Special thanks to Derek Cheung and Jon "Sparkie" for arranging, and leading an exclusive tour in VTC for several visitors from Edmonton (and in my case, a local Vancouverite!) Featuring in this collection include a walkthrough in VTC maintenance shop, and Bill McDonald, an ETS veteran for the past 32 years, test-drove 2514 from VTC to Harrison Loop!

Three 1973 GM Fishbowls - 5508, 5512 and 5514; hit the road once again after retiring from revenue service in 2003. These buses are used for trainability tests - the very first stage of training. Trainability test checks if one can drive a bus without crashing into things on the street, and the major part - to see if one can listen and comprehend instructions clearly. Hence that's why Translink uses a 1973 GM Fishbowl that is totally different from the current modern fleet.

One of the test subjects included in phrase II of the "test of the power of tomorrow" - a fair scientific experiment that has been ongoing since September 2005.

These buses are CNG buses powered by a bland of compressed natural gas and hydrogen, just like the way diesel is blanded with biological materials in biodiesel. The HCNG buses are involved in the "Test Of The Power Of Tomorrow" program, which is a scientific experiment carried out by Translink in order to make the best decision on the use of fuel / method to power the future fleet of buses in Vancouver.

7244 - 7246 are former F40LF (Fuel Cell Buses), they were put in storage soon after they hit the road due to the rediculous fact that they need to be refueled every 3 hours! 7244 and 7246 are converted to hybrid buses (using GM Hybrid Drive), while 7245 was sold to Ballard as a demo bus

These test buses are loaned from Novabus - one of them being a demo originally from Novabus, while the other one was built to Oshawa Specification. Both buses left Vancouver in May 2006, and are purchased by Durham Region Transit of Durham Region, Ontario. Both buses were renumbered "8172" and "8173" by DRT.

The first natural gas buses that are reactivated. These test buses are involved in the test of the power of tomorrow, which is a scientific experiment organized by Translink in order to make the best decision for the best type of fuel / energy to power the future fleet of buses in Vancouver.

This bus is powered by a mixture consists of 80% regular low-sulfar diesel and 20% of vegetable/animal oil. Biodiesel is one of the many types of fuel that is being considered by Translink to power the future fleet of buses in Vancouver.

7430 and 7437 are used in the "test of the power of tomorrow" program as regular low-sulfar diesel buses, which are generally used in the Greater Vancouver district.

Two vessels - "Burrard Beaver" and "Burrard Otter" provide service across the Burrard Inlet between Waterfront Station (downtown Vancouver) and Lonsdale Quay (North Vancouver)

This section will be updated weekly

On May 29, 2008 one of the few 40 foot Nova LFS's with the new rear ends came to Greater Vancouver. The bus 356-1 was built in March 2008 and is fully loaded. All of these photos were taken with proper permission from the proper authorities.

Between May 11th and May 14th, 2009, Translink received a New Flyer XDE40 "Xcelsior" Demonstrator from New Flyer, one of the most reputable heavy-duty bus manufacturer in North America based in Winnipeg, Canada. The Xcelsior is one of the latest model introduced by New Flyer, as their famous D40LF series will be discontinued from production.

Interested in a virtual bus ride onboard this demonstrator? Be sure to check out my videos!

Detailed preview from the outside:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeGi58xwtI8&feature=channel_page

Virtual-rides onboard this bus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSm3oHwSktI&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ-7h9wqDoo&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB083IQ64dI

Be sure to click on the "HQ" icon for best viewing quality!

The first restyled New Flyer low floor bus that is put in revenue service! 2101 came to Vancouver in June 2005 as a pilot bus from New Flyer. The remaining 187 New Flyer E40LF would be delivered at a rate of 4 buses / week starting from August 2006.

Photos of buses that do not fit in any other collections can be found here!

During late-January to mid-February 2007, Translink suffers from a severe bus shortage as 39 new trolleybuses were withdrawn from revenue service due to mechanical problems related to the power steering. Frustrated, Translink decided to borrow 4 buses from the BC Transit Central Fraser Valley system - 2 1990 Orion Vs and 2 1992 Orion Is

2805 spent her last day on run-6 of rt.3 (Main - Chinatown) on April 20th, 2008 and officially marked the final chapter of the operation of Flyer E901A / E902 trolleybuses in the Greater Vancouver region. The very first Flyer trolleybuses were introduced to the Vancouverites back in 1982, and they took a very important role in the history of the Vancouver trolleybus operation. Finally, their mission is over as the New Flyer low-floor trolleybuses (E40LFR / E60LFR) will succeed the duty and marks the start of another new era of Vancouver's trolleybus system which was first implemented in 1948.

