Park Smart: Commercial Vehicles

Special Zones for Tourbus Drivers

The City of Vancouver values tourism and supports the tour bus industry. There are a number of options available to tour bus drivers in finding on-street zones for passenger loading:

Use commercial lanes.
Use Commercial Loading Zones, Loading Zones, and Passenger Zones.
Use parking meters (with full payment).
Use No Parking Anytime Zones (5 minute limit).

Drivers are also encouraged to utilize Tour Bus Zones. Some of these zones have been set aside for passenger loading, others for one or two hour parking.

Tour Bus Loading Zones (maximum 15 minutes)

Downtown

600 Beatty - west side, south of Dunsmuir St.
900 Canada Pl - north side, east of Burrard St. (Pan Pacific Hotel)
500 Columbia - west side, south of Pender St. (Chinese Cultural Centre)
700 Homer - east side, north of Robson St. (Vancouver Public Library)
1000 Melville - south side, west of Burrard St. (Hyatt Regency Hotel)
300 Richards - west side, south of Water St.
300 Seymour - east side, south of Cordova St. (Harbour Centre)

2 Hour Tour Bus Zone

1600 Alberni - north side, west of Cardero St.

1 Hour Tour Bus Parking Zone

200 Columbia St. - east side, north of Cordova St.

Tour Bus Parking - Reserved

Wall Centre - underground access from Hornby St., drivers should check with hotel first.
Chinatown Parkade - 4 to 5 spaces behind the parkade building at Keefer and Columbia.
Waterfront Lot - east of Seabus Terminal - operated by the Port of Vancouver. Used for staging buses headed to Canada Place Cruise Ship Terminal.

To avoid parking tickets, tour bus operators should never:

stop and load in Translink bus stops
load or park in taxi, police, or consular zones
stop or load within 6 metres of an intersecting sidewalk
stop or load within 6 metres of a crosswalk
stop or load in a rush hour lane of traffic
park on residential streets or lanes
double park to load or unload
fail to pay for all meter spaces occupied by the bus while the meter is in effect
allow engines to idle for more than 3 minutes while loading or parking*

*Effective December 1, 1998 Parking Enforcement began issuing tickets to buses that are stopped at curbside with their engines idling for more than 3 minutes. See Noise Abatement/Bus Idling.

At many locations where tour buses usually stop, signs are currently posted informing bus operators to turn off the bus engine. However, the presence of these signs is not required for enforcement to occur. Officers will be actively monitoring bus engine idling as well as responding to resident complaints

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