From January 25 to February 4, 2012, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is presenting a number of contemporary performances in various locations around Vancouver. The PuSh festival is an international performing arts festival that aims to push artistic boundaries. It's about "finding that line that some are afraid to cross, and crossing it anyway."
 

Vancouver School Bus is happy to be helping out with some of the transportation needs of one of the contemporary performances in particular: Eat the Street. In this series, children will be taking on the roles of food critiques in live, unscripted and spontaneous performances.

Following a culinary session with a professional chef, grades five and six students from Bridgeview Elementary in Surrey will make stops at nine restaurants in Gastown and its neighboring areas. Throughout the three week festival, they will be offering their brutally honest, uncensored opinions on the food, service, décor, washrooms and even the charm of the dishwasher.

You are invited to the performance! For the cost of a meal, you'll get to sit by the kids table and enjoy a front-row view of the food judging. The public is encouraged to witness the refreshingly honest, uncensored critique of the food, service, decor, washrooms and even the dishwasher! All are welcome to stop by on these dates to watch an adolescent panel of foodies in training.

Eat the Street Restaurants and Dates.

(Just drop by and enjoy the shows!)

Irish Heather GastroPub – January 25, 6pm

210 Carrall Street

Calabash Bistro – January 26, 6pm

428 Carrall Street

Nuba @ The Waldorf – January 27, 6pm

1489 E Hastings Street

Subeez – January 28, 6pm

891 Homer Street

LaCasita – January 29, 6pm

101 West Cordova Street

Chambar – January 30, 6pm

562 Beatty Street

Chill Winston – January 31, 6pm

3 Alexander Street

Nicli Antica Pizzeria – February 1, 5pm

62 East Cordova Street

The Old Spaghetti Factory – February 2, 6pm

53 Water Street

Finale and Awards Ceremonies (FREE)

Join the panel of pre-adolescent adjudicators for an awards ceremony where awards are bestowed for everything from “Most Delicious” and "Coolest Chef" to "Least Graffiti in the Washroom."

February 4, 2pm at The Roundhouse, 181 Roundhouse Mews.

Eat the Street is produced by Mammalian Diving Reflex, a highly acclaimed Toronto-based research-art studio dedicated to investigating the social sphere. This project is based on a utopian prospect for the youth of our society — what the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has called “a new social contract” wherein children are invited to be present as children, setting the tone and, in turn, triggering even higher levels of generosity between adults and children alike.

Book our Cool Christmas Bus!

Book now as tour dates are only available for a limited time period.

Spots are already filling up quickly!

If you love Christmas lights, Christmas carols and candy cane, you're going to love this super COOL sleigh ride. Book our Cool Christmas Bus charter this 2011 and you'll be rolling into Christmas in a fully decorated Christmas bus like no other in town!

2 packages are available to suit your needs:

Information on the Sightseeing Package Stops:

1) Trinity Street Light Festival and Competition   For eleven years, Trinity Street has been one of the best displays of Christmas spirit in Vancouver.   It started in 1999 following the tragic death of two residents during a home invasion. The Trinity Street Lights Competition began as a way to build a sense of safety and community.   Today, the competition has become a popular Christmas tradition, drawing visitors from across the city.
2) Bright Lights at Stanley Park Dec. 2, 2011 to Jan. 2, 2012 (Closed Christmas Day)   "The most spectacular lighting festival in all of Canada." – Vancouver Sun   The Stanley Park forest will be decorated with two million Christmas lights and animated displays.   New for this year is a North Pole display that will be brought to life by live performers and festival ambassadors.
3) The Downtown Vancouver Christmas Market Nov. 24 to Dec. 24, 2011   An authentic outdoor German Christmas market village located at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza with truly unique holiday shopping and amazing traditional German food and drink.   You'll get to absorb all of the sights and smells of the Downtown Christmas Market during our 1 hour stop.

Book early, as dates are filling up quickly! The Cool Christmas Bus is only in operation for a limited time. There is only one of these cool and gigantic sleds! And you know that people are going to be thinking,"Cooool…." as you go by on a bus with Christmas lights and music.

A Special Thanks to our Sponsor:

Vancouver School Bus provides transportation for clients that include schools, corporate organizations, non-profit organizations, bars and restaurants. From time to time, we work with organizations that are doing some pretty unique things to help improve peoples’ lives in Vancouver.

