Lori’s Guide to Surviving the Vancouver Bus

By Elke Porter | WBN News Vancouver | April 18, 2025

Vancouver, BC — Monday to Friday, rain or shine, Lori rides the #9 Broadway bus. She's been doing it for over 20 years, from the era of Walkmans and newspapers to the age of TikTok and tuna wraps. Why? Because she’s a working woman with a conscience, a Compass Card, and a deep appreciation for human behaviour (and by that, we mean drama).

Over the decades, she’s seen it all—and she’s here to share the top lessons every newcomer (or maybe you are just a driver whose Maserati is in the shop getting repairs) needs to survive the Vancouver transit system without being that person.

Lesson #1: The bus is not your living room. Please, for the love of clean pants, don’t put your dirty shoes on the seat. It’s not a footrest—it’s someone else’s future behind.

Lesson #2: Sit by the Window, if possible. If you sit in the aisle seat while the window seat stays empty, you’re basically saying, “I don’t care if you're inconvenienced.” Don’t make folks clamber over your knees like it’s a Southwest Airlines flight. Scoot over. It’s not a throne. Or worse, you give them the "Don't even think about it glare," because you have 5 shopping bags and one pizza box on the window seat, taking up the space.

Lesson #3: Take off your backpack. Otherwise, you're the human wrecking ball we never asked for. Some poor soul has been hit in the face three stops in a row and deserves better.

Lesson #4: Keep your "eau de snack" in its container. Does it smell like three types of regret the moment you open it? Is your snack louder than your seatmate’s podcast? Maybe eat it later. Preferably somewhere that isn’t sealed shut with 30 strangers inhaling your choices.

Lesson #5: Oversharing isn't caring. We don’t need to know about your cousin’s one-night stand, your rash, or why you broke up again. If your volume makes earbuds obsolete, you're doing too much. This is true, whether you are talking to another bus passenger or on your smartphone.

Lesson #6: Reserved seats are not for the “tired or someone who needs to sit down so they can keep playing the video game they started just before the bus got there.” If you're under 60, child-free, and capable of jogging for the bus, keep moving until you are in the back.

Lesson #7: Germs & Justice. If you’re coughing like a Dickens character, maybe stay home—or at least wear a mask properly. Like, actually over your nose. No one wants to play "Guess the Variant" on their morning commute. A single cough produces approximately 3,000 respiratory droplets, while a sneeze releases approximately 40,000, per a September 2020 review published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“It’s good to carry extra masks with you in case something happens to that mask you’re wearing, like if you really sneeze heavily into it,” says Peter Gulick, DO, infectious disease expert and Professor of Medicine at Michigan State University in East Lansing. “Then you have something you can change into.”

Finally, say “thank you.” Even if the driver can't hear you. Even if they are just doing their job that they get paid to do. It’s a small thing that makes Vancouver feel like a real community. Bonus points if you say good morning when getting on the bus. Especially in the morning.

Saying “good morning” isn’t just some fancy-pants etiquette move, according to Caroline Steber, who wrote about it on Thrive Global—Arianna Huffington’s brainchild platform for making us all healthier and less cranky. Apparently, talking to other humans before noon has actual benefits. Who knew?

It connects us with others. This is important because we are social beings who thrive on having positive relationships with other humans.
It makes us feel good. Feel good hormones are released when another person smiles at us. Our self-esteem is massaged when others acknowledge that we exist.
It takes our minds off our problems if only for a moment. Making eye contact, smiling and saying “good morning” forces us to focus on something other than what makes us sad, angry or frustrated.
It is and energizing, positive way to start the day.

And finally, if your toddler’s taking a seat while Grandma’s hanging on to a pole for dear life—maybe it’s time for a little lap cuddle. Yes, we get it. Little Ava loves having her own throne with a view, but there’s an unspoken hierarchy on public transit, and toddlers come after seniors with canes, folks with wheelchairs, and exhausted elderly with groceries shaped like Jenga towers.

At any given moment, you might find wheelchairs, walkers, shopping carts, oxygen tanks, canes, and jogging strollers doing a slow-motion ballet near the front of the bus—all competing for precious square footage like it’s rush hour at a Beyoncé concert merch table. And when space runs out (as it always does), sometimes you might be the one who has to hop off early to make room while things are being settled. Most of the time you can easily get back on before the bus starts rolling.

Following these rules is not just kindness; it's strategy. Because no one wants to be the person who wouldn’t scoot for a visually impaired Grandma holding a basket of groceries and a toddler on one hip. Transit karma is real—and it’s watching.

In Lori’s words, "Riding the bus is a journey. Don’t make it a battlefield."

In Conclusion…

Phones are fine. But you know what else people did before smartphones? They read books, stared dramatically out the window, judged everyone's fashion choices in silence, or watched condensation beads race down the glass like it was a National Geographic documentary. I invite you to try an entire bus ride while spending time in these pursuits like its the 1980's. If you can't stand the lack of stimulation, you can always start a conservation with your neighbour.

So go ahead—now you know how to ride the bus like a pro, whether you're a fresh Vancouverite or just waiting for your Maserati to come back from its spa day. Because manners, much like a Compass Card, will always get you farther.

#TransLink Tips #Vancouver Transit #Bus Etiquette #Public Transport Fails #Urban Commuting #Transit Humour #Van Life #Respect The Ride #WBN News Vancouver #Elke Porter

Connect with Elke at Westcoast German Media or on LinkedIn: Elke Porter or contact her on WhatsApp: +1 604 828 8788