Canada Line: The Final Touch to a Fully Accessible City

Vancouver's well-planned public transit system which includes the Canada Line, the skytrain, a great network of buses, and a seabus, plus a fairly walkable city means you can easily see most of the city without the need of a rental car.

Getting around in Vancouver is so easy (especially if you’re staying at one of the downtown Vancouver hotels) thanks, in part, to the well-loved skytrain.

Skytrain is Vancouver’s rapid transit system; it utilizes fully automated trains that run on elevated tracks, which gave it its name.

With over 43 miles of tracks, skytrain is the longest fully automated rapid transit system in the world.

Skytrain’s newest line (it opened in August of 2009) is the Canada Line.

The Canada Line was added in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and will greatly facilitate transportation for Vancouver’s influx of guests and its future visitors.

The greatest advantage of the Canada Line is that it connects Vancouver International Airport with 16 stops in Vancouver and Richmond.

 This addition to the Vancouver airport transportation options will help alleviate traffic from the airport while offering a cheaper and quicker option to get downtown than taking a cab.

The trains were designed to handle airport traffic by offering extra space for luggage.  The trains were also designed with Vancouver’s modern approach to transportation in mind.

The city encourages the use of bicycles instead of cars, and so there are racks which allow two bicycles to fit on each train. The trains are all wheelchair-accessible, and offer state-of-art alarm systems and emergency response plans for emergencies.

This latest line “seals the deal” in making the Vancouver transit system one of the best in the world, and therefore allowing Vancouver to rate as one of the most livable cities.

Depending on where they live, residents don’t need a car to live in Vancouver; and it also helps with the cost of tourists’ vacations since getting a car rental in Vancouver is not necessary.

You can even visit Victoria, the charming English-inspired town on Vancouver Island, without needing a car.

Pacific Coach Lines will take you from Vancouver directly to the ferry, then onto the ferry (since the ferries are motor vehicle ferries), and then off and directly into Victoria and back.

You can also visit the famous resort of Whistler by taking public transit. In the winter, the snow bus runs daily schedules between downtown or the airport and Whistler. In the summer, the Whistler Mountaineer train takes you on a breathtaking ride along the Sea-to-Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler. There are always plenty of options via bus, or even seaplane if you dare.

As you can see, Vancouverites have every reason to be proud of their town.

Not only is it a clean, modern city with breathtaking scenery and endless things to do, but additions such as the Canada Line only improve an already accessible city.

If you haven’t been, put Vancouver on the top of your “must see” list!

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