Get an alert when SkyTrain, your bus or the power fails: NORTHLINE launches Your commute
Pick your line, route, bridge and neighbourhood once. We'll show their status and send one alert when something breaks — and one when it's fixed. No account needed.
On a stormy November morning, the question isn't what's happening across Metro Vancouver. It's whether your train is running, whether the Lions Gate is open and whether the power is back on your street. Starting today, NORTHLINE answers that on one page — and can tell you before you have to ask.
Your commute lets you choose what you actually use: a SkyTrain line, SeaBus or West Coast Express, the bus routes you ride, the bridges and tunnel you cross, and the city you live in. The page then shows the status of each one, side by side, updated every few minutes.
One alert when it breaks, one when it's fixed
Turn on alerts and your phone or computer will get a notification when there is a disruption on something you follow: delays or reduced service on your line, a detour on your bus route, a closure or major incident on your bridge. For your area, you'll hear about larger BC Hydro outages, flood watches and warnings from the River Forecast Centre, and Environment Canada weather warnings for Metro Vancouver.
You choose when alerts can arrive: during commute hours on weekdays, during the day, or any time. Power and flood alerts for your area come between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.; a flood warning, which means rivers are at or over their banks, comes at any hour.
We send one notification when a problem starts and one when it's over. No news, no promotions, nothing else through this channel.
No account, no email
Your choices are saved in your own browser. If you turn on alerts, your browser gives us an anonymous delivery address — not your name, phone number or email. Turn alerts off and that address is deleted.
On Android phones and on computers, alerts work in Chrome, Edge and Firefox with one tap. On iPhone, Apple only allows website alerts for sites added to the Home Screen: open northline.today in Safari, tap Share, choose Add to Home Screen, then open NORTHLINE from the new icon and turn alerts on (iOS 16.4 or later).
Where the information comes from
Transit disruptions come from TransLink's official service alerts. Bridge and highway incidents come from DriveBC. Power outages come from BC Hydro's outage feed, which updates every 15 minutes. Flood alerts come from the BC River Forecast Centre, and weather warnings from Environment and Climate Change Canada. We check them every three minutes.
Alerts are a convenience, not an emergency service. In an emergency, follow instructions from local authorities and EmergencyInfoBC.
The same data now powers a Storm and outages panel on Vancouver Right Now: how many BC Hydro customers are without power in each city, which flood alerts are in effect nearby, SkyTrain status and links to BC Ferries sailing conditions. On the front page, the panel appears only when something is happening.
Sources
Facts first. Context second. Sources always. This story was prepared with AI assistance from the sources listed above and reviewed by a Northline editor before publication. How we use AI · Report an error