There is no direct bus from Victoria International Airport (YYJ) to downtown Victoria. The public-transit way is two buses: BC Transit Route 88 from the terminal to McTavish Exchange, then Route 72 (or 70) into the city. Plan on about an hour to an hour and a half door to door, and budget roughly $6 CAD, because a single fare does not include a transfer and the trip needs two rides. This guide covers exactly which buses to take, what it really costs, when the service runs, and when a direct transfer is the better call.
Which buses go from YYJ to downtown Victoria?
The airport sits in North Saanich, about 26 km from the city centre, so the bus has real ground to cover. Route 88 is the one that stops at the terminal; you catch it at the marked bus stop outside arrivals. It reaches McTavish Exchange in roughly five minutes, and that exchange is where almost every airport transit trip pivots. From McTavish you transfer to Route 72, the frequent express toward downtown Victoria, which ends near the Inner Harbour. Route 70 covers a similar corridor and also works if it arrives first.
The two-step pattern catches a lot of first-time visitors off guard, because maps make it look like one ride. It is not. Route 88 alone will not get you downtown; it mainly links the airport and Sidney through the Saanich Peninsula. McTavish Exchange is the hinge, and missing the connection there is the most common way a transit trip turns into a long wait. Check the live times for both legs on the BC Transit Route 88 page before you leave the terminal.
How much does the YYJ bus actually cost?
This is where the headline number misleads people. A single adult cash fare on BC Transit is $3.00 in 2026, and at first glance the bus looks like a $3 trip downtown. It is not, because a single fare buys one ride and no longer includes a paper transfer. Your downtown trip needs two rides — the 88 and then the 72 — so you pay twice, or you buy a DayPASS.
The DayPASS costs $6.00 and covers unlimited rides for the day, which makes it the sensible buy for an airport-to-downtown trip with a transfer, and it pays for itself again if you ride back to the airport or move around the city later. Two single fares come to the same $6.00 with none of the flexibility. So the honest cost of the bus from YYJ to downtown is about $6 CAD, not $3. If you happen to make the return trip to the airport the same day, that one DayPASS still covers it; a return on a later day needs a fresh $6. Current fares and payment options are on the BC Transit fares page; the airport's own rundown of transit, taxi and pickup options is on the YYJ ground transportation page.
Travel time and bus service hours
Allow 60 to 90 minutes from the terminal door to the Inner Harbour. The Route 88 leg is short, but the wait at McTavish plus the 72 into town is where the time goes, and a missed connection can add 15 to 30 minutes depending on frequency. Buses run far less often than a city subway, so the schedule, not the distance, sets your travel time. On weekday afternoons the connecting 72 comes every 15 minutes or so, but evening and weekend gaps stretch to 30 minutes or more, and that is exactly when a missed connection at McTavish costs the most. The transit trip rewards travellers who build in a buffer rather than chasing the tightest link.
Service does not cover the full day. Route 88 runs from roughly 6:40 a.m. to about 9 p.m., which leaves the earliest departures and the late-evening arrivals outside the window entirely. A flight landing at 10:30 p.m. has no bus waiting, and a 6 a.m. check-in is before the first one rolls. Frequency also thins on weekends and holidays. Confirm the current first and last times for both the 88 and the 72 on BC Transit before you build a tight connection around them, especially on a Sunday.
When is the bus worth it, and when is a transfer better?
The bus makes sense for a specific kind of trip: one traveller, light luggage, daytime, no tight schedule, and a budget that values the saving over the hour. At $6 for the day it is the cheapest way into Victoria, and the 72 drops you in a walkable part of downtown.
It stops making sense the moment any of those conditions break. Two or more bags and a transfer at McTavish becomes a juggling act. A family or a group pays $6 each, so four people already cost more than one shared ride. An early or late flight falls outside the service window. Rain on the Peninsula, which is common for much of the year, turns the wait at an open-air exchange into a cold start to the trip. For any of those, a pre-booked door-to-door ride wins on time and predictability.
Our flat-rate airport shuttle and private transfer service covers the run from YYJ to downtown and the rest of Greater Victoria with a price quoted before you book and a calculator for your exact address, and the YYJ to downtown Victoria route page shows the fixed fare for that trip. The drive is about 30 minutes versus the bus's 60 to 90, with no transfer and room for luggage. For a side-by-side of every option, the YYJ ground transportation overview lays out shuttle, taxi, rideshare, bus and rental together, and our guide to Uber and rideshare at YYJ covers the app-based route in detail.
A quick plan for taking the bus from YYJ
A few steps keep the transit trip smooth:
- Buy a DayPASS, not a single. Your trip needs two buses, so the $6 DayPASS beats paying two single fares and covers any extra rides that day.
- Have exact change or a payable card ready. Paper transfers are gone, so plan to pay the DayPASS up front rather than rely on a transfer slip.
- Aim for the connection at McTavish, not the clock. Note when the 72 leaves McTavish and pick the 88 that lands you there with a few minutes to spare.
- Check the last bus before you fly. If your inbound lands after about 9 p.m., or you leave before 6:40 a.m., the bus is not running and you will need a taxi, rideshare or a booked transfer.
- Renting instead? If you want your own vehicle for the trip rather than just the airport run, book through GetRentacar.com for an airport-area rental.
The bus from YYJ is a genuine option for the right traveller, and at $6 for the day it is the cheapest way to reach Victoria. Just go in knowing it is two buses and an hour-plus, not the quick single ride the maps imply, and weigh that against a fixed-price ride when bags, groups, weather or the clock are working against you.