BC Transit is a provincial crown agency responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, outside of Greater Vancouver

Greater Vancouver

Greater Vancouver is the metropolitan area centred on the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, roughly coterminous with the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which is governed by a body known as Metro Vancouver...

. BC Transit is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

.

Originally known as the British Columbia Electric Railway

British Columbia Electric Railway

The British Columbia Electric Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia.Originally the parent company, and later a division, of BC Electric, the BCER operated public transportation in southwestern British Columbia from its establishment in the...

, a division of BC Hydro

BC Hydro

The BC Hydro and Power Authority is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia generally known simply as BC Hydro. It is the main electric distributor, serving 1.8 million customers in most areas, with the exception of the Kootenay region, where FortisBC, a subsidiary of Fortis...

 after 1961, BC Transit was created in 1972 as the provincial government nationalized the BC Hydro systems. In 1978, the province separated the transit authority into a separate agency called the Urban Transit Authority which was later renamed as BC Transit.

BC Transit carries out overall planning and delivery for all of the different municipal transit systems in British Columbia. In 1999, responsibility for the management of transportation in Greater Vancouver, including public transit, was taken over by TransLink. In the future, TransLink's jurisdiction is planned to expand into adjacent regions east and north of Greater Vancouver.

Transit systems

The Victoria Regional Transit System

Victoria Regional Transit System

Victoria Regional Transit System provides public transportation in the Greater Victoria region of British Columbia, Canada. Its operations are governed by the Victoria Regional Transit Commission in association with BC Transit. There were more than 25 million riders in 2010.-History:Transit service...

 in the provincial capital of Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 is the only system directly operated by BC Transit itself. In four locations (Nanaimo, Nelson, Powell River, and the Sunshine Coast) the municipality operates the service, while private operators are contracted to deliver the transit services elsewhere. Beyond Victoria, there are three levels of regular transit systems.

Tier 1

• Central Fraser Valley
  ValleyMAX
  ValleyMAX is a public transit system which provides bus services in the Central Fraser Valley area of British Columbia, Canada...
  
  
• Kamloops
  Kamloops Transit
  Kamloops Transit operates the public bus transit system in the City of Kamloops in south central British Columbia, Canada. The system consists of 15 regularly scheduled routes, one Sunday route, several school specials and handyDART customized service for persons with a disability...
  
  
• Kelowna Regional
• Nanaimo Regional
  Nanaimo Regional Transit
  Nanaimo Regional Transit System provides both conventional bus service and special needs paratransit services within the Regional District of Nanaimo in British Columbia, Canada...
  
  
• Prince George
• Whistler
  Whistler and Valley Express
  Whistler Transit Ltd., a division of Pacific Western Transportation, operates the public transit service in Whistler and the Pemberton Valley area of British Columbia, Canada. Buses operate every day between 5:30 a.m. and 3 a.m...
  
  

Tier 2

• Campbell River
  Campbell River Transit System
  Campbell River Transit System provides public transportation to the city of Campbell River, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Service also extends to Oyster Bay-Buttle Lake, under an agreement with the Strathcona Regional District. Most transit buses are low floor wheelchair...
  
  
• Chilliwack
• Comox Valley
  Comox Valley Transit System
  Comox Valley Transit System provides public transportation in the Comox Valley area on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Service is provided to the City of Courtenay and the towns of Comox, Royston, Oyster River, Black Creek, and Cumberland...
  
  
• Cowichan Valley
  Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System
  Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System is a public bus service in Duncan and the Cowichan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The conventional transit of the Cowichan Valley Transit System has been in service since 1993 and is currently operated by Greyhound Canada...
  
  
• Penticton Transit
  Penticton Transit
  Penticton Transit provides local public transportation services in the City of Penticton in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, with a fleet of fully accessible low floor transit buses...
  
  
• Vernon Regional
  Vernon Regional Transit
  Vernon Regional Transit System provides bus service to destinations in Vernon, Coldstream and North Okanagan area of British Columbia, using fully accessible low floor transit buses....
  
  

Tier 3

• Cranbrook
• Dawson Creek
• Fort St. John
• Kitimat
• Kootenay Boundary
  Kootenay Boundary Transit System
  Kootenay Boundary Transit System is the public transit system in Trail, British Columbia and surrounding area. The transit services are operated from Trail and serve Rossland, Warfield, Genelle, Montrose and Fruitvale. Funding is provided under a partnership between the Regional District of...
  
  
• Nelson
• Port Alberni
• Powell River
• Prince Rupert
• Squamish
• Sunshine Coast
• Terrace Regional

handyDART

There are 14 Custom Transit (handyDART

HandyDART

HandyDART is an accessible transit service in British Columbia that uses vans or small buses to transport disabled or elderly passengers who cannot use the normal transit system...

) Systems.

• Alberni-Clayoquot
• Campbell River
• Central Fraser Valley
• Chilliwack
• Cranbrook
• Kamloops
• Kelowna Regional
• Kitimat
• Kootenay Boundary
• Nanaimo Regional
• Penticton
• Prince George
• Prince Rupert
• Vernon Regional

External links

• BC Transit