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Coast Mountain Bus Company

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Coast Mountain Bus Company
Company typeWholly owned Subsidiary of TransLink
IndustryPublic Transit
FoundedApril 1, 1999
HeadquartersSurrey, British Columbia, Canada
Key people
Denis Clements, President & CEO
Number of employees
3900
Websitewww.coastmountainbus.com
File:Caw logo.gif 2800 members are represented by CAW Local 111.

Coast Mountain Bus Company is the contract operator for bus transit services in Greater Vancouver and is a wholly owned subsidiary of TransLink, the entity responsible for transit. The buses form part of the integrated transit network of the lower mainland.

Services

The Coast Mountain Bus Company operates the buses throughout Greater Vancouver (except West Vancouver which operates its own Blue Bus system):

  • 180 bus routes in total
    • Regular transit service
    • Express Coach Service to suburban municipalities
    • Trolley Bus Service - 12 routes primarily in the City of Vancouver
    • NightBus - special routes after midnight, 12 routes with plans for expansion
    • B-Line express buses (3 routes - see below)
    • Community shuttles - routes operating minibuses
  • SeaBus - passenger ferry across the Burrard Inlet

The bus routes, schedules and fares are set by Translink.

History

The Coast Mountain Bus Company was created on April 1 1999. Bus service in Greater Vancouver was formerly provided by BC Transit. (BC Transit now refers only to the provincial government corporation that operates transit outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District).

Roster

Denotes wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

On Order

A demonstrator 40ft NFI/Vossloh Kiepe trolley arrived at the Oakridge Transit Centre on July 2nd, 2005. It is currently in revenue service. The rest of the coaches will arrive between 2006 and 2008, supposedly 10 per month.

Prefixes

Letter prefixes are appended to the bus numbers on all non-Blue Bus diesels and other non-electrical buses. Generally, the prefixes are used to identify which garage the bus is operating from.

  • V - Vancouver/Oakridge
  • B - Burnaby
  • P - Port Coquitlam
  • R - Richmond
  • S - Surrey
  • N - North Vancouver

Facilities

  • Oakridge Transit Centre - garage for Vancouver bus operations since 1948 and slated to be demolished.
  • Vancouver Transit Centre - new garage for Vancouver bus operations (expected to be open in September, 2006).
  • Port Coquitlam Transit Centre - Serves as the base for the 97 B-Line and routes in the Tri-Cities, Maple Ridge, and Pitt Meadows.
  • Burnaby Transit Centre - Serves as the base for the 99 B-Line and routes in Burnaby, New Westminster, and parts of East Vancouver.
  • Surrey Transit Centre - All Surrey, Langley, North Delta and some White Rock transit operations.
  • Richmond Transit Centre - Serves as the base for the 98 B-Line, suburban routes served by Orion coaches, and local routes in Richmond and South Delta.
  • North Vancouver Transit Centre
  • North Vancouver Seabus Centre
  • Fleet Overhaul (adjacent to Burnaby Transit Centre) 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.
  • Burnaby North (across the street from Burnaby Transit Centre) provides additional support such as Trolley Overhead, Facilities Maintenance, Fire Prevention, Non-Revenue Vehicle Maintenance, and a satellite garage to BTC primarily for articulated bus maintenance.

Employees

CMBC's 3900+ employees are spread across the GVRD.

  • The 2800 bus operators, represented by CAW Local 111, and the 650 maintenance employees, represented by CAW Local 2200, work out of the six regional depots.
  • The SeaBus staff of 80, including marine attendants, deck officers, engineers, coordinators, 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 Surrey.

B-Line services

B-Line is a express, limited-stop bus system with #99 and #98 primarily using 60 foot low floor articulated buses, while #97 uses more 40 foot coaches.

Routes

As of April 2006, three B-Line routes are in operation:

There are plans for future service on two more routes:

These route numbers are not confirmed, and TransLink and Coast Mountain may or may not use these numbers or even have these routes.

#98 B-Line

Main article: 98 B-Line

The 98 B-Line was an experimentation in bus rapid transit or BRT. Equipped with Geo-positioning System (GPS) receivers, automated stop announcements, and traffic light "sustainers", which hold the stale green light long enough for the bus to pass through the intersection. These technologies were installed by Siemens Inc. and Novax Inc. Instead of the conventional two-way radio system used by most other coaches in the system, Siemens also installed a special computer into these buses for both announcements, radio functions, and schedule information. These computers are for transit personnel only.

Fleet

For a complete list of bus, trolley and community shuttle routes, see: List of bus routes in Greater Vancouver.

Gallery: Coast Mountain Bus Company fleet

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