The Portland Hotel Society (PHS Community Service)
One such organization doing some pretty great things is the Portland Hotel Society, a non-profit organization that provides permanent “no-eviction” housing for adults in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside facing challenges that include addiction, mental illness, homelessness, and poverty.
 

About the PHS Community Service
Created in 1993, the Portland Hotel Society was named after the US city Portland, Oregon, where Canadian activists were inspired by successful programs related to homelessness. It is funded by the British Columbia Housing and Mortgage Corporation and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
 

The PHS combines stable housing with professional support programs in order to help Downtown Eastside residents find the stability, dignity, and courage they need in order to turn their lives around.

The 2011 Homeless World Cup
The Homeless World Cup is a unique movement that uses soccer as a means to promote social inclusion of homeless and marginalised people. It’s less about the competition and more about teaching people discipline, teamwork and a stronger foundation of life skills needed to lift themselves out of homelessness. Spearheaded by Kailin See, the PHS assembled a team that participated in the 2011 Homeless World Cup in Paris.

Links related to the World Cup Team:
Video of Mayor Gregor Robertson honouring the Homeless World Cup Team
Vancouver Whitecaps showing their support
Street Soccer Canada’s Website

How soccer has helped to improve the lives of the team members?
Part of overcoming addiction or mental health issues is having a strong support network. Team members support one another and it keeps everybody focused and clean during their training period.

Beyond the physical and mental preparation that the players go through before the tournament, the real work begins once the players return to their lives from the annual tournament. The people shown in this picture are current and former members of the Portland FC team; real people that have come from dark places and conquered their demons to get to where they are today.

Today they are paid construction workers who are building the first regulation sized outdoor soccer field in Vancouver.
 

In addition to the soccer field, these troopers are also helping to build a community farm where members of the Downtown Eastside will be encouraged to get involved and contribute their time and efforts to help cultivate a sustainable source of food.

Would you like to help?
As the story above shows, these are people that are trying to make an honest effort at improving their lives despite having to deal with drug addiction or mental disorders or both.

Vancouver School Bus donated transportation services as a small contribution to the special individuals on the Portland FC team. These are people on a journey to improve their life however they can.

If you feel like helping out, please visit the PHS Community Service’s page on Canadahelps.org. Every bit helps to run these grassroots programs.

McDonald’s would not be where it is today without its hard working employees. From top management right through to the front line staff, McDonald’s employees work hard to provide us all with the clockwork like service we have come to know and expect. So naturally, taking care of employees is a high priority that is embedded in the cultural of McDonald's.

McDonald's has achieved great success in many areas of their operations in the first half of 2011. The BC Region has led the way with some unprecedented successes. So how does McDonald's thank their employees for a job well done? The answer – employee appreciation days that include activities at various local venues around town! Vancouver School Bus Charters is proud to be providing transportation services to help make their events go smoothly.

August 16th, 2011 – Employee Appreciation with Beach Volleyball! Throughout the year, McDonald’s always makes an effort to reward everybody from the top managers to the new trainees. One of these appreciation days will be held on August 16, 2011 to thank managers of local restaurants in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Two bus loads of McDonald’s managers will be transported from the McDonald's Vancouver regional headquarters on Still Creek Drive to 6pack Indoor Beach Volleyball, the new 18,000 square-foot, indoor volleyball center on Mitchell Island beneath the Knight Street Bridge. One of the hottest new venues in town, this facility will be a great place for McDonald’s employees to have some drinks and snacks, play some volleyball and get to know colleagues from other restaurants.

As with any large company, it can be difficult to get to know peers so these employee appreciation days are a great way to get people out of the restaurants just to relax and have fun with others in a pressure free environment (unless of course the beach volleyball brings out some healthy competition).

After everybody has had a chance to build up a nice appetite, there is more planned! In the evening, the group will be taken to Mahoney & Sons Public House, the Irish Pub at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre for dinner.

Making employee feel safe and taken care of is priority One of the main goals of the appreciation day organizing committee is to make everybody feel completely taken care of during day so attendees can focus on enjoying themselves without worrying about transportation. Buses have been arranged and extra efforts will be made to ensure that everybody has a safe ride home at the end of the day.

