Every Vancouver bus route, ranked

Not definitive and subject to change

Credit: Stephen Hui at The Georgia Straight

I love buses. I take the bus everywhere that I can’t walk to. I do not own a car nor do I care to as long as I have access to buses and trains as good as the ones we have here.

Here is my ranking of all the bus routes in Vancouver proper. One day I may make an accompanying Richmond bus ranking, maybe a Surrey and Delta one too eventually. As for the other cities I don’t have much experience with their buses so I can’t speak to them. This ranking is not definitive because I am always changing my mind on things. It’s also kind of a joke so don’t take it too seriously.

First I have to get some out of the way: the ones I have simply not taken or haven’t taken enough to ever have an opinion on them. Those would be the 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, and the 80. I mostly just haven’t been in those areas of Vancouver that much and have never lived near there. Now that I’m aware there are six routes I have no opinion on I will make an effort to take them soon and form opinions.

Now without further ado, the arbitrary and non-definitive ranking of all Vancouver bus routes.

1. 99

I used to have a fraught relationship with the 99. When I went to UBC I hated how overcrowded it always seemed to be. I didn’t appreciate the 99 enough. Now I live close to the route and take it all the time. It’s probably the bus route I take the absolute most. And that’s not unlike others in Vancouver — it’s actually one of the busiest bus routes in North America.

Side note: In trying to figure out exactly where the 99 ranks in terms of busiest bus routes, I found a blog post by a very annoyed and concerned citizen about the way the 99 is framed as the busiest bus route and this part had me in tears:

Anyway! I love the 99. It takes me everywhere. It comes so often. I frequently fare evade on it. It’s basically free. I know when and where fare checks usually have happened while I’ve been on it so I make sure to pay when I’m travelling around then. The 99 is my chariot and I would do anything for it.

2. 14

The 14 is a beautiful thing. First of all, I LOVE a trolley bus. It takes you from UBC all the way to the Kootenay Loop near the PNE, as long as it’s peak hours. It goes through a bunch of major shopping areas, through Greektown to 4th Avenue, up Granville and through Gastown and the DTES, and then through Hastings-Sunrise. The 14 is an ideal bus in my opinion. My only gripe is that the route stops running east of Hamilton after peak hours.

3. R5

I love a B-line and as such I love a Rapid Bus. The R5 is like SFU’s 99. It’s a perfect and very convenient bus route. I love the R5. You can also fare evade really easily on it.

4. 2

This one is kind of a dark horse for the top 5, but I have my reasons. The 2 is articulated, the air conditioning situation is always really good, I’ve rarely seen it overcrowded, and god, the route is beautiful! It’s fast, I love the view over the Burrard bridge, I love going down Cornwall avenue, and it conveniently takes you from north to south.

5. 84

Great bus. Occasionally some overcrowding issues. Love taking this bad boy. Sometimes a little stuffy in the summer but it’s a pretty quick bus so there’s not too much suffering involved.

6. R4

A genuinely fantastic solution to a lot of the problems the 41 had when I was at UBC. Really quick way to get across 41st avenue. I don’t know if it solved anything to do with the bottleneck in Kerrisdale but whenever I’m in Kerrisdale I do opt for the R4 over the 41.

7. 3

When I lived in the Little Mountain area I loved this bus. I love that it’s a trolley and articulated. I love that it can be a little chaotic at times. It’s truly just a great way to get up and down Main street. I do like to walk on Main rather than take the bus when I can because Main is just so walkable and there’s so much to look at, but I know I can always rely on the 3.

8. 4

Again, LOVE a trolley bus. Solid bus for getting from UBC to downtown to the Burrard View and PNE area. Great for going anywhere along the 4th Avenue shopping area all the way through to Gastown. It’s a true shoppers’ bus.

9. 9

The 9 can feel a little redundant since it’s basically the 99 with more stops and a bit slower. But honestly I fuck with it. I just wish it didn’t stop at Granville going westbound at a certain point in the night.

10. 7

The 7 feels like a bit of a weird bus because it breaks the north-south and east-west bus route dichotomy I’ve created in my head. It goes in a weird horseshoe-like route. But I love it for that—it’s the bus I take often when the bus I wanted to take is running late. It’s just always kind of there.

11. 17

Let me be clear—I hate the 17. But because I used to live on Oak street I understand how essential it is. It’s the only thing that can get you out of there.

12. 16

I feel similarly about the 16 as I feel about the 7. The only difference is I feel like I’ve been fucked over but the 16 more often. But sometimes I’m way out there, the only thing I can get is the 16 to take me near another route to get me home, and if I wait long enough, it’ll be there for me.

13. 8

Sometimes you need to get up and down Fraser! I take this bus to go to the dentist.

14. 19

I haven’t taken this but much but I like that there’s a bus that goes to Stanley Park. I also like that it’s a trolley bus.

15. 20

Trolley AND articulated?! You love to see it. I have had to wait a long time before to get the 20, and sometimes walking to where I’m going has been faster than waiting for the bus, but hey, it’s there.

16. 25

Thank fucking GOD they made this one articulated. I used to live near the 25 route when it wasn’t. I had to take it early in the morning to get to class and to work. I fucking hated it. But now that it’s articulated it ain’t too bad.

17. 15 and 50

I think it’s kinda funky that the 15 turns into the 50 (though apparently they may change that soon??) The 50 is a weird little bus but it’s cool to have something around the False Creek area like that. The 15 is kind of redundant with the Canada Line but it’s still a nice thing to have for when the trains aren’t great.

18. 5 and 6

A true downtown man’s bus. It’s cute that the 5 and 6 turn into each other. Why isn’t it all just one looped route? Who knows. But hey, it’s fine with me.

19. 22

A bus that takes you to Duffin’s!

20. 49

I used to take the 49 to UBC sometimes when I’d miss the 480. Pretty solid. I like that it goes to Metrotown.

21. 41

It really gets stuck in Kerrisdale which sucks but I like that it’s a trolley bus.

22. 44

Articulated. Express. The issue is that it’s often not at all on schedule, and, at least when I used to take it more, very overcrowded. North Van UBC students deserve better

23. 33

I used to take the 33 when I’d miss the 25 when I lived in Shaughnessy. Meh.

24. 100

I’ve taken this very few times but it is a portal from Marpole to New West so I guess it’s pretty solid.

25. 23

I don’t take the 23 much because I can very easily walk to English Bay from basically anywhere downtown. But I get why it exists.

26. 42

Elusive.

27. 68

The few times I took this I felt like I entered the twilight zone.

28. 10

This is purely a personal beef. I used to work on South Granville for a summer when I lived in Richmond so I would take the 10 from Marine Drive station up to 12th avenue. The length of the trip always gave me enough time to fantasize about getting off the bus and immediately being hit by a car so I wouldn’t have to go to work. It never happened. Fuck the 10.