Metro Vancouver's transit authority has axed the popular 98 B-Line bus as part of its quarterly service adjustments.

The company is urging passengers who use the popular commuter and school route to use the new Canada Line for "fastest north-south travel" between downtown Vancouver and Richmond, and the #10 Granville bus for travel along that corridor.

The change took effect Monday.

The #601 bus between downtown Vancouver and Delta has also been nixed, and will turnaround at Bridgeport Station in Richmond.

The changes are part of a larger bout of service changes by TransLink to encourage people to use the new Canada Line. 

Starting tomorrow, some major bus routes in Vancouver will extend to the new station at Marine Drive, in hopes passengers will catch connections along Granville, Oak, Cambie and Main Streets.

Here are the highlights of the major service changes:

  • #3 Marine Drive Station/Main/Downtown will serve Marine Drive Station on every trip during weekday rush hours and every second trip at other times of the day (alternating with the current terminus at Main and Marine).
  • The #3 will extend its downtown Vancouver route to Robson and Richards and become the #20 Victoria.
  • The #3 will trade routes with the #8 Fraser/Downtown, which will turn off Main onto Hastings and return via Seymour and Cordova Streets.
  • #10 Granville/Hastings will increase frequency to approximately every 7 minutes during peak periods and every 10 at midday, with other service improvements throughout the day
  • #17 Oak/Downtown/UBC will no longer travel to Marpole Loop
  • #15 Cambie/Downtown, which will reduce its frequency from 6 minutes to 10 in peak periods, with other reductions during the day, becoming a neighbourhood/feeder bus with the Canada Line handling the majority of customers heading downtown
  • N15 NightBus
  • The #20 Victoria/Downtown will terminate all trips at Harrison Loop.

With back-to-school passengers causing increased volume on the bus lines, customers are being encouraged to use less-used routes, instead of busy buses that travel along Broadway:

  • #49 Metrotown Stn/UBC (Canada Line transfer at Langara - 49th Ave. Stn)
  • #41 Joyce Stn/UBC, which will increase frequency to 5 minutes between 9 & 10am and every 6 minutes between 5 and 6 p.m.
  • #43 Joyce Stn/UBC will increase its service (Canada Line transfer at Oakridge - 41st Ave. Station)
  • #25 Brentwood Stn/UBC (Canada Line transfer at King Edward Station)
  • #33 29th Ave. Stn/UBC will improve to 12 minute service in rush hours and extend service to 11 p.m. nightly (Canada Line transfer at King Edward Station)
  • #84 VCC-Clark/UBC, which runs every 8 minutes in rush hours and 10 minutes during midday (Canada Line transfer at Olympic Village Station)