Durham Region Transit

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Slogan	Connecting Communities
Founded	2006
Headquarters	Whitby, Ontario
Service area	All of Durham Region
Service type	Public transit
Hubs	Pickering GO Stn, Pickering Town Centre, Ajax GO Stn, Ajax Plaza, Whitby GO Stn, Oshawa GO Stn, Oshawa Centre, Durham College/UOIT, Downtown Oshawa
Fuel type	Diesel
Operator	Durham Region, Trentway-Wagar (Whitby)
Web site	Official Site

Durham Region Transit (DRT) is the regional public transit operator in Durham Region, east of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are at 605 Rossland Rd East in Whitby, Ontario, and there are regional centres in Ajax, Whitby, and Oshawa.

[edit] Overview

DRT's operation is overseen by the Durham Region Transit Commission, consisting of the members of Durham Region Council. In April 2007, a new Durham Region Transit Executive Committee was created to take over day-to-day oversight responsibilities, with the full Commission meeting on a limited basis as needed. The Executive Committee consists of the Regional Chair and one councilor from each of the eight Durham Region municipalities as appointed by the Mayor of each municipality.

DRT is organized into operating divisions mirroring its predecessor systems:

• DRT East serving the City of Oshawa and the Municipality of Clarington
• DRT Centre serving the Town of Whitby
• DRT West serving the Town of Ajax and the City of Pickering
• DRT North serving the Townships of Brock, Scugog, and Uxbridge
• DRT Specialized Services providing service for the disabled

Most of DRT's operational and maintenance services are provided by regional staff who are members of Canadian Auto Workers Local 222.

DRT Centre continues to operate under the terms of an existing Whitby Transit contract with Trentway-Wagar expiring in April 2010. DRT Centre drivers and maintenance staff are therefore employees of Trentway-Wagar. DRT North is also a contracted operation.

[edit] Routes

[edit] Route numbering

Many routes in Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa use numbers originally assigned by pre-amalgamation transit systems. DRT is gradually renumbering routes to use a unified route numbering system as routes are introduced or changed. Unified route numbers are three digit numbers, with the first digit indicating the municipality the route operates in:

Ajax and Pickering routes that have not been renumbered to the new system are designated as rush hour routes (with an R prefix on the route number) or midday/Saturday routes (with an M prefix).

[edit] Route list

Route list as of December 31, 2007:

Pickering

Ajax

Whitby

Oshawa

Clarington

Brock

Scugog

• 950 Uxbridge/Port Perry/UOIT
• Community Dial-a-Bus Service

Uxbridge

• 950 Uxbridge/Port Perry/UOIT
• Community Bus Service

[edit] Service changes

In its first year of operation in 2006, DRT implemented a number of service enhancements:

• A common fare across Durham Region including transfer privileges
• Access to GO Transit bus services operating within Durham Region for a standard DRT fare or transfer
• Service for the northern communities of Port Perry, Brock, and Uxbridge in the form of community buses operating on specific days of the week
• Implementation of Fixed-route evening/Sunday service in Ajax and Pickering replacing the former "dial-a-bus" service.
• Service level improvements on several routes
• The introduction of several new or extended routes, including:
  • Rush-hour Service along Brock Street/Baldwin Street (Highway 12) to Brooklin
  • Rush-hour Service along Bloor Street and Victoria Street (Durham Regional Road 22) from Oshawa GO to Whitby GO Train Stations
  • Service on Audley Road in Ajax, both south of Bayly Street and north of Kingston Road
  • Service along Townline Road in eastern Oshawa and Courtice
  • Weekend service to Whitby and Oshawa GO Transit stations

In 2007, the following new services were introduced:

• 915 Taunton: grid service from Pickering GO Station via Bayly, Westney, Taunton and Simcoe to Durham College/UOIT
• 916 Rossland : grid service from Ajax GO Station via Westney, Bayly, Harwood, Rossland, Grandview, Taunton, Ritson, Conlin and Simcoe
• 302 Brock/Brooklin: increased service to Brooklin
• 20 Westney and 40 Applecroft, and elimination of 23 Nottingham as a separate route
• 504 Orono/Newcastle: revised to include Newcastle
• 950 Uxbridge/Port Perry/UOIT: a grid weekday route from Uxbridge and Port Perry to Durham College/UOIT
• replacement of Whitby dial a ride and shuttle bus service from the GO station with fixed routes

As a consequence of an operational budget shortfall, DRT implemented service cutbacks in December 2007 and March 2008, including cancellation of midday services, reduction in service hours and frequencies, and elimination of its 10 Ajax route. [1].

