Thunder Bay Transit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thunder Bay Transit

Thunder Bay Transit bus at Brodie St Terminal.
Slogan	Climb on Board! Save the fuss... Ride with us!
Founded	1970 (Originally 1892)
Headquarters	570 Fort William Road Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Locale	Thunder Bay Urban Area[1] Fort William First Nation[2]
Service area	256 km² (99 sq mi)[3]
Service type	Local bus service
Alliance	CUTA[4]
Routes	21
Hubs	2
Fleet	49 low-floor models
Daily ridership	9,000[5]
Fuel type	Diesel - 45 Biodiesel - 3[6]
Operator	City of Thunder Bay - Transportation and Works Department
Web site	Thunder Bay Transit

Thunder Bay Transit is the public transit operator in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and was formed in 1970, after the amalgamation of the cities of Port Arthur and Fort William and their respective transit agencies.^[7] Thunder Bay Transit is a member of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.

Thunder Bay Transit operates 21 transit routes in the urban area of Thunder Bay and neighbouring Fort William First Nation,^[1][2] an area of 256 km² (99 sq mi).^[3] Its fleet of 49 buses run on diesel and biodiesel fuels.^[6] Thunder Bay Transit carries 3,300,000 passengers annually, or approximately 9,000 passengers daily, and employs 140 people.^[5][8] The company maintains two transit terminals, one at 40 North Water Street in Port Arthur, and the other at 140 North Brodie Street in Fort William.

Thunder Bay Transit is the first transit agency in Ontario to be 100% handicapped accessible,^[8] and the first Canadian transit agency to use the NextBus system with passenger counters, fare box integrations and passenger information systems.^[9]

[edit] History

Public transit in Thunder Bay began in 1892. The silver boom had recently ended, destroying Port Arthur's primary economic raison d'être. Compounding the matter was the Canadian Pacific Railway's decision to build its grain elevators and rail yards in neighbouring Fort William, 6 km (4 mi) away. With businesses and population vanishing, Port Arthur decided after much debate to build a street car line to connect the town with the rail yards in neighbouring Fort William, much to that town's chagrin.^[10]

In 1891, the town of Port Arthur was authorized to construct and operate the first municipally owned street railway in Canada. The Port Arthur Street Railway (PASRy) commenced operations in March 1892, and in that same year, McDonald and Company commenced operations of a private street railway in neighbouring Fort William, which connected the Port Arthur Street Railway's southern terminus at Fort William's northern town limits into the downtown core of Fort William.^[7] Although Fort William wanted nothing to do with Port Arthur's municipal railway, PASRy gained control of the McDonald and Company line on 1 June 1893, and extended its operations into the town.^[10]

In 1907, Port Arthur and Fort William became cities. The Ontario Railway and Municipal Board forced Port Arthur to sell its section of the railway in Fort William to that city on 11 March 1908, and to submit to operation by a joint commission until 1 December 1913, under the name Port Arthur and Fort William Railway. Thereafter, each city ran its own street railway—Port Arthur assumed the name Port Arthur Civic Railway in 1914, and Fort William assumed the name Fort William Street Railway.^[7] Port Arthur added two belt lines to its main line in 1913, with the first street cars running on the North Belt Line 29 October 1913.

Electric trolley buses were introduced on 15 December 1947,^[11] the same year that the Fort William Street Railway was renamed the Fort William Transit Company. The trolley buses were manufactured by J. G. Brill and Company at the Canadian Car and Foundry plant in Fort William. The Intercity trolley coach line of each city's system opened in 1947 and was interlined, with operators' coaches serving the entire line in both cities until 1955.

Street railway operations ended in Thunder Bay in 1948. Port Arthur's last three antiquated cars made their final run over the North Belt Line on 15 February 1948 in a driving snowstorm,^[12] and Fort William's street cars ceased operations on 16 October 1948. In 1949, Port Arthur Civic Railway was renamed Port Arthur Public Utilities Commission, which would remain until 1 January 1970, when Port Arthur and Fort William were amalgamated into the City of Thunder Bay. The system has since been known as Thunder Bay Transit.^[7] Electric trolley buses were discontinued on 10 September 1972,^[11] and the city has since used diesel buses.

