Traffic & Travelling Times
When planning our trips to Whistler, we usually budget around 2.5 hours for travelling time from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Whistler (and vice versa). As of today, most of the contruction on Highway 99 ("Sea to Sky Highway") from West Vancouver to Whistler is complete. If there is no traffic in Downtown Vancouver or on the highway, it is possible to go from Whistler to the airport in 2 hours but is dependant on traffic and that is why we allow 2.5 hours.
Determining when there is going to be traffic delays when going through Downtown Vancouver is a bit tricky because the bottleneck is the Lion's Gate Bridge, which only has three lanes on the bridge but there are many more lanes than that that feed onto the bridge. The three lanes on the bridge alternate. So usually in the mornings when the morning rush hour is heading into downtown to work, they will have two lanes going into downtown and only one leaving (an vice versa in the afternoon, when workers are going home). BUT, I have found that this is not always the case! I think they monitor what side of the bridge is backing up and change the lanes accordingly. But sometimes, they try to make things run smoothly and change the lanes back and forth throughout the day and that is what makes it trickier to predict. But, as a rule of thumb in the mornings there is more traffic going into Downtown from West Vancouver over the bridge and in the evenings there is more traffic leaving Downtown into West Vancouver.
Basically, if you get to the bridge and they have two lanes open in the direction you want to go, traffic will flow. But if you get to the bridge and they only have one lane open in the direction you want to go, it can definitely add some time to your trip. But usually not more than an extra 30 minutes.
If there is an accident on the bridge that can also cause problems, but there is always another way around. Instead of going over the Lion's Gate Bridge, we would travel further east along the Highway 1 and use the Second Narrows Bridge. Normally, we don't use this route because it is usually the same amount of time but a farther distance (end up having to back track). We will probably be using this route more during the Olympic period when there will be added traffic restrictions in Downtown Vancouver.
The other place there may be some traffic is in Whistler. Usually when the ski hill is open in the winter or when the bike park is open in the summer, on Friday evenings there is heavier traffic going to Whistler for the weekend and Sunday afternoon there is heavier traffic leaving Whistler. This can cause a bit of delay but usually never more than an extra 15 minutes.
Stop along the way, obviously, will add more time to your trip and if you would like to make any stops along the way, please let us know ahead of time, to help us with our scheduling and logistics. We offer complimentary stops along the way, up to 1 hour at no extra cost, but anything over that we may charge a waiting fee of $45/hour or service fee of $90/hour (for large detours).
As a rule of thumb we recommend leaving Whistler 5 hours prior to your departure time at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) for International flights. This allows for 2.5 hours of travelling time and 2.5 hours to check-in at the airport. (4.5 hours prior for Domestic flights or less if you don't mind less time to check-in but we don't recommend this because it doesn't leave any room for any unexpected delays on the way).
TRAVELLING TIMES
Whistler to Squamish - 60 minutes
Squamish - Downtown Vancouver - 60 minutes
Downtown Vancouver - Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
TOTAL
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Whistler - 2.5 hours
OTHER
Whistler to Seattle SeaTac Airport - 4.5 to 5.5 hours
Downtown Vancouver to Seattle SeaTac Airport - 2.5 to 3.5 hours
The only other thing that may slow us down on the drive is the weather such as snow. But all our luxury SUV's have all wheel drive 4x4 and are equipped with top of the line winter tires. They handle extremely well in snow covered roads. What will slow them down, is other drivers, so we still have to budget a little extra time if it is snowing heavily. The road maintenance crews usually do a good job of clearing the roads and applying salt to prevent ice from forming on the asphalt. Your chauffeur will usually arrive 10 minutes prior to your scheduled pick-up time but on the day of your trip, if the road conditions are poor your driver may arrive even earlier to allow extra time for poor road conditions.
Our drivers are very experienced drivers and are very familiar with the road conditions, traffic, and roads in Vancouver and will do every they can to make sure you get to the airport on time and safely.
