Inside Vancouver

8 Must-Have Smart Phone Apps for Summer in Vancouver

by Dana Lynch in Town on June 17, 2011

Bard on the Beach's new iPhone App.

Summer in Vancouver is one of the best times of year for festivals, outdoor adventures and exploring the city. And there are loads of (often free) smart phone apps to help you make the most of Vancouver’s summer months.

8 Must-Have Smart Phone Apps for Summer in Vancouver

1. TransLink App – Free
This free app from TransLink helps you get around Vancouver easily by letting you access complete schedules for buses, SkyTrain, Canada Line, WestCoast Express and SeaBus.

2. Vancouver Tap App – Free
Find free sources for refilling your water bottles—a necessity in summer—with this free app from Metro Vancouver.

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8 Must-Have Smart Phone Apps for Summer in Vancouver

Vancouver Transit Made Easy: The joys of TransLink’s Trip Planner

by Remy Scalza in Green City on January 21, 2011

Vancouver has a reputation as a transit-friendly city. We’ve got the SkyTrain, whose fully automated cars can zip you across the city in no time. There’s the extensive bus system, the West Coast Express commuter rail and even the SeaBus linking downtown with North Vancouver.

But despite all of those options, taking mass transit can sometimes be intimidating, even for lifelong residents of the city. I find that it’s generally buses that present the biggest challenge. There are literally hundreds of routes in Vancouver’s bus system. Unless you’ve spent a lot of time studying transit maps, it’s hard to always know which bus to take, where to get on and how often the bus runs. And if you need to make a connection somewhere, things get even more complicated.

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Vancouver Transit Made Easy: The joys of TransLink’s Trip Planner

Transportation Fair at New Creekside Community Centre, Olympic Village. Sat. Oct. 16, 2010

by Jean in Green City on October 14, 2010

Creekside Community Centre, Olympic Village and Park area. Vancouver, BC 2010. Photo by J. Chong

Creekside Community Centre, Olympic Village and plaza area. Vancouver, BC 2010. Photo by J. Chong

Get information and your travel questions answered about TransLink bus and light rail, as well as learn how to combine your trips with cycling. This Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 10:00 am to 3:00 pm drop by at the new Creekside Community Centre in Vancouver’s Olympic Village. There will be a transportation fair hosted by TransLink for the public. Click here for other fair dates and locations in Surrey and Coquitlam.

Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) will also be there to answer questions on bike routes throughout Metro Vancouver and how you can combine cycling with public transit. There will be bus with bike rack for you to try it out. TransLink has indicated after viewing their poll results that they will respond to the public’s need for video on how to use the racks.

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Transportation Fair at New Creekside Community Centre, Olympic Village. Sat. Oct. 16, 2010

Putting Bikes on Bus Racks – Answer TransLink’s Poll

by Jean in Green City on September 17, 2010

Unloading a bike at B.C. Ferry terminal bus stop.

Unloading a bike from TransLink bus rack. Photo by J. Chong

Multi-modal travel or blending cycling, walking and public transit is a viable, active way to enjoy a day trip or vacation on a lower budget.

TransLink is polling people on whether or not if you have actually put a bike on their bus racks. It is an informal poll which they occasionally do on topics related to public transit via their public weekly e-newsletter, Buzzer Blog. Please click on this link for just 1 question for you to answer from TransLink, our public transit authority. Newbie cyclists are more than welcome to answer their poll since your feedback is especially important also.

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Putting Bikes on Bus Racks – Answer TransLink’s Poll

Winter Fest at Lonsdale Quay Market

by Suzanne Raikes in Entertainment on February 23, 2010

One my way back from Grouse Mountain yesterday morning I decided to stop by one of my favourite places in North Vancouver and check out what was going on at Lonsdale Quay Market for the Olympics. They are in the middle of Winter Fest – in conjunction with the City of North Vancouver.

Lonsdale Quay is one of the transportation hubs for the Games – it is one of the pick up locations for the Olympic Bus Network. It is also where the SeaBus to downtown departs from. The SeaBus has proven to be extremely popular form of transportation during the Games, with wait times of up to one hours being reported over the weekend. I miss the SeaBus. I lived in North Vancouver for many years, and always loved taking it to/from downtown. It is such a neat and unique way to see the city.

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Winter Fest at Lonsdale Quay Market

Getting Around During the Olympics

by Dana Lynch in Green City on January 28, 2010

With hundreds of thousands of people expected to converge on downtown Vancouver for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, plus road closures and very limited parking, the easiest, fastest and safest way to get around Vancouver during the Games will be public transportation.

But don’t worry: Vancouver’s public transportation is up to the task, with new lines and new routes, plus fast, effective rapid transit.

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Getting Around During the Olympics

Canada Line Opens for Transit

by Dana Lynch in Green City on August 17, 2009

canada-line
Today was the opening day for the Canada Line, the much-anticipated rapid transit system that connects downtown Vancouver to the Vancouver International Airport, Richmond and Sea Island. On the Canada Line, you can get from downtown Vancouver to the airport in just 26 minutes.

Canada Line Map and Travel Times

The $2 billion system was due to open in November 2009, in time for the 2010 Olympics, but was completed ahead of schedule. After a grand opening ceremony today, the line opened for business and 30,000 people poured through the doors in the first three hours.

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Canada Line Opens for Transit