Coast Mountain Bus Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Coast Mountain Bus Company | |
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| Type | Wholly owned Subsidiary of TransLink |
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| Founded | April 1, 1999 |
| Headquarters | Surrey, British Columbia, Canada |
| Key people | Denis Clements, President & CEO |
| Industry | Public Transit |
| Employees | 3900 |
| Website | www.coastmountainbus.com |
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2800 members are represented by CAW Local 111. |
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Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) is the contract operator for bus transit services in Greater Vancouver and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority known locally as TransLink, the entity responsible for transit. The buses form part of the integrated transit network of the lower mainland.
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[edit] Services
The Coast Mountain Bus Company operates the buses throughout Greater Vancouver (except West Vancouver which operates its own Blue Bus system and three contract operators that provide Community Shuttle service):
- 190 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 regional transit network including bus routes, service levels and fares are set by TransLink.
[edit] History
CMBC 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.)
[edit] Roster
The following fleet are owned by TransLink and operated and maintained by CMBC.
- Flyer Industries E901A and E902 trolleys, 2700 / 2800 / 2900 series (original fleet of 245; now only 227 in active revenue service)
- New Flyer Industries D60, 3000 series (18 articulated buses)
- New Flyer Industries D40, 3100 / low-3200 series (156 buses)
- New Flyer Industries C40, mid-3200 series (25 buses, now all re-fitted with diesel engines)
- New Flyer Industries C40LF, high-3200 / 3300 series (25 buses)
- New Flyer Industries C40LFR - 3300 series (50 buses)
- Motor Coach Industries/General Motors Corporation "Classic", 4100 / 4200 series (162 buses) - only 4200 series was equipped with lifts
- New Flyer Industries D40LF, 7100 / 7200 / 7300 / 7400 series (339 buses)
- New Flyer Industries D40LFR - 7400 / 7500 series (57 buses)
- New Flyer Industries F40LF, mid-7200 series (2 buses, both converted to hybrid operation)
- New Flyer Industries D60LF, 8000 series (99 articulated buses)
- Orion Bus Industries Orion V suburban Express Coach, 9200 series (75 buses)
- Ford Cut-away vans - Community Shuttle Services, S000 and S100 series (84 buses)
- GMC/Chevrolet Cut-away vans - Community Shuttle Services, S200 series (46 buses)
- SeaBus
Denotes wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
[edit] On Order
- New Flyer Industries-Vossloh Kiepe E40LFR standard-length trolley - 2100 / 2200 series (188 buses total on order)
- New Flyer Industries-Vossloh Kiepe E60LFR articulated trolley - 2500 series (40 buses total on order)
- NovaBus LFS (126 buses) (2006-2007)
A demonstrator 40ft NFI/Vossloh Kiepe trolley arrived at the Oakridge Transit Centre on July 2, 2005. It is currently in revenue service. The rest of the coaches will arrive between 2006 and 2008, with buses currently arriving and being tested, with over 45 buses in active revenue service as of February 2007.
The NFI Diesel buses are currently arriving on an unknown arrival schedule, with the majority of them being put into service in Burnaby. Approximately 30 have arrived so far as of February 2007.
A prototype Novabus LFS arrived at Vancouver Transit Centre on November 28, 2006. It is currently in testing.
The NFI 60ft NFI/Vossloh Kiepe trolley (E60LFR) arrived at the Oakridge Transit Centre on January 28, 2007 for testing. The first bus has the number 2501.[1]
[edit] 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
- B - Burnaby
- P - Port Coquitlam
- R - Richmond
- S - Surrey
- N - North Vancouver
- T - Special training vehicle
[edit] Facilities
- Oakridge Transit Centre - Former garage for Vancouver. In operation since 1948, OTC permanently closed on September 2, 2006, and is now being used to retrofit E40LFRs as they arrive in Vancouver.
- Vancouver Transit Centre - New garage for Vancouver bus operations, open effective September 2, 2006.
- Burnaby Transit Centre - Base for the 99 B-Line and routes in Burnaby, New Westminster, and parts of East Vancouver and North Vancouver.
- North Vancouver Transit Centre - Base for most North Shore services not operated by West Vancouver Municipal Transit.
- North Vancouver Seabus Centre
- Port Coquitlam Transit Centre - Base for the 97 B-Line and routes in the Tri-Cities, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
- Richmond Transit Centre - Base for the 98 B-Line, suburban routes served by Orion V highway coaches and local routes in Richmond and South Delta.
- Surrey Transit Centre - Base for all Surrey, Langley, North Delta and some White Rock services.
- 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 Environmental Services, Trolley Overhead, Facilities Maintenance, Fire Prevention, Non-Revenue Vehicle Maintenance, and a satellite garage to BTC primarily for articulated bus maintenance.
[edit] Employees
CMBC's 4300+ 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 (also represented by CAW 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 Surrey.
- Coast Mountain Bus Company also has it's own Security Department. Transit Security Officers are mobile, ride buses, and patrol Translink Properties. They are not to be confused with the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service (GVTAPS), although they work closely together to ensure a safe Transit system. Transit Security Officers are authorized to arrest persons found committing Criminal Offences on or in relation to any Translink Properties. The Security Department will be growing as the 2010 Olympic Winter Games approach.
[edit] B-Line services
B-Line is an express, limited-stop bus system with #99 and #98 primarily using 60 foot low floor articulated buses, while #97 uses more 40 foot coaches.
[edit] Routes
As of November 2006, three B-Line routes are in operation:
- 97 B-Line — Coquitlam Centre/Coquitlam Central Station - Lougheed Town Centre Station
- 98 B-Line — Downtown Vancouver - Richmond Centre with a connection to a bus to the international airport
- 99 B-Line — University of British Columbia (UBC) - Broadway and Commercial Drive stations
There are plans for future service on two more routes:
- 91 B-Line — along 41st Avenue between UBC and Joyce–Collingwood Station (scheduled to start in 2009 with the opening of the Canada Line), and the
- 95 B-Line — along Hastings Street between Downtown Vancouver and Simon Fraser University (scheduled to start in 2008).
These route numbers are not confirmed, and TransLink and Coast Mountain may or may not use these numbers or even have these routes.
[edit] #98 B-Line
The 98 B-Line is 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 Motorola 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.
[edit] Gallery: Coast Mountain Bus Company fleet
 A regular TransLink bus, at a layover at Richmond Centre. |
 A B-Line bus at Brighouse Station. |
 A regular articulated bus at Production Way-University Station. |
 A new 7400 series bus at Sperling-Burnaby Lake Station. |
 A new 3300 series bus at Coquitlam Central Station's bus loop. |
 A highway coach bus, at UBC Loop. |
 An electric trolley bus, at the Granville Street Bridge in Vancouver. They are expected to be replaced with a new fleet of low-floor trolley buses between 2006 and 2008. |
 One of the new electric trolley buses on Robson Street in Vancouver. |
 An older high-floor articulated bus. |
 An older regular-length high-floor diesel bus. |
 A GMC Classic high-floor bus at Burrard Station. |
 A SeaBus departing Lonsdale Quay. |
[edit] External links
- Coast Mountain Bus Company
- CAW Local 111
- TransLink / Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority
- CAW Local 2200