New routes and service hour increases are expected to be introduced beginning in 2009, including:

• Bayly/Bloor/Victoria service to Toronto
• Finch service to Toronto
• Service on Salem Rd
• service frequency/duration increases in southern communities

[edit] Bus rapid transit

There has been some discussion of the possibility of creating a rapid transit line along the Durham Highway 2 corridor. The Durham Region Long Term Transit plan identifies Highway 2 and Taunton Road as higher order corridors where transit services would be especially fast, frequent and include elements such as right-of-way separation, transit priority, and potential for different vehicle technology including light rail.

On June 15, 2007, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a $17 billion dollar transit plan called MoveOntario 2020. One component of the plan was a bus rapid transit line on Highway 2 between Pickering and Oshawa. ^[1]

In November 2007, Metrolinx recommended ^[2] a funding package of $82.3 million for a "Quick Win" implementation of a bus rapid transit line along Highway 2. This funding package was approved in full as part of the 2008 provincial budget, and a preliminary BRT implementation is expected to be running within three years.

The BRT is expected to operate using new hybrid buses running on 7.5 minute headways during rush hour and 15 minute headways during off-peak hours. Buses will utilize transit signal priority to save travel time. The initial phase will be similar to the first phase of Viva, with buses running in existing lanes, while the full implementation will provide dedicated transit/High-occupancy vehicle lane lanes. Connections to Toronto Transit Commission services in Scarborough are expected.

The BRT would be complemented by improved service along Taunton Road, Rossland Road, Bayly/Bloor/Victoria Streets, and Simcoe Street.

[edit] Fares

The following table shows DRT's fare structure as of July 1, 2007:

• restricted student passes are only valid Monday to Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The provincial Minister of Transportation has announced plans to introduce a unified smartcard-based payment system for the entire Greater Toronto Area called "Presto card". DRT will be a participant in this system beginning in early 2010.

[edit] DRT fares on GO Transit buses

DRT tickets, passes, and transfers are accepted on GO buses operating within Durham Region, allowing riders to freely transfer between DRT and GO buses to complete a trip within the region. Full details about this program are available at the DRT site. The following restrictions are of specific interest:

• Riders wishing to pay cash fares for GO bus service will need to pay the regular GO fare for the applicable zones, not the DRT fare.
• Trips on GO buses that start or terminate outside of Durham Region are charged the regular GO fare
• Trips on GO trains are not affected by this program.

[edit] Vehicles

A conventional DRT bus.

The following conventional fleet roster is as of June 2008:

Current Conventional Fleet List

Fleet numbers	Year	Make/Model	Fleet size	Original Operator
8001-8008	1999	Orion VI	8	Pickering Transit
8009-8011	1999	Orion VI	3	Ajax Transit
8012-8013	1994	Orion V	2	Ajax Transit
8014-8015	1994	Orion V	2	Pickering Transit
8016-8017	1992	Orion V	2	Ajax Transit
8018-8019	1992	Orion V	2	Pickering Transit
8020	1991	Orion V	1	Ajax Transit
8022	1989	Orion V	1	Ajax Transit Pending Retirement
8024	1989	Orion I	1	Pickering Transit
8038	1997	MTB Glider	1	Pickering Transit Pending Retirement
8050-8055	2003	Orion V	6	Ajax Pickering Transit Authority
8060-8061	1990	Orion V	2	Ajax Pickering Transit Authority, Ex. Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority
8062-8065	1992	Orion V	4	Ajax Pickering Transit Authority, Ex. Port Authority of Allegheny County
8066	1994	Orion V	1	Lynx
8129-8132	1990	Orion V	4	Oshawa Transit
8133-8136	1991	Orion V	4	Oshawa Transit
8137-8145	1992	Orion V	9	Oshawa Transit
8151-8152	2001	Nova LFS	2	Oshawa Transit
8153-8160	2002	Nova LFS	8	Oshawa Transit
8161-8168	2004	Nova LFS	8	Oshawa Transit
8169-8170	2005	Nova LFS	2	Oshawa Transit
8171	2006	Nova LFS	1
8172-8173	2005, arrived 2006	Nova LFS	2
8174-8180	1999	Nova LFS	7	First: Philadelphia Airport), arrived 2007
8307-8308	1989	MCI Classic	2	Whitby Transit
8311-8315	1990	Orion V	5	Whitby Transit 8315 Pending Retirement
8318	1994	Orion V	1	Whitby Transit
8317	1992	MCI Classic	1	Whitby Transit
8319	1988	MCI Classic	1	Queen's Surface
8321-8322	1998	Orion VI	2	Whitby Transit
8324-8329	2004	Nova LFS	6	Whitby Transit
8330-8332	1997	Orion V	3	Whitby Transit
8401-8430	2007	New Flyer D40LF	30
8431-8445	2007, arrived late 2007-2008	New Flyer D40LF	15
8446-8459	2008	New Flyer D40LF	14

