marine dr vs hwy 1 . . .
although you do climb a bit higher to get to the hwy , it is probably a more efficient , and possibly safer route , despite the obviously higher speed traffic .
marine drive can be a more pleasant ride , and it certainly is more scenic , however it does have a lot of short sprinters' hills . in addition , there are several very narrow sections . depending on the temperament of the driver behind you , this can be either scary or very pleasant . I think the locals are getting quite used to bikes on " their " road . it has been my experience ( over 40 years riding that route ) that if you " own " the lane where you have to , while you acknowledge their presence , they are often quite content to wait until you give them the first opportunity to pass .
the bus drivers can be the worst .
if this was my daily regular route , I'd probably go hwy 1 into Vancouver and marine drive heading to horseshoe bay .
I don't like the highway mostly for the fumes, the cars doing 120 km/h (that or else its gridlock), and crossing the exit lanes. The low road is much nicer and traffic levels are generally much lower (depends on time of day) and nobody is really in a hurry (its a twisty 2-lane residential road that parallels a 4-lane highway with a 90 km/h speed limit - if you're in a hurry and on the low road, you f*cked up). You do a lot more climbing on the highway.
the bus drivers can be the worst .
I've generally found that buses are a one-and-done proposition on that road. Once a bus passes you, you generally don't see another one. They are infrequent and don't make many stops on Marine Drive.