The Bus Riders Union (BRU) in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, was a non-profit organization that advocates for better public transit services in Greater Vancouver. It criticized TransLink for such things as raising bus fares and the approval of the construction of the

Canada Line The Canada Line is a rapid transit line in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that is part of the SkyTrain (Vancouver), SkyTrain system. The line is owned by TransLink (British Columbia), TransLink and InTransitBC and is operated by SN ...

rapid transit project, claiming that it would be built at the expense of adequately maintaining the bus system. The BRU was modelled after the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based Bus Riders Union. Like its Los Angeles counterpart, the Vancouver BRU argued that transit issues disproportionately affect people of colour, women, and poor people. The BRU engaged in various protest, advocacy, and educational activities, and had approximately 950 members. The campaigns waged by the BRU included a

fare strike A fare strike is a direct action in which people in a city with a public transit system carry out mass fare evasion as a method of protest. Jumping turnstiles, boarding buses through the back or very quickly through the front, and leaving doors op ...

to protest against rising fares and a campaign to restore the "night owl" late

night bus service Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, is a mode of public transport service operated during the night hours. As an intermediate approach – between providing full service around the clock and stopping services altogether – it p ...

. The "night owl" bus campaign, launched in 2001, succeeded after TransLink voted to reinstate the service in April, 2004. The BRU also campaigned for more wheelchair-accessible and clean air buses. On October 22, 2005, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF), at their Fourth Biannual Award of Excellence in Toronto, awarded its top prize to the Vancouver Bus Riders Union. The CRRF identified the "night owl" bus campaign victory as one of the factors which influenced the Awards Jury, chaired by Mary-Woo Sims.

External links

Bus Riders Union
(archived copy)

Article by a member of the Vancouver Bus Riders Union

Bus Riders Win Back Night Owl Buses!

Vancouver's Bus Riders Union takes top anti-racism award

Bus Riders' Union in the news
Non-profit organizations based in Vancouver Public transport advocacy organizations Political advocacy groups in Canada Transport organizations based in Canada {{vancouver-stub