P4107 was saved by the Transit Museum Society of Vancouver (TRAMS) and will be preserved. This bus was retired in late 2003, and has been put into storage as part of Translink's back-up fleet. Recently, all buses stored inside the warehouse near Lougheed Centre is no longer used as OTC became freed up when VTC opened in August 2006.

This section is dedicated to distinctive photos that are less "standardized" from other images found in this gallery.

This section will be updated weekly in year 2007!

The 33rd annual bus roadeo takes place in Surrey Transit Centre on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

The annual CMBC conventional bus rodeo takes place on a cloudy / rainy day at Surrey Transit Centre. S7499, S7501, S7502 and S7503 are used as the competing buses this year.

Organized by the Transit Museum Society of Vancouver on December 16th, 2006. 4 vehicles were used, and they are S4139 (GM Classic), V7184 (Reindeer bus, New Flyer D40LF), V1109 (trisel Flyer D800) and 3334 (Flyer D901A) We toured around the vicinity of Burnaby and saw lots of interesting decorations of houses to celebrate christmas!

On August 16th, 2008, the Vancouver transit system marked 60 years of quiet, clean, environmentally friendly trolley bus service. Since 1948, the trolley buses have provided the backbone of local service in the city of Vancouver, and continue to do so to this day despite many other North American cities phasing them out, the latest to do so being the city of Edmonton, which voted on June 18th to scrap its trolley bus system by 2010 following much heated debate over the merits of the vehicles.

The celebration consisted of a six-bus procession from the Vancouver Transit Centre to the Stanley Park bus loop, where the buses were then parked and put on display while speeches were given by various dignitaries, including veteran trolley bus operator Angus McIntyre. On hand for the parade were the two restored vintage Brill trolleys, the Flyer E800 "Triesel" ex-trolley bus with diesel power, the recently retired Flyer E901A, and two modern New Flyer low-floor trolleys, one 40-foot example and one articulated. The ceremony was open to the public. In the evening, a more traditional "fan trip" was held using one of the Brills and the Flyer E901A.

Certain photos are specifically resized to 1600 x 1027 for best viewing experience, be sure to click on the photo for full resolution!

Special thanks to Rick Norman for providing these excellent pictures taken at Langford garage in Victoria, BC

The last of the Flyer E901A trolley buses were retired from active service in Vancouver on April 20th, 2008. Many had already been withdrawn from service in the year and a half leading up to that final day, some of which had already been scrapped.

However, 80 of the new trolleybuses have been given a reprieve from the scrapper. It was confirmed earlier this year that these buses would be sold to the company running transit in Mendoza, Argentina. Representatives from the company sifted through the dead buses at OTC and hand-picked the 80 that they would buy at a cost of $2,300 apiece.

On October 31st, 2008, members of the media were granted access to Fraser Surrey Docks where the buses were being loaded onto the ship that would take them to South America. Special thanks to Drew Snider with Translink, Brady Erno with Fraser Surrey Docks, and all others that made this photo opportunity possible.

On June 12, Translink was offered an opportunity from British bus manufacturer Alexandre-Dennis to test-drive one of the Enviro 500 double-decker demonstrator.

This section contains all the classic ad-wraps on buses in the Greater Vancouver Area!

On May 6th, 2009, TransLink held a media open house showcasing a pair of the brand-new 2009 Bombardier Mark II Skytrain cars. Representatives from Trans-Vancouver Photography and BusShots.com were invited by the Buzzer Blog to join the media crews at Stadium Station for a detail preview and "inspection" of the specimen, before SkyTrain staff were to begin training on the new equipment. These new cars feature, among other things, 10% more total capacity than the older Mark II cars and a diagnostics system the simplify the troubleshooting of jammed doors. Full details may be found on the Buzzer blog at http://buzzer.translink.ca.

These 2008 Orion V Suburbans were originally meant to be delivered in October 2007 but were late. All of the buses except for 9277 are 2008 units. Whereas 9277 is the only 2007 Orion V out of this batch.

The annual bus rodeo was held on a beautiful sunday, with the sun shining bright, at Surrey transit centre. 4 buses are used for the event: S7334, S7353, S7362 and S7369.

