New Seabus Pacific Breeze Now in Operation
bySince 1977 the Seabus has nautically connected downtown Vancouver and the North Shore.
With a lot of pressure on the Burrard Otter and Burrard Beaver, today Translink officially launched a third vessel into operation and I was there for the maiden (media) voyage of the Burrard Pacific Breeze.
My pal Dave, who has been covering all things transit in images, words and sketches since its inception into the transit fleet, was along for the ride.
We were invited up to the bridge and onto the outside deck for the run over to North Vancouver. The vessel itself was quiet and smooth as we made our run to Lonsdale across the Burrard Inlet.
The Burrard Pacific Breeze was immediately put into service once we reached the terminal on the other side and they handed out special “I was there” certificates for people who were on the departures that followed.
Having a third Seabus means that sailings will run every 10 minutes but after the Olympics either the Burrard Beaver or Burrard Otter will be taken out of service and sold off.
At $3.50 during peak times, my friend Dave notes that the Seabus is the ultimate harbour cruise. Hopefully the new ride (on those silky soft seats) will prove to be a smooth one for commuters and visitors alike.
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I have rode the Sea Bus a few times and cannot wait til I can experience the new vessel. It is a shame that one of the others will be sold off though.
Are they letting people outside on the seabus or was your experience an exception? I think it would be neat if they allowed people outside during the transit, but I guess there is a liability if dumbnuts fall off during it.
Last I heard, they were going to introduce the 3rd new one, pull out one of the old ones to retrofit/update it. Have 2 sailing, when the retrofit was done, then they would swap out the other one have it retrofitted and then after the olympics have 3 sailings.
But I guess they changed that so they can have 3 sailings during the Olympics which is good because of the large amount of people who will be commuting over to Lonsdale during the olympics 🙂
@Tyler There is no outer deck on the passenger level. To get up there you have to walk up through the bridge and hop out a little side door so I doubt there’s any chance they’ll let public up there unless it’s a private sailing.
I thought I saw you there! Glad you got some good photos from the bridge; my battery died just as I got up there, and I missed out on some nice shots.
She’s a good boat, eh? Definitely quieter and a bit nicer than the old ones. Still, it was a bit sad watching the Burrard Beaver go out of service as we pulled into Lonsdale Quay to replace it.
Lame that they’re not keeping all three. Very shortsighted.
Looks like a nice trip with a Seabus. We have similar vessels like that here. Anyway, Merry Christmas to you and to your family!
I imagine security was quite light for your tour. http://twitter.com/bobmackin/statuses/6757750482
I agree that it’s a cheap fare for a harbour cruise – however i think as a mode of transportation, a $3.50 ride for 15 minutes, or $7 round-trip fare for commuters is expensive compared to regular 1-zone travel.
[…] this first installment from the $3 Harbour Cruise featuring my pal Rebecca Bollwitt with thanks to urban transit explorer JMV. Photo of this reporter on the SeaBus Bridge by Rebecca […]
This was such a fun outing! Very cool participating in a unique slice of Vancouver trivia. I wrote up a lil report at Vancouver Observer as well: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/uncleweed/2009/12/30/riding-roof-breeze
Will edit up a podcast at some point too.
Hi there Miss604, just a little note to say THANKS for the terrific pictures you took of my son, Dave Olson. I posted the Pacific Breeze event on my blog today and used two of your beautiful pictures.
Check it out:
http://manorbooks.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/pacific-breeze/
Happy New Year,
Lauralee
(Dave Olson’s proud Mom!)
[…] from Miss604 put up her own lovely SeaBus post describing the maiden voyage of the Breeze. You can also check out her full Flickr set of Pacific […]
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