Thunder Bay Transit purchased its first low floor buses in 1994,^[13] and by March 2007 became the first full-sized transit agency in Ontario to have a fleet that consisted entirely of accessible buses.^[8] Later that year, Thunder Bay Transit becamse the first Canadian transit agency to implement Grey Island Systems GPS/AVL and NextBus system with passenger counters, fare box integrations and passenger information systems.^[14]

[edit] Fares and passes

Thunder Bay Transit fares were increased on 1 April 2008, the first increase since 2003.^[15] Exact cash fare on Thunder Bay Transit is $2.35, and children under the age of eight ride free when accompanied by an adult. Bus tickets can be purchased in groups of 10 for $17.50, and twenty ride punch passes can be purchased for $31.00. Tickets and twenty ride passes are transferable—they can be shared by many people at one time—and twenty ride passes do not expire. A transfer pass can be obtained when boarding with cash, tickets or a twenty ride pass, and allows passengers to change buses up to two times for the price of one fare. Transfer passes have a one hour time limit and are non-transferable—they can be used only by the person to whom they are issued.

Thunder Bay Transit offers monthly, semester and family/group passes. These passes allow unlimited rides within the time period specified on the face of the card, so that pass holders do not need to use transfers to change buses.

A 20-ride bus pass.

Monthly passes cost $67.00, and discount monthly passes can be purchased for $57.00 by high school students under 18, children between 9 and 12, seniors over 65 and persons with valid disabled ID cards. Family/Group passes can be purchased for $6.00, allow for unlimited trips for two adults and three children, one adult and four children, or two adults. Proof of age is required, and children must be under the age of 18.

Students at Lakehead University receive a U-Pass as part of their tuition, which allows for unlimited trips during the school year for the person to whom the pass is issued.^[16] Confederation College students qualify for semester passes, which are valid between either September and December or January and April. They cost $195.00 and are non-transferable.^[17]

[edit] Routes

For detailed travel information, do not rely solely on this page; please refer to the Thunder Bay Transit website.

Thunder Bay Transit operates 21 regular transit routes covering approximately 350 kilometres (220 miles) of city streets,^[5][18] and approximately 90% of the city's urban area is within 300 metres (1000 feet) of a bus stop.^[19] Bus routes are anchored on one of the city's two main terminals, and several routes have buses travelling in only one direction, which can result in unnecessarily long trips between short distances.^[20]

[edit] Bus frequency

Peak routes run Monday to Friday between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm, and Saturday between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. Most peak routes have a frequency of 30 minutes between stops. Some busy routes have a frequency of 15 minutes during rushhour. Non-peak routes run Monday to Saturday between 6:00 pm and 12:40 am, Saturday morning between 6:00 am and 9:00 am, all day Sunday and statutory holidays. Most non-peak routes have a frequency of 40 minutes between stops.^[21]

[edit] Rural bus service

Thunder Bay Transit resumed service in South Neebing on March 18, 2008 as a six-month pilot project, after which the route will be re-evaluated. It runs twice in the late morning and twice in the late afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Transit service in South Neebing was cancelled in 2004 due to low ridership.^[22] The route saw few passengers on its first run. On May 13, 2008, it was announced that Thunder Bay Transit had received requests to operate a bus route in the McIntyre area of northwest Thunder Bay. It will run twice in the late morning and twice in the late afternoon on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and is expected to be in operation by summertime. Like 5 South Neebing, it will be reviewed for viability at a later date.^[23] Thunder Bay Transit has a threshold of 10 passengers per hour to maintain a bus route, and it costs $75 an hour to operate a city bus.^[24]

[edit] Interlining

Map of Thunder Bay Transit routes

Interlining means when a bus arrives at a terminal, it will resume travelling on a different route. Interlining allows passengers to travel longer distances without having to change buses. Routes 1 Mainline, 5 South Neebing and 19 McIntyre do not interline.^[25]

Interlining at Brodie Street terminal 

Peak routes
2 Crosstown and 12 East End at :15 and :45
3 Airport and 3 Jumbo Gardens at :15 and :45
3 Northwood and 3 County Park at :00 and :30
Non-peak routes
3 Airport and 8 James
3 Northwood and 3 County Park

Interlining at Water Street terminal 

Peak routes
2 Crosstown and 7 Hudson at :00 and :30
3 County Park and 3 Northwood at :15 and :45
3 Jumbo Gardens and 3 Airport at :00 and :30
9 Junot and 11 John at :00 and :30
Non-peak routes
2 Crosstown and 7 Hudson
9 Junot - University and 11 John - Jumbo Gardens

Interlining elsewhere

8 James and 9 Junot interline at Intercity Shopping Centre between 6:00 am and 1:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm on Saturdays.
4 Neebing becomes 6 Mission at Brown and Frederica

[edit] Fleet

Thunder Bay Transit owns a fleet of 48 buses, which consists of 14 New Flyer D40LFs, 22 Nova Bus LFSs, 7 Orion Bus Industries Orion VIs and 4 Orion Bus Industries Orion VIIs. Three of the buses run on biodiesel,^[6] and all are handicapped accessible low floor models.^[19] Thunder Bay Transit is the first full-sized transit system in Canada to have a fleet entirely of low floor buses.