After everybody has had their fill of Irish comfort food, Vancouver School Bus will do our part to transport patrons back to the Still Creek location where people can arrange rides, taxis or public transit to get home safely.

Thank you McDonalds!

We’re very pleased to be providing corporate transportation for McDonald's. Personally, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you for inventing Chicken McNuggets. Remembering back to my childhood, there was always a familiar and comfortable feeling from having a boot shaped Chicken McNugget in one hand and a small container of sweet and sour sauce in the other.

The Goods:
Keep your eyes on Jerome Dennis this Friday July 22, 2011 as he promises to put his anger management strategies aside during his match against the team that just released him. It’s payback time folks. We’re going to see who’s at the top of the food chain in this feline battle after Dennis unleashes some of his pent up aggression.

Got your BC Lions tickets in hand? Looking for a quick, convenient and fun way to get from Downtown to the game at Empire Stadium? Kick off your game day at BC Lions preferred sports bar, Ceili’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Vancouver!

For just $20.00, you’ll receive a burger, beer and return charter bus transportation between Ceili’s and Empire Field! The one-of-a-kind Ceili’s shuttle departs for Empire Field one hour prior to kickoff, with return service to the pub 20 minutes after the game ends.

You’ll be greeted by two hosts, Travis Kuntz and Jeff Burgess who will make sure you and the bus load of other raucous BC Lions fans know where to go and when. Public transit is great, but so is having a private chartered school bus loaded with other BC Lions fans showing their support alongside you, before and after the game at Ceili’s.

What to do on a BC Lions game day:
Never drink & drive. Don’t waste your money on a taxi. Don’t bother waiting at the public bus stop.
DO join the party at Ceili’s before and after the game!
$5 pints of Budweiser during all games (on the patio)

Seats for this exciting offer are very limited, so book in advance to reserve your seat. For reservations or more information on bookings, email Hayley Limbocker at hayley@ceilis.com or call 604.697.0990 ext 21

You can also follow @ceilisvan for the latest updates.

Background on Vancouver School Bus and Ceili’s:
Vancouver School Bus started partnering with Ceili’s in the middle of 2010 when BC Place Stadium underwent construction. The BC Lions temporarily relocated to Empire Stadium which brought about a need for a transportation solution to and from the games. Feel free to check out the 2011 BC Lions schedule and join us for the next home game!

Photocredit: iStockphoto (in compliance with iStock’s editorial use policy)

Corporate Transportation for Lululemon Athletica

Vancouver School Bus has been fortunate enough to be able to provide corporate transportation services to a cool yoga apparel company like lululemon athletica! Back in the summer of 2010, we started working with lululemon by providing shuttle services for their employees after they experienced some growth as a company.

As the number of employees grew, so too did the demand for commuting options. For employees working at the lululemon distribution center and factory outlet in Burnaby, taking public transit was only a partial solution for getting to and from work because the nearest transit route was another 20 or 30 minute walk from their workplace! Even for the healthy and active people who worked at lululemon, it was quite a trek from the nearest Skytrain station or bus stop!

View Larger Map

Employees experimented with carpooling and taking van loads of people from the transit stations to the distribution center. It worked well enough, but eventually the logistics department contacted Vancouver School Bus to try and figure out a more structured way of scheduling pick ups and drop offs between the transit station and the distribution center.

Since then, we’ve worked out a regularly scheduled shuttle service to bridge the walking distance between the transit station and the distribution center. By making transit a more viable option, we’ve helped lululemon encourage its employees to take advantage of Vancouver’s awesome public transit system.

Corporate Transportation for Company Functions
Work life balance is respected and encouraged. Lululemon’s Fun Team plans corporate events for employees, partners and vendors throughout the year. Securing safe, organized and enjoyable corporate transportation from one place to another is one of their priority objectives. So then, in addition to helping employees get to and from work, we have a lot of fun moving bus loads of happy, positive, yoga practicing people to and from work functions and social events as well.

We provide private charter services to and from events like summer barbeques, company sports events and year end Christmas parties. Its nice for the employees not to have to think about carpool rides, taxis or which transit routes to take. If the corporate transportation is already arranged, they just have to show up, have a good time and get back to the bus when its time to leave!

