# Vancouver International Airport to downtown: taxi or bus?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vancouver-international-airport-to-downtown-taxi-or-bus/415173>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 10, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vancouver-international-airport-to-downtown-taxi-or-bus/415173 "2007-08-10T20:24:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vancouver-international-airport-to-downtown-taxi-or-bus/415173/1 "2007-08-10T20:24:15Z")

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Unless something terrible happens, in the near future, I will be landing in Vancouver, and (hopefully) enjoying a brief hotel stay near the Canada Place cruise terminal. Since I’ll be there a relatively short time (48 hours or so), and don’t intend to go particularly far, I don’t plan to rent a car. Is a taxi or a bus more cost/time effective to get from the airport to “downtown.”

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**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vancouver-international-airport-to-downtown-taxi-or-bus/415173/2 "2007-08-10T21:05:26Z")

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As far as transit goes, the [Translink trip planning page](http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/hiwire?.a=iTripPlanning&.s=%7B$SID%7D) says it would take about 45 minutes, though depending on traffic and time of day that’s probably a bit optimistic. The fare would be $3.25 on a weekday, $2.25 if you’re coming in on an evening or the weekend. I should also add that you’d have to transfer to a route that tends to get uncomfortably overcrowded.

I’ve never taken a taxi directly between downtown and the airport, but you’d probably be looking at about 20-30 minutes for the travel time, and [this site](http://www.bcpassport.com/vancouver-public-transportation/vancouver-taxi-cabs.aspx) says the fare would be around $27.

Hope you enjoy your visit to Vancouver!

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**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vancouver-international-airport-to-downtown-taxi-or-bus/415173/3 "2007-08-11T17:27:34Z")

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Cab, since as Ms M says, you’d have to transfer and that can be mega-annoying when you first come to a new town. Maybe [these guys](http://www.yvrairporter.com/xPdf/Schedule2006.pdf)?

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**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vancouver-international-airport-to-downtown-taxi-or-bus/415173/4 "2007-08-12T01:56:07Z")

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I live a few block from Canada Place, and have traveled to and from the airport quite a few times. $27 for a cab ride sounds about right (tip not included). The Airporter, linked above, should be about $12-14 per person, and only slightly less convenient. Vancouver’s public transit is quite good, but I still don’t like to deal with it if I don’t have to; it _will_ take markedly longer than a taxi or shuttle.