Interior of bus #218, a bio-diesel Orion VII.

[edit] Technology

Thunder Bay Transit's LED NextBus real-time display at Lakehead University

Since September 2007, Thunder Bay Transit buses have been using the Grey Island Systems GPS/AVL and NextBus real-time passenger information systems, which uses GPS sensors and electronic maps to track bus movement and devices to measure passenger numbers.^[26] The system uses TBayTel's CDMA wireless network to relay information to the transit office and to electronic signs located at major transit stops to let riders know when their bus will arrive.^[27] These electronic signs are located at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Lakehead University, Confederation College, Intercity Shopping Centre, and Thunder Bay Transit's two downtown transit terminals. A test of the system was released on 17 March 2008. It allows passengers to view arrival times for routes 2 Crosstown, 3 Northwood, 8 James and 9 Junot.^[28][29]

[edit] Accessibility

To accommodate disabled passengers, Thunder Bay Transit buses are wheelchair accessible low-floor models.^[19] Low-floor buses are capable of kneeling to street level and have extending ramps which allow wheelchairs to board safely. Thunder Bay Transit buses had 19,175 rides by persons in wheelchairs in 2006, the most per capita in Ontario.^[8] Thunder Bay Transit offers a Night Stop service, where buses will allow passengers to disembark at locations between bus stops during night hours due to safety or security concerns.^[30]

[edit] Facilities

Thunder Bay Transit operates two bus terminals in the north and south cores of the city. Thunder Bay Transit's head office and bus garage is located at Thunder Bay Transit and Central Maintenance, located at 570 Fort William Road.

A New Flyer D40LF at Brodie St. Terminal

[edit] Brodie Street Terminal

Address: 140 Brodie Street North, Fort William

Coordinates: 48°23′07.2″N 89°14′49.5″W / 48.385333, -89.247083

Functions: downtown south core bus terminal; heated waiting area.

Platforms: 3

Routes: 1 Mainline, 2 Crosstown-Water Street, 3 Memorial, 4 Neebing, 5 South Neebing, 8 James, 12 East End

A Novabus LFS at Water St. Terminal

[edit] Water Street Terminal

Address: 40 North Water Street, Port Arthur

Coordinates: 48°26′08.7″N 89°13′01″W / 48.43575, -89.21694

Functions: downtown north core bus terminal; heated waiting area

Platforms: 1

Routes: 1 Mainline, 2 Crosstown, 3 Memorial, 7 Hudson, 9 Junot, 11 John

[edit] Transit Garage

Thunder Bay Transit and Central Maintenance

Address: 570 Fort William Road

Coordinates: 48°25′02″N 89°14′11″W / 48.41722, -89.23639

Functions: main office and vehicle maintenance

[edit] Greyhound Bus Depot

Address: 815 Fort William Road

Coordinates: 48°24′28.6″N 89°14′22.3″W / 48.407944, -89.239528

Functions: privately owned bus depot providing intercity Greyhound bus and courier service. ^[31]

Routes: accessible by route 1 Mainline

[edit] Other transfer points

Other terminals, serving two or more routes, are located at Intercity Shopping Centre, Lakehead University and Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, and Confederation College. The intersection of Brown Street and Frederica Street in Westfort is a transfer point for routes 4 Neebing, 5 South Neebing, 6 Mission, and 2 Crosstown Westfort.^[25]

[edit] See also

• Transportation in Thunder Bay, Ontario

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Scollie, F. Brent (1990). The Creation of the Port Arthur Street Railway 1890–95: Canada's First Municipally-owned Street Railway. Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Papers and Records, XVIII

• Andreas, Wesley, MA (2007). Moving Forward: Public Transit in Canadian Mid-sized Cities. University of Calgary Department of Geography

[edit] External links

• Thunder Bay Transit Official web site
• Nextbus Stop Selector for Thunder Bay Transit
• History of Transit in Thunder Bay
• Tom's North American Trolleybus Pix -- Thunder Bay / Port Arthur / Fort William
• Drawings and photos of Thunder Bay Transit buses
• HAGI - Accessible Transit Service