BC Transit

This article is about the British Columbia transit service. For the Broome County, New York transit service, see Broome County Transit.
BC Transit
FormerlyUrban Transit Authority and the Metro Transit Operating Company
Founded1983; 41 years ago (1983)
Headquarters520 Gorge Road East
Victoria, British Columbia
LocaleProvince of British Columbia (except Greater Vancouver)
Service area130 communities
Service typebus service, paratransit, transportation planning
Fleet1,128 vehicles[1]
Annual ridership27.0 million (FY 2020/21) [1]
Websitewww.bctransit.com

BC Transit is a provincial Crown corporation responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia, Canada, outside Greater Vancouver. BC Transit is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 26,377,500, or about 102,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.

BC Transit is the successor to the British Columbia Electric Railway, which started in 1897 and in 1961 became BC Hydro, as the BC Hydro and Power Authority.[2] In 1979, the province separated the transit authority into a separate agency called the Urban Transit Authority which was later restructured into BC Transit in 1983.[3]

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 the newly formed TransLink. In the future, TransLink's jurisdiction is planned to expand into adjacent regions east and north of Greater Vancouver (see TransLink 2007 reorganization).

  1. ^ a b "BC Transit 2020/21 Annual Service Plan Report". BC Transit. pp. 11, 23. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  2. ^ "British Columbia Electric Railway Company". Archives. City of Vancouver. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ^ "BC Transit - Our History". BCTransit.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.