Transit in Action

Ever since I took my first double decker bus when I was three, I have loved taking transit. The feeling of bustle and activity, a non-stop circulatory system of buses constantly pumping thousands of people around the city every day excites me. I refuse car travel at every opportunity, even if it takes twice as long, and requires multiple connections. I am a strong transit enthusiast and advocate; I enjoy researching about all 60 routes and 351+ buses that the Victoria Regional Transit System (and parts of Cowichan Valley) has to offer, as well as a bit of the South Coast British Columbia Transit Authority (Translink). I frequently voice to my family when a commute with transit instead of private transportation would be beneficial, not just financially, but for the environment and traffic, especially for well-serviced routes such as from Esquimalt to Downtown. 

This series combines two of my interests, photography and transit, into one. A lot of these photographs utilize a slow shutter speed to create a sense of rapid movement, the essence of transit, and therefore a unifying theme in this series. For video compilations of transit, refer to this YouTube playlist.

A waiting NovaBus lurches forward as a CNG NewFlyer Xcelsior on the 31 "Royal Oak Exchange via Glanford" route pulls away from the Legislature Exchange.
An Enviro 500 (fleet #9041) servicing the 72 "Swartz Bay via Saanichton" route zooms by a dynamic message sign on Superior Street after picking up a passenger erroneously waiting at a Cowichan Commuter bus stop.
A row of occupied seats on the top deck of a Dennis Trident Duple Matsec. BC Transit's Dennis Tridents, built in 2000 and 2002 have the highest capacity of any bus in BC Transit's fleet, totaling at 84 seats, as opposed to the newer Enviro 500 double-deckers, which have wider stairwells at the expense of two seats. The 29 Dennis Tridents in the fleet are now nearing retirement, as their life expectancy is only 20 years or so. This photograph utilizes pattern, and has some leading lines.
Taken from atop a moving Dennis Trident, the Enviro 500 to the left servicing the 14 "UVic via Richmond" route is the most blurred of all of other the vehicles, sort of creating the false impression that transit is faster than anything else. Unfortunately, that is not the case in North American car-centric cities where transit is regarded as a "peasant wagon" or "social welfare".
A NovaBus servicing the 26 "UVic via McKenzie" makes a left turn from Esquimalt to Lampson in the rain, making the corner of the sidewalk quite an unnerving place to stand.
Icicles hang off of a Novabus' bumper on a rare snowy February morning. Service was reduced to 8 core routes, and there were all sorts of sights of buses sliding around. See video.Photographed with a Sony a7 iii.
Camilo Aybar © 2021. All Rights Reserved.
3:2 photographs shot with a Canon Rebel T7i unless otherwise stated16:9 photographs shot with a Sony FDR AX-53
Photographs shot for Aaron Witzke's Photography 9-12 Class at Esquimalt High School.