On July 1, 2010, a free bus began running between the shops of Qualicum Beach village and the beach below it. The Shop to Shore Shuttle was a joint project of the Town of Qualicum Beach and the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce, and it ran only in summer. In 2011 its season was July 1 to September 3, Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that summer it disappears from the transit record.
The shuttle is a small story, but it sits at the centre of a bigger one: how a small coastal town moves residents and visitors around without a car, and who organises it.
Two summers of the Shop to Shore Shuttle
The most complete record of the shuttle is in a long-running catalogue of Canadian transit systems compiled by David A. Wyatt and hosted by the University of Manitoba. It lists the Shop to Shore Shuttle as a free scheduled summer service connecting the Qualicum Beach shopping district with the beach, dates it from July 1, 2010 to September 3, 2011, and cites coverage in the Parksville Qualicum Beach News in July 2011 and July 2012.
Why it stopped is not recorded in any source that could be opened. The Wyatt catalogue gives an end date and nothing more, and the newspaper coverage it cites could not be found online for this article.
Parksville tried the same idea a year later. The catalogue lists a Downtown Free Bus in Parksville, an initiative of the Parksville Downtown Business Association, running from July 2011. Its 2012 season was Monday to Saturday, July 2 to September 1, and the bus was operated by Tofino Bus Service Ltd. The catalogue itself is unsure how long it lasted and marks its end as "2013?".
Both shuttles were organised by local business groups and, in Qualicum Beach, the Town, not by the regional transit system. That is the main difference from what came after.
How the regional system took over
Scheduled transit in Oceanside is older than either shuttle. The Wyatt catalogue dates a Parksville–Qualicum Beach Transit System to November 8, 1993, run by a contractor for BC Transit and the two municipalities, with a fleet of three minibuses in 2000. By 2008 it had been folded into the Nanaimo Regional Transit System. That system itself began on April 1, 1972, and has been operated by the Regional District of Nanaimo under a contract with BC Transit since April 1, 1979.
Today the Regional District describes a network running from Electoral Area A, Cedar and the Nanaimo Airport, in the south, to Electoral Area H, Bowser and Deep Bay, in the north, taking in Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville and Qualicum Beach. It offers scheduled buses and handyDART, a door-to-door service for riders registered in advance.
The route that links the towns has changed its number more often than its path. What is now Route 9 Intercity was Route 21 before 2005, Route 90 from 2005 to 2015 and Route 91 from 2015 to 2025, according to the Wikipedia summary of the system. BC Transit's current timetable runs it from Ravensong Exchange in Qualicum Beach, past Village Way at Nootka Road, Sunrise Drive and Wembley Centre, to Parksville Exchange and on along Northwest Bay Road to Woodgrove Exchange in north Nanaimo. On weekdays the first trip leaves Ravensong at 6 a.m., as of the October 2026 schedule.
Ravensong Exchange takes its name from the aquatic centre beside it, Ravensong pool, which is due for a $13.5 million renovation.
The routes inside Qualicum Beach
Two local routes now cover the town on a regular timetable. Route 97 Eaglecrest is a counter-clockwise loop through the eastern side of town and the areas just outside the boundary; its timetable lists stops at Ormonde Road and Boultbee Drive, Country Club Drive and Fairways Drive, and Dogwood Road at Qualicum Road. Route 98 Qualicum Beach runs a figure eight through the west side, with timed stops at Crescent Road West and Arbutus Street, Island Highway West at Memorial Avenue, Island Highway West at Beach Terrace and, on some trips, the Garrett Road turnaround. Both run Monday through Saturday.
That second list matters for anyone who used the shuttle. Route 98 is the scheduled bus that now serves the Island Highway West stops at Memorial Avenue and Beach Terrace. If you are trying to reach the beach by bus, those are the stops to look for on the Route 98 map.