Click here for more information and the history of lululemon athletica.

For Vancouver School Bus, it’s been a real pleasure getting to know people at lululemon and gleaning some of the positive energy that oozes from each of the employees we work with on a regular basis. A @coolschoolbus Twitter shout out goes out to @Leah_Burry, a part of the @lululemon Fun Team for being a pleasure to work with! Enjoy the rest of the summer!

A Quick Word on Sustainability in Business

Every little bit helps when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions here in Vancouver so we’re glad to be part of a solution that may help people choose more environmentally friendly modes of transportation rather than fighting rush hour traffic jams in their own cars. Remember, Vancouver is aiming to become the greenest city in the world by 2020 so let’s keep working at it!

Does your company need reliable corporate transportation?
If you work in a place that might have a need for corporate transportation services and you spot an opportunity to encourage the use of public transit like lululemon did, please contact us to talk about a regularly scheduled shuttle service.

Likewise, if your company has a function that may require corporate transportation in the form of a private shuttle or a full sized bus, please give us a chance to see if we can help out. We work quite frequently with corporate clients who want safe transportation to and from events where alcohol is served.

Vancouver School Bus is part of the transport industry which creates a great deal of greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia. According to the LiveSmart BC website, 36% of all greenhouse gases emissions in BC were from transportation industry and this number will only grow going forward. We can do our part by changing our everyday driving habits with a focus on school bus fuel economy.

The City of Vancouver has a goal of becoming the greenest city in the world by the year 2020. If we’re not part of the solution, then we’re part of the problem. Building a small business that employs principles of sustainability is good for both the environment and as well as the bottom line. So over the next few months, we’ll be making efforts to reduce the emissions created by our buses through better bus driving habits. Here are some of the driving habits we’ll be using:

1) Don’t accelerate and brake aggressively. Look ahead and coast when possible.
A fully loaded school bus can weight as much as 46,000 lbs. so accelerating requires a tremendous amount of fuel, not to mention the wear and tear on the brakes and tires. Drivers should learn to look ahead and anticipate when they will need to slow down or stop so they can avoid accelerating needlessly. This will use less fuel, reduce wear on the entire braking systems and provide a smoother and more comfortable ride for our passengers!

2) When accelerating, use the torque of the diesel engines.
Diesel engines are most efficient (they produce the most driving force per unit of fuel) at certain engine speeds. On our diesel engines, this range is from 1400rpm to 2500rpms. Drivers should smoothly accelerate from stops operating within these ranges, thereby ensuring that the engines are being run at their peak torque efficiency zone.

If drivers make a habit of shifting too early and operating the engine below the optimum range, this will lead to high carbon buildup in the engine over time which reduces overall efficiency. The result is higher fuel consumption, more emissions and unhealthy school buses.

3) Drive at or below the posted highway speed limits.
All vehicles consume more fuel if driven at highway speed because more energy is required to overcome wind resistance. School buses aren’t known for their aerodynamics so this is especially important for us. Besides being illegal, driving above the speed limit on the highway (approximately 80km/h – 100km/h) will affect the fuel economy of diesel engines more so than equivalent gas engines. As mentioned earlier, diesel engines have an optimum operating range for fuel economy and are even more sensitive than equivalent gasoline engine when operated outside of this range. Our drivers are aware of the critical effect that wind resistance has on our buses and will adjust their driving habits accordingly.

4) Minimize idling.
Although idling a vehicle to warm up the engine is common practice, it is actually wasteful and produces needless greenhouse gas emissions. Modern engines need just enough time to circulate the engine oil before you can drive away. On our buses, this should take about half a minute. Emissions can double in a cold engine, so idling on a cold winter day is like dumping unburnt fuel out the tail pipe and into the environment. The best way to warm the engine and all other components is to start driving, especially diesel engines which are designed to run at operating temperatures for long, sustained periods of time rather than idling at a standstill.

