year.
^
abc"Metro Vancouver: Regular Board Meeting (June 25, 2021)"(PDF). p. 574. Retrieved July 9, 2023. Delay in delivery of 55 60ft buses is due to delay at the production facilities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Buses are expected to start arriving in August 2021.
^
ab"Archived copy"(PDF).
Archived(PDF) from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)