Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a world class city. If you are one of the lucky ones who will be coming to Vancouver in February 2010 for the Vancouver and Whistler winter Olympic Games, here are a few tips to help make your stay in Vancouver more enjoyable.
Transportation for most will start with arrival by airplane at the Vancouver International Airport. The airport is located within a 25 minute drive by taxi to downtown Vancouver at approximately a $50.00 cost. A tip will be expected in addition to the fare. Ask your driver about a “trip” fare to downtown, to minimize the risk of traffic delays, which we expect to be frequent throughout the Olympic peak period. As a low cost alternative to taxi, one can take the Canada Line to downtown at a cost of approximately $7.00 .You can be at the Waterfront Station in only 25 minutes. The Canada Line will connect with the existing Expo and Millennium rapid transit lines, West Coast Express and SeaBus at Waterfront Station. However, if the Canada Line is your first look at Vancouver, you won’t see much. It runs underground all the way from the Fraser River to the Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver.
You may wish to rent a car at the airport, but you will need to confirm whether mileage is included and be sure to ask the cost of insurance. Don’t forget to do a thorough check of the vehicle prior to taking possession. Once you have the vehicle and you are on your way, be advised that parking in Vancouver will be expensive. Meter parking is available but will be most costly during the Olympics at all downtown locations. For prime locations, meter can a cost up to $2 per 5 minutes. Some hotels offer parking, but at a daily rate of approximately $20. If you are renting a home as an alternative to hotel, be sure to ask your agent if parking is provided, and if so, is the space secured? Full service accommodation companies such as VanAccom will be happy to assist in providing you with convenient transportation advice. Visit the website at www.vanaccom.com to see some of the services provided.
If you can avoid renting a car for the Olympics, Vancouver city transit is inexpensive and convenient. At a cost of $2.50 you can travel for 90 minutes anywhere within the Lower Mainland of BC. You can hop off for errands and hop back on again. You can travel for 1, 2 or 3 zones by bus, SeaBus or SkyTrain. Tickets for West Coast Express must be purchased separately. The city busses run every 5 minutes at peak times throughout all major routes with hours of operation until 2am. Bus frequency is reduced after midnight so it is advisable to consider taxi services.
Vancouver traffic patterns will be restricted during the Olympics, particularly near high security areas. If you are lucky enough to walk to many of the Olympic venues you will avoid the chaos and congestion of the anticipated traffic.
However you plan to transit Vancouver for your Olympic stay, please remember that Vancouver is a smoke free zone. We thank you for not smoking on our public transit.
To view the city transit map, follow this link:
http://davidpritchard.org/maps/vantransit.html