Notes:

1. denotes wheelchair accessible
2. On each line of the table, groups of fleet numbers, separated by commas, correspond to the years listed on that line.
3. Ajax Transit and Pickering Transit vehicles were operated by the Ajax Pickering Transit Authority (APTA) prior to the creation of DRT.
4. Ajax Transit, APTA, and Pickering Transit-sourced buses are generally operated throughout DRT West (Ajax and Pickering). Whitby and Oshawa-sourced buses generally stay in their home city. However, some exceptions include cross regional routes and equipment transfers between divisions.

In addition, there are 26 Specialized Service cutaway vans used for Flag Bus and for specialized services. The current Flag Bus Fleet consists of one ElDorado National E-Z Rider II MAX on and 4 Overland Custom Coach, Inc. ELFs.

[edit] Facilities

DRT uses the following maintenance and operational facilities:^[3]

East - Oshawa Garage:

Address: 710 Raleigh Avenue, Oshawa

Coordinates: 43°52′57″N 78°49′43″W / 43.8825, -78.82861

Opened: 1965 (original) 1980 (GO Transit expansion)

Facilities: bus storage, maintenance and servicing for DRT and GO Transit

Centre - Trentway-Wagar:

Address: 1559 Victoria Street East, Whitby

Coordinates: 43°51′51.7″N 78°54′21″W / 43.864361, -78.90583

Facilities: bus storage, maintenance and repairs

West - Westney Road Garage:

Address: 110 Westney Road South, Ajax

Coordinates: 43°50′43″N 79°02′28″W / 43.84528, -79.04111

Opened: 1988

Facilities: bus storage, maintenance and repairs

West - Pickering Municipal Operations Centre (satellite facility)

Address: 2570 Tillings Road, Pickering

Coordinates: 43°52′26″N 79°05′33″W / 43.87389, -79.0925

Facilities: bus storage and minimal maintenance by City of Pickering mechanics

[edit] History

DRT was formed in January 2006 through an amalgamation of existing municipal transit systems in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, and Clarington (Bowmanville). The systems were transferred to the regional government along with the legal authority to operate public transit in the local municipalities. This required approval by both Durham Region Council as well as four out of eight local municipal councils consisting of at least 50% of the population of the Region. The approval process took several years, with final approval for the amalgamation given by Durham Region Council on February 9, 2005. The remainder of 2005 was spent preparing for the merger. DRT assumed its responsibilities and inherited the equipment and facilities of its predecessor systems effective January 1, 2006.

On October 5, 2006, members of Local 222 began a legal strike action against DRT. All services were suspended other than those operated by Trentway-Wagar in Whitby. Limited specialized service continued via the use of contracted taxis. On October 29, a tentative settlement was announced, and full service resumed on November 3.

[edit] Previous systems

Public transit service in Durham Region has a long history prior to the creation of DRT, dating back to the 19th century. The list below shows predecessor transit systems in each municipality:

Pickering

• Pickering Transit 1970s-2001
• Ajax Pickering Transit Authority 2001-2005

Ajax

• Charterways Transportation Limited 1969-1973
• Ajax Transit 1973-2001
• Ajax Pickering Transit Authority 2001-2005

Whitby

• Burley Bus Lines
• Charterways Transportation Limited
• Whitby Transit ?-2005
• Specialized Service provided by Handi-Transit 1974-2005

Oshawa

• Oshawa Railway Company 1895-1959
• Queen Bus Lines 1920s
• Oshawa Transit 1960-2005
• Specialized Service provided by Handi-Transit 1974-2005

Clarington

• Clarington Transit 2002-2005
• Specialized Service provided by Handi-Transit 1974-2005

[edit] See also

• York Region Transit
• Vivayork
• Toronto Transit Commission - connections made with Rouge Hill Shuttle
• GO Transit - connections made with Rouge Hill Shuttle

[edit] External links

• Durham Region Transit
• Regional Municipality of Durham

[edit] References

• Regional Transit Business Case
• Durham Region's Transit Improvement Plan