Getting Around Burnaby

Getting Around Burnaby

Burnaby sits at the geographic centre of Metro Vancouver, wedged between Vancouver to the west and New Westminster, Port Moody and Coquitlam to the east. That central position is good news for visitors: the city is well integrated with its neighbours, and most of the region's transit network passes through it. The practical consequence is that you rarely need a car to reach Burnaby's town centres, and once you're here, buses and rapid transit will usually get you where you want to go.

Public Transit: TransLink

TransLink is the main public transit network for the Vancouver area, and it covers Burnaby along with Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, New Westminster, North Vancouver and other municipalities across the region. Its network includes buses, SkyTrain (rail rapid transit), the SeaBus ferries, the West Coast Express commuter rail, and HandyDART, a door-to-door shared-ride service for people who cannot use regular transit without assistance.

For a visitor, the important parts of that network are the buses and SkyTrain, which between them cover almost everything you'd want to see in Burnaby.

How to Pay

Fares can be paid in several ways, and the method you choose affects both the price and your ability to transfer:

• Compass Card — a reloadable card available for a refundable deposit. This is the most convenient option if you're staying a few days.
• Compass Ticket — a single-use ticket, good for visitors making only a few trips.
• Tap-to-pay — contactless credit cards (American Express, Mastercard or Visa) and mobile wallets can be tapped directly at fare gates and on buses.
• Cash — accepted on buses and HandyDART, but exact change is required, no change is given, and you won't be eligible for transfers.

Compass Cards and Compass Tickets get you discounted fares compared with tap-to-pay. Transfers are included for a set window of time, so you can move between buses and trains on a single fare; the window is longer if your trip involves the West Coast Express.

Fares are zone-based on weekdays for trips that start earlier in the day and involve SkyTrain or SeaBus. Outside those hours, or if you're only riding buses or HandyDART, a single flat zone rate applies. The West Coast Express uses its own, higher zone-based fare system at all times. Children ride free, and youth and seniors pay discounted concession fares.

SkyTrain

Two SkyTrain rapid transit lines serve Burnaby: the Expo Line and the Millennium Line. Together they loop around the city with plenty of stops. It's worth being clear about what this means in practice: the SkyTrain is excellent for reaching Burnaby's shopping malls and town centres, but it doesn't drop you at the city's attractions directly. It works best in combination with buses, and for many trips within Burnaby it won't be the fastest option on its own.

• Expo Line — connects Burnaby to Vancouver's downtown, Gastown-Chinatown, Yaletown-False Creek, East Van and eastern parts of south Vancouver, and continues beyond Vancouver to New Westminster and Surrey.
• Millennium Line — links the northern part of Burnaby with East Van to the west and Coquitlam and Port Moody to the east.

Metrotown station, in the heart of Burnaby's Metrotown town centre, is one of the busiest stations in the regional system — a useful landmark to orient yourself around, since it sits on the Expo Line and is a hub for several bus routes.

Buses

Many bus routes connect Burnaby with Vancouver and the surrounding suburbs, and for many destinations the bus is the most direct option. Some routes a visitor is likely to find useful:

• R5 — express service between Burrard Station in downtown Vancouver and Simon Fraser University, running along Hastings Street through the Burnaby Heights area and stopping at Kootenay Loop.
• 19 — between downtown Vancouver and Metrotown station.
• 25 — between the University of British Columbia and Brentwood Town Centre station, with stops at Nanaimo and King Edward stations along the way.
• 49 — between UBC and Metrotown station, with a stop at Langara–49th Ave station.
• 130 — between Phibbs Exchange in North Vancouver and Metrotown station, stopping at Brentwood Town Centre station and BCIT.
• 145 — between Production Way station and Simon Fraser University.
• 160 — between Kootenay Loop and Port Coquitlam, travelling through Burnaby along Hastings Street and continuing into Port Moody and Coquitlam.
• 430 — between Metrotown station and Brighouse station in Richmond, with a stop at Bridgeport station, which connects onward to Delta, Surrey, the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, Vancouver International Airport and White Rock.
• 555 — between Lougheed Town Centre station and Langley, with a stop in Surrey.

BC Transit also serves the region: its Central Fraser Valley Transit System operates a route between Burnaby and Chilliwack with stops in Langley and Abbotsford, running daily with numerous trips. It stops at Lougheed Town Centre station.

Taxis and Ride-Hailing

Taxi service in Burnaby is provided by local companies including Bel-Air Taxi and Bonny's Taxi. Ride-hailing is also available, with Uber, Lyft and Kabu all operating in the area. For short hops between a SkyTrain station and a destination that isn't well served by bus, these are a straightforward fallback.

Walkability

Burnaby's layout is one of hills, ridges, valleys and an alluvial plain, with four designated urban density areas — the town centres of Lougheed, Edmonds, Metrotown and Brentwood. These town centres are the most walkable parts of the city, and they're where you'll find the malls, shops and high-rise clusters. Elsewhere, the city is spread out and suburban in character, so walking is best treated as a way to cover the last stretch of a trip rather than a primary way to cross the city.

One thing worth knowing: Burnaby's elevation means it typically gets more snow in winter than nearby Vancouver or Richmond, so winter walking conditions can differ from what you'd expect elsewhere in the region. The city also has an unusually high proportion of park land, including Central Park, Robert Burnaby Park, Kensington Park, Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake and Barnet Marine Park — pleasant places to walk, but not necessarily connected to each other on foot.

Getting In from the Airport

Vancouver International Airport sits in Richmond, southwest of Burnaby. The most practical route into Burnaby by transit is to connect to the Canada Line, which serves the airport, and then transfer to a bus or SkyTrain line heading toward Burnaby. The bus route 430 is a useful link here: it runs between Metrotown station in Burnaby and Brighouse station in Richmond, and stops at Bridgeport station, which provides direct connections to the airport.

By car, Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway) is the main thoroughfare in and out of Burnaby. Kingsway, Hastings Street and Broadway provide further access from Vancouver, while the Lougheed Highway is the main arterial road from Coquitlam and points east.

If you're arriving by other means, the wider Vancouver area is served by plane, bus, train and boat — see coverage of Vancouver for those options, since Burnaby itself is reached through the same regional gateways.