Vancouver's night buses now departing from central downtown hub

Metro Vancouver's transit provider is re-organizing its downtown stops for night buses and creating a central hub so commuters can catch all the late-night buses in the same spot.

The intersection of Granville and Georgia streets is now the site of TransLink's new NightBus District. Spokesperson Aliya Mohamed hopes it will make getting home easier for people coming into the city in the evening.

"We're making it a little bit easier for our commuters to find their bus and get home using the NightBus district," she said.

Prior to Monday, the downtown stops for the night bus lines were scattered. And they were often in different locations than stops for daytime buses serving similar routes.

The new centralized hub is a pilot project running until Sept. 10. At that point, TransLink will check ridership data and decide whether to continue.

Mohamed said about 700,000 riders used TransLink's night buses last year.

Mayor Gregor Robertson indicated he was pleased to see TransLink building a convenient hub for people enjoying the city's "lively entertainment district."

"Making sure that people have a safe way home at the end of the night is a key part of building a vibrant city," he said in a news release.

TransLink has partnered with local bars, restaurants and clubs downtown to put up posters in bathrooms letting people know where to catch a night bus home.

"Even DJs will be announcing this in the DJ booths," Mohamed said.

Customers can catch the buses anytime after 2 a.m. at Granville and Georgia streets. They depart every 30 minutes or so along routes that follow SkyTrain lines. But riders also need to be careful because not all night bus routes run late into the night.

For example, the last buses going down Cambie Street to UBC and down MacDonald Street depart at 3:09 a.m. So those aiming to grab some late-night food after the bar may want to take their order to go.

SkyTrain station gates typically close around 1:30 a.m. Officials have previously said essential overnight track maintenance is what keeps them from providing 24-hour service.

There are 10 night bus routes serving Metro Vancouver, and here are their schedules leaving from downtown:

• The N8 Fraser serves South Vancouver and Marine Drive Station. Last departure: 5:09 a.m., 3:09 a.m. on Sundays and holidays.

• The N9 Coquitlam Central Station travels along Broadway and the Lougheed Highway to serve North Burnaby and the Tri-Cities. Its last departure is 4:19 a.m.

• The N10 Richmond Brighouse Station travels down Granville Street to the airport and Richmond. Last departure: 4:39 a.m.

• The N15 Cambie goes to Marine Drive Station. Last departure: 3:09 a.m.

• The N17 UBC travels along Broadway to Kitsilano and UBC. Last departure: 3:09 a.m., 3:29 a.m. on weekends.

• The N19 Surrey Central Station serves South Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey via Kingsway. Last departure: 4:09 a.m.

• The N20 Victoria goes down Victoria Drive to Marine Drive Station. Last departure: 5:09 a.m., 3:09 a.m. on Sundays and holidays.

• The N22 MacDonald serves Kitsilano and Dunbar. Last departure: 3:09 a.m.

• The N24 Lynn Valley goes to North Vancouver. It's last departure is 3:30 a.m., 3:14 a.m. on Sundays and holidays.

• The N35 SFU goes to East Vancouver and Burnaby via Hastings Street. Last departure: 5:09 a.m.

A map of the routes is available online.