Vancouver took an order of 40 articulated trolleybuses in order to replace the aging Flyer Trolleybuses (E901A / E902) that have been serving Vancouver since 1982. These articulated trolleybuses would be assigned on the high-capacity routes that run on the veins and arteries at the heart of the city. The first prototype arrived in January 2007.

These new trolleybuses are the production of New Flyer and Vossloh Kiepe of Germany. The first prototype was delivered in July 2005, and it wasn't until one year later that the second one gets delivered to Vancouver. In the near future, more and more of these state-of-the-art trolleybuses will be put into revenue service throughout the main arteries and veins of Vancouver, while the old Flyer E901A / E902 trolleybuses will be retired.

These compressed natural gas buses are all based out of Port Coquitlam, the only bus garage with CNG-refueling and maintenance facilities in Vancouver. These buses run with Cummins C+ engines and Allison B400R5 transmissions.

These buses are powered by the Cummins ISC engine and the Allison B400R5 transmission. All of these buses are based out of Burnaby, which is also the home of the 2000 batch of New Flyer D40LFs. Both 2000 and 2001 batches fo New Flyer D40LFs in the fleet of Translink are very similar to each other.

These buses are used for express routes and highway routes. They run exclusively on route 351 and 601 during off-peak hours. During rush hour, they run on routes that go to Delta, White Rock and express routes that go to Richmond.

Out of the fleet of 52 buses, 28 of these buses are equipped with AVL (automated vehicle locator) and GPS (global positioning system) in order to accommadate with the 98 B-Line service, which runs between downtown Vancouver and Richmond Centre with automated stop announcements and time estimates that are shown at each stop. The rest of the fleet are divided between Burnaby (which has 5 of these buses), Richmond (which has 36 of these buses including the AVL buses) and Port Coquitlam (which has 10 of these buses) B8054 was involved in a severe engine fire in 2003, and was retired as a result; which shrinks the fleet into a grand total of 51 buses.

These buses are powered by the Cummins ISC engine and the Allison B400R5. The 2000 and 2001 batches of New Flyer D40LF are very similar to each other; all of these Cummins D40LFs are based out of Burnaby.

All of these buses (consisted of a fleet of 26 buses) are based out of Burnaby except 5 of them (8024 - 8026, 8037, 8039) are based out of Port Coquitlam. 7 of these buses are painted in the B-Line livery, while the rest are all painted in the "sweep" livery. This fleet of buses are mostly used for rt.135 and rt.99, while the Port Coquitlam ones are mostly responsible for rt.135 and rt.160 during rush hours, and rt.143 during weekdays.

This fleet of 75 buses are powered by the Detroit Diesel Series-50 engine and the Allison B400R5 transmission. In the summer of 2005, S7299 was transferred to West Vancouver Municipal Buslines and was renumbered as "990" in the West Van MUNI fleet, hence leaving the fleet with a grand total of 74 buses. These buses are divided between Surrey and Port Coquitlam. As the new CNG buses are assigned into revenue service in Port Coquitlam, more and more of these diesel buses will be transferred from Port Coquitlam to Surrey.

These articulated 1998 D60LFs are the major force of the 99 B-Line that runs between UBC and Broadway Station. They are equipped with the Detroit-Diesel Series-50 engine and the Allison B500R 5-speed transmission.

There are 20 C40LFs that runs with a Detroit-Diesel Series-50G engine and a Voith Diwa-863.3 transmission. P3285 is the first one that has been recommissioned and put into service. These C40LFs were purchased in 1998; however they were put into storage shortly after due to the high-cost that are required to maintain and run them. Recently, Translink is seeking for a more environmental-friendly type of fuel. All 25 Compressed Natural Gas buses will be put into revenue service, with 2 of them as Hydrogen-Compressed Natural Gas.

These buses are former compressed natural gas buses. As of high expense to maintain and operate these buses, they were put in storage after the strike in 2001 and were put in service once again in 2004. By now all of these buses are converted to regular diesel buses; hence that's why they are nicknamed "diesellize".

Fleet number: 2701-2799,2801-2899,2901-2947*
Current Fleet size: around 230
Allocated garage: Oakridge
Routes served: 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,16,17,19,20

*2947 was originally numbered as "2700" as the trolley pilot bus

Wheelchair lift: No
Bike Rack: No

This bus is believed to be the second-oldest bus in revenue service in North America! She was retired in April of 2006, after 40 years serving the public!