Route 99 goes farther. It runs from Ravensong Exchange north through Bowser to Crome Point Road at Deep Bay, and two trips a day connect there with the Comox Valley system's Route 10. Separate fares apply. The Regional District presents the link as the connection between its own network and the Comox Valley Regional District.
The Town's own transportation page is short. It lists the Qualicum Beach Airport, a local taxi company, BC Transit, IslandLink and its electric vehicle charging stations, and points to BC Transit's Nanaimo site for bus details.
Free shuttles still run, one day at a time
The free shuttle never quite went away; it became an event service. For Beach Day on Sunday, July 12, 2026, held on the central waterfront between the Shore Restaurant and Ocean Suites, the Town ran free shuttles from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Pickups were downtown at The Berwick Retirement Community, 120 First Avenue West, and, for the first time that year, at the Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Course.
The pattern is the same as in 2010: a free bus from the village to the beach, timed to the hours when people want to be on the waterfront.
The private sector filled a different gap, the one between Oceanside and the ferry. IslandLink says it started on June 23, 1998 with buses from Qualicum Beach, French Creek and Parksville to the Departure Bay terminal, designed as a connector for foot passengers on the Horseshoe Bay route. On its first day it carried one passenger, from French Creek Marina to Departure Bay, for a $12 one-way fare. The company now reports more than 75,000 passengers a year on up to 16 buses, with routes reaching Victoria, Campbell River, Port Hardy and Tofino. At Departure Bay, walk-on ticket sales close 10 minutes before departure for passengers without a booking. The other car-free way off the island is the foot passenger ferry to downtown Vancouver, which Hullo has run since 2023.
The Green Thumb lands and the question of cars
Down the highway in north Nanaimo, transit came up in a very different argument. In July 2020 the Nanaimo News Bulletin reported an application to reclassify the 17.8-hectare Green Thumb property at 6261 Hammond Bay Road, the site of the Green Thumb Garden Centre, from "corridor" to "urban node" in the official community plan. The application came from Barefoot Planning and Design on behalf of Wilhelmina Group Limited Partnership. Evan Peterson of Barefoot said the plan was for 2,500 homes, with an upper range of 3,000, a boutique retail village reached from Uplands Drive, three parks and taller buildings along the old Island Highway.
Peterson called it "a contemporary, modern, walkable village neighbourhood." Bill Manners, the City's contact for the then-inactive Dover Community Association, saw a "concrete sea" and told the paper: "It's not the type of plan that we want to see in Nanaimo, in my opinion…" Peterson also said a transportation assessment was being updated because City staff had asked for its scope to change.
Residents wrote in. One letter, from Robin Hulme, objected to an entrance on Uplands Drive: "It's a two-lane road. I don't think you could possibly add another two lanes." Another, from Marcie Mitteregger, predicted "more traffic snarls in the whole area." In February 2021 a third writer, L. Marr, argued that the City should have bought the land: "The Green Thumb acreage could have been made into a beautiful park and could have been one of Nanaimo's jewels."
By then the plan had a name, the Bowers District. On December 6, 2021, council gave it first and second reading. NanaimoNewsNOW described the site as 42 acres, which is a little less than the 17.8 hectares, about 44 acres, in the Bulletin's account. Coun. Ian Thorpe argued the project was rushed and not ready for a public hearing, and put the transport issue plainly: "I have serious questions about the transportation aspect. We're talking about probably a minimum of 2,500 units. I have a lot of questions about where those automobiles are going." Coun. Sheryl Armstrong and a Dover Community Association representative shared the concerns about size and traffic; Coun. Tyler Brown supported going to a public hearing. That hearing, set for January 24, 2022, was postponed because of the Omicron wave, with the City expecting to hold it in person at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
The developer's current website presents the Bowers District as a compact urban village to be built in phases on the garden centre site, with a "Mobility Plan" among its headings and a goal of letting people live, work and play "within a 5-minute radius." The outcome of the 2022 hearing and of any later rezoning vote is not reported in the sources that could be opened for this article, so where the plan stands on transit, and whether Thorpe's question about the cars ever got a formal answer, remains open.
Questions
Is there a free shuttle bus in Qualicum Beach?
Not as a regular service. The free Shop to Shore shuttle ran in the summers of 2010 and 2011. The Town still runs free shuttles for single events, such as Beach Day on July 12, 2026, when buses ran from downtown and the Memorial Golf Course to the waterfront.
Which bus goes from Qualicum Beach to Nanaimo?
Route 9 Intercity runs from Ravensong Exchange in Qualicum Beach through Parksville to Woodgrove Exchange in north Nanaimo. From Woodgrove, other regional routes continue into the rest of the city.
What happened to Route 91?
It was renumbered. The Intercity route was Route 21 before 2005, Route 90 from 2005 to 2015, Route 91 from 2015 to 2025, and is now Route 9.
Does the bus go from Qualicum Beach to the Comox Valley?
Yes, with a transfer. Route 99 runs from Ravensong Exchange to Deep Bay, and two trips a day connect at Crome Point with the Comox Valley system's Route 10. Separate fares apply on each system.
Do the Qualicum Beach town routes run on Sundays?
Routes 97 and 98, the two local Qualicum Beach routes, are listed as running Monday through Saturday. Check BC Transit's Nanaimo schedules for holiday changes.
Is there door-to-door transit in Qualicum Beach?
Yes. The Regional District of Nanaimo runs handyDART, a pre-booked door-to-door service, alongside its scheduled buses across the region from Cedar to Bowser and Deep Bay. Riders must register in advance.
How do you get from Qualicum Beach to the ferry without a car?
IslandLink, a private coach company, began in 1998 with service from Qualicum Beach, French Creek and Parksville to the Departure Bay ferry terminal and still runs as a connector for foot passengers. Booking is through its own website.
What is the Bowers District in Nanaimo?
It is the planned redevelopment of the Green Thumb Garden Centre property on Hammond Bay Road in north Nanaimo. The developer describes a compact, walkable urban village built in phases, with parks, trails and a mixed-use area.
Why did people object to the Green Thumb development?
Letter writers and some councillors raised traffic, building height and the loss of green space. Coun. Ian Thorpe said in December 2021 that he had serious questions about where the cars from at least 2,500 units would go.
Was there ever a free downtown bus in Parksville?
Yes. A free summer bus ran in downtown Parksville from 2011, organised by the Parksville Downtown Business Association. In 2012 it ran Monday to Saturday from July 2 to September 1 and was operated by Tofino Bus Service.
Sources
- Transit History of British Columbia Communities (G-O), David A. Wyatt, University of Manitoba (All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems), 2020
- Nanaimo Regional Transit System, Wikipedia, 2026
- Nanaimo Route Overview: Route 9 Intercity, BC Transit, 2026
- Nanaimo Route Overview: Route 97 Eaglecrest, BC Transit, 2026
- Nanaimo Route Overview: Route 98 Qualicum Beach, BC Transit, 2026
- Nanaimo Route Overview: Route 99 Deep Bay, BC Transit, 2026
- Regional District of Nanaimo Transit, Regional District of Nanaimo, 2026
- Transportation, Town of Qualicum Beach, 2026
- Beach Day Event, Town of Qualicum Beach, 2026
- IslandLink Bus, Island Express Bus Inc., 2025
- Green Thumb developer asking for 'urban node' land use in north Nanaimo, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2020-07-29
- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Green Thumb proposal looks out of place in Nanaimo, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2020-08-19
- Letter to the editor: City should have tried to buy land to save as green space, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2021-02-19
- Transformative north Nanaimo development destined for public hearing, NanaimoNewsNOW (102.3 The Wave), 2021-12-08
- Public hearing dates rescheduled for high profile Nanaimo developments, NanaimoNewsNOW (106.9 The Wolf), 2022-01-29
- Bowers District: A Compact Urban Village for Nanaimo, Bowers District, 2026
