Regina Transit

Regina Transit

Regina Transit Bus 545 (TC40-102N Classic) in present livery (2009)
Founded 1911[1]
Headquarters 333 Winnipeg Street
Locale Regina, SK
Service area Regina City limits
Service type bus service, paratransit
Routes 19
Fleet 103 buses[1]
Annual ridership 7,140,000[2]
Fuel type diesel
Website reginatransit.com

Regina Transit is the public transportation agency operated by the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the oldest public transit system in Saskatchewan and has been city-owned since its inception.

History

Inauguration of the Regina Municipal Railway in front of the City Hall on 11th Avenue, July 28, 1911.

Regina Transit's roots go back to July 28, 1911 (as the Regina Municipal Railway)[3] with streetcar operations, originally on ten miles of track, growing to 20 miles in the early 1930s. The "Dirty Thirties" saw huge deficits resulting in major cut-backs in service. With a shortage of gasoline and steel during World War II, streetcar ridership grew dramatically. The 32 streetcars used in 1945 carried 9,000,000 more passengers than they did in 1940. An important event in the system's history was a fire in its "bus barn" on January 23, 1949 that destroyed 17 trolley coaches, nine gasoline buses, five steel streetcars and nine wooden cars. On September 5, 1950 The last streetcar made its final run through the streets of Regina and the Regina Municipal Railway became the Regina Transit System. Regina Transit provided trolley bus service from 1947 to 1966 using Canada Car and Foundry Brill trolley buses. Since 1955, its preferred transit fleet has been buses because their freedom from overhead lines makes them suitable for detours and charters. An innovation in the early 1970s was its Telebus service, which used a telephone/radio dispatching system to send buses to individual homes. This service ended in the early 1980s because of its high cost.[1] In 2008 Regina Transit adopted three new express route centred on the university, cutting bus trip time by up to 20 minutes. On April 10, 2013 the city of Regina approved a major route network change that would better serve the ever growing Saskatchewan capital.

Routes

Regular service

Regina Transit Bus 566 (TC40-102N Classic) in pre-2008 livery

Regina Transit operates 20 routes on weekdays, 12 routes on Saturdays and 9 routes on Sunday with statutory holidays following Sunday schedule [4]

Sunday service

A modified version of the system is used on Sundays. Buses run hourly from 8 am to 7 pm.[5]

Campus Express

Two routes provide express service to and from the University of Regina.

Bus fleet

The system, whose service area is confined to Regina's city limits, maintains a fleet of 113 buses. Most of the buses listed, especially the New Looks and Classics, have been refurbished and given new livery colors, along with newly installed electronic destination signs. in 2010, Regina Transit announced that it will add new buses from NovaBus, which is expected to replace the New Looks.

Other services

Regina Transit operates a charter bus service and a 26-fleet paratransit service for residents who cannot use the regular transit system.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Discover Regina Transit's history". City of Regina. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2015-07-21. Saskatchewan was booming in 1911 and so was its capital city. Regina boasted a population of 30,000. The 4 streetcars put into service by the Regina Municipal Railway (RMR) on July 28, 1911 were proof that Regina was a modern and up-to-date city.
  2. ↑ http://www.designregina.ca/wp-content/uploads/Transit_Investment_Plan.pdf
  3. ↑ "Regina: The Early Years 1880 - 1950". University of Saskatchewan. Archived from the original on 2004-09-14. Retrieved 2015-07-21. Not coincidentally, the streetcar lines all stopped directly in front of the R.H. Williams Department Store on 11 th Ave. . (Williams had been Mayor of Regina when City Council voted on where the streetcar lines should be placed.)
  4. ↑ City of Regina - Bus Schedules
  5. ↑ http