New Flyer D60HF 3014

Location: Alma Street at W 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Operator of Vehicle: Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC)
Date of Photo: August 6, 2007

What does a bus line have to do in order to keep its traditional branding when other routes with the same branding are rebranded?  Being the most used bus route in Canada and the United States apparently helps.  For many years, there were a handful of bus routes in Vancouver called “B-Lines” that offered high frequency, limited stop service.  Two of them were replaced by Skytrain extensions over the years.  Earlier this year, TransLink decided to rebrand two of them under its new RapidBus brand, but the 99 B-Line that connects the Commercial-Broadway transit hub with the University of British Columbia campus, is retaining the B-Line branding.  Ultimately, the 99 B-Line will be phased out when SkyTrain’s Millennium Line is extended to UBC, and this is the primary reason I’ve found that explains why the route designation wasn’t changed.  However, serving an average of 55,900 passengers daily (as of 2018) probably doesn’t hurt the avoiding rebranding effort.

In addition to being the busiest bus route in either the US or Canada, the 99 B-Line also has the distinction of being the first Vancouver area bus route to have all door boarding with fare inspections to ensure that all passengers have paid.

For more photos of CMBC New Flyer buses, please click here.