Jitney | Bygone Transportation | A taxi-like car service of the early 1900s that drove Vancouverites along fixed routes for a flat fare of a nickel — known colloquially as a “jitney”. There were over 600 licensed jitneys operating in the city at the height of the craze (1915). The popular mode of transit was eventually banned (1918) following a number of civic measures – eg. taxes, licensing fees – taken to impede or discourage their use. The ban not only robbed Vancouverites of a transit option, it also gave the 242 streetcars of the BC Electric Railway Co. a virtual monopoly on public transport.

Usage | “Jitneys were, like, the Uber of the past, man.”