If you are stopped for more than 10 seconds (except in traffic), you’ll save fuel by turning off the vehicle and then restarting it when its time to drive again. This includes situations like loading and unloading passengers or stopping in viewing areas. If you know that you’re going to be stopped for more than 10 seconds, turn off the engine rather than waiting it out. It’s bad for the environment, hard on fuel costs and it also emits loads of smelly diesel exhaust fumes. You can restart your vehicle knowing that your engine will still be sufficiently warm, the engine oil will be at the proper operating temperature and your catalytic converter will still be hot.

Besides the wasted fuel, idling can be really hard on the engine parts! If the engine idles while below peak operating temperatures, the fuel won’t undergo complete combustion. This leaves unburnt fuel residues that can contaminate engine oil and damage engine parts which are essential for optimum fuel mileage. Excessive idling can also let water condense in the exhaust system which will lead to corrosion and reduced life span.

Diesel Geeks Unite!
If you are a diesel geek like we are at Vancouver School Bus, please feel free to comment on these driving tips and share your own hypermiling experiences. In the future, we hope to share measurable improvements in both our fuel consumption and (fingers crossed) school bus maintenance costs.

This Saturday, March 19th, from 11:15am to 8pm, we’ll be providing transportation services for the the Campaign for Real Ale Society of British Columbia (CAMRA) on their Spring Expedition!

About the CAMRA

CAMRA Vancouver is a non-profit organization in BC dedicated to the promotion and responsible consumption of natural, crafted beers. Membership across BC is made up of over 600 individual and corporate members consisting of microbreweries, pubs and taphouses, restaurants, and specialty liquor stores along with many skilled amateur brewers.

The Spring Expedition is an exclusive CAMRA Vancouver members only bus trip to The Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company and BrewHouse At Whistler!

The Details:
Date: Saturday, March 19th, 11:15am – 8pm
Ticket cost: $60* per person – Buy Tickets Online

Our classic Vancouver School Buses will be picking the group up at St. Augustine’s on Commercial Drive at 11:15am sharp and take you to the Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company in Squamish. Guests will be enjoying 6 – 5oz tasters of fine ales to go with a $10 lunch menu, consisting of a Pulled Pork Sandwich, Howe Sound Burger and Veggie Burger if your are interested.

At 2pm, our buses will fill up and get our beer  connoisseurs to the next stop, the Brewhouse at Whistler for a visit with head brewer, Derrick Franche. Members will receive another 6 – 5oz tasters, as well as some sharing platters to munch on during the visit. Pints will be available to purchase at “good guy” prices and growler fill ups will be $15 a pop.

As the night comes to a conclusion, we’ll safely transport our guests back to the pickup spot of St. Augustine’s on Commercial drive.

Are you interested in booking with Vancouver School Bus?
This is just an example of the many types of clients we work with to get a group of people from one place to another. If you or anybody you know is planning a trip that requires many people to be moved from one place to another in some very cool school buses, give us a call!

We’d love to take care of your care of your transportation needs at a low cost and a smile on our faces. Random acts of singing are encouraged.

To start the New Year off right, for the next 20 Weeks VSBC clients have a chance to win the latest EA Video Games, $50 Earls Gift Cards or $50 Lululemon Gift Cards!! All customers that book a charter in a specific week will be entered automatically into a draw to win! Click on the Winners Box to find out who wins each week. Draws will be made at the end of every week and the winner posted right HERE on our BLOG on Mondays. Winners have 24 hours to redeem their prize or it goes back into the pool for the next week. So make sure you check back often to see if you’re the winner!! Prizes will be mailed out to winners, so make sure you include you full address in our booking form.

Fine print: Prizes are not exchangeable and available to VSBC customers only who have booked and confirmed a bus charter.

Vancouver School Bus Charters transports MLA, Adrian Dix on his rally to petition the closures of three East Vancouver Schools.  Parents and children joined from each school on board to protest and hand deliver signed petitions to the Vancouver School Board.  Parents onboard voiced their concerns and applauded the efforts of MLA, Adrian Dix for his efforts and support in delivering a strong message to the Superintendant.  Strong media presence surrounded the rally at each school and the School Board office.

Global NEWS VIDEO LINK (click here)

Vancouver School Bus Charters was grateful to be a part of the rally and support the parents and children of Bruce, Sir Guy Carleton and Collingwood elementary schools.

Vancouver School Bus Charters, proudly BC owned and operated, offers a variety of different vehicles for bus chartering in the lower mainland.