Please feel free to contact us anytime if you have any questions or concerns about travelling times or traffic. Even if you haven't booked transportation with us yet, we are more than happy to help however we can.
Determining when there is going to be traffic delays when going through Downtown Vancouver is a bit tricky because the bottleneck is the Lion's Gate Bridge, which only has three lanes on the bridge but there are many more lanes than that that feed onto the bridge. The three lanes on the bridge alternate. So usually in the mornings when the morning rush hour is heading into downtown to work, they will have two lanes going into downtown and only one leaving (an vice versa in the afternoon, when workers are going home). BUT, I have found that this is not always the case! I think they monitor what side of the bridge is backing up and change the lanes accordingly. But sometimes, they try to make things run smoothly and change the lanes back and forth throughout the day and that is what makes it trickier to predict. But, as a rule of thumb in the mornings there is more traffic going into Downtown from West Vancouver over the bridge and in the evenings there is more traffic leaving Downtown into West Vancouver.
Basically, if you get to the bridge and they have two lanes open in the direction you want to go, traffic will flow. But if you get to the bridge and they only have one lane open in the direction you want to go, it can definitely add some time to your trip. But usually not more than an extra 30 minutes.
If there is an accident on the bridge that can also cause problems, but there is always another way around. Instead of going over the Lion's Gate Bridge, we would travel further east along the Highway 1 and use the Second Narrows Bridge. Normally, we don't use this route because it is usually the same amount of time but a farther distance (end up having to back track). We will probably be using this route more during the Olympic period when there will be added traffic restrictions in Downtown Vancouver.
The other place there may be some traffic is in Whistler. Usually when the ski hill is open in the winter or when the bike park is open in the summer, on Friday evenings there is heavier traffic going to Whistler for the weekend and Sunday afternoon there is heavier traffic leaving Whistler. This can cause a bit of delay but usually never more than an extra 15 minutes.
Stop along the way, obviously, will add more time to your trip and if you would like to make any stops along the way, please let us know ahead of time, to help us with our scheduling and logistics. We offer complimentary stops along the way, up to 1 hour at no extra cost, but anything over that we may charge a waiting fee of $45/hour or service fee of $90/hour (for large detours).
As a rule of thumb we recommend leaving Whistler 5 hours prior to your departure time at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) for International flights. This allows for 2.5 hours of travelling time and 2.5 hours to check-in at the airport. (4.5 hours prior for Domestic flights or less if you don't mind less time to check-in but we don't recommend this because it doesn't leave any room for any unexpected delays on the way).
TRAVELLING TIMES
Whistler to Squamish - 60 minutes
Squamish - Downtown Vancouver - 60 minutes
Downtown Vancouver - Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
TOTAL
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Whistler - 2.5 hours
OTHER
Whistler to Seattle SeaTac Airport - 4.5 to 5.5 hours
Downtown Vancouver to Seattle SeaTac Airport - 2.5 to 3.5 hours
The only other thing that may slow us down on the drive is the weather such as snow. But all our luxury SUV's have all wheel drive 4x4 and are equipped with top of the line winter tires. They handle extremely well in snow covered roads. What will slow them down, is other drivers, so we still have to budget a little extra time if it is snowing heavily. The road maintenance crews usually do a good job of clearing the roads and applying salt to prevent ice from forming on the asphalt. Your chauffeur will usually arrive 10 minutes prior to your scheduled pick-up time but on the day of your trip, if the road conditions are poor your driver may arrive even earlier to allow extra time for poor road conditions.
Our drivers are very experienced drivers and are very familiar with the road conditions, traffic, and roads in Vancouver and will do every they can to make sure you get to the airport on time and safely.
Please feel free to contact us anytime if you have any questions or concerns about travelling times or traffic. Even if you haven't booked transportation with us yet, we are more than happy to help however we can.
posted by Garrett Gosselin at
9:42 AM
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