[8] As it is not part of a municipality, most services at UBC Vancouver are provided by the University of British Columbia itself, whose board of governors is empowered to adopt a land-use plan for the campus lands.

Instead, the lands are owned in fee simple by the UBC Board of Governors, who perform many of the functions of a municipal government.

For provincial elections, UBC Vancouver falls under the Vancouver-Point Grey electoral riding.

The internal campus street grid is mostly organized as a number of east–west roads intersecting a series of north–south malls.

The campus is ringed by a number of arterial roads providing access to the University Endowment Lands and the City of Vancouver.

[12] The UBC campus is a major destination for the regional public transit system operated by TransLink.

An extension of the SkyTrain network to replace the 99 B-Line and connect the UBC campus is part of long-term plans from TransLink and the provincial government but remains unfunded.

[15][16] The U-Pass BC is a universal transit pass that is offered at a discount for students and faculty to offset commuting costs.