Ease of transit into YVR downtown
 

I will be staying in Richmond, BC (south of city, I believe) for a few days next week. I most likely will not have a vehicle. I will have limo access to the airport though.

I'd like to go downtown for an evening or two. Will that be a difficult task?

No. You should be able to grab a cab ($30 to $40 depending on traffic to the downtown core) easily if you are staying at a hotel. Public transit if you want to save some money, but it depends on where in Richmond you are staying and how late you are going to be out.

Look up the 98B express bus at http://www.translink.bc.ca/ .

The 98B express bus that runs from Richmond to downtown Vancouver should be $2.25 a trip. If you're staying along core areas along Number 3 Road (Landsdowne, Richmond Centre, etc), it's probably an option depending on how late you stay out as previously mentioned. (I've never taken it though.) Otherwise, I'd just take a cab. But $30 to $40 each direction sounds right.

They are building out Skytrain (Vancouver's rapid transit metro system) out to Richmond (and YVR) but it won't be done for another few years.

I was hoping (and I think the plan was originally for an earlier start) it was going to up and running by the end of 2008, but it is closer to the end of 2009. So the only cheap way to the airport is by bus; painful with lots of luggage.

Just to be more explicit, it's $3.25 if you're not travelling on a weekend or after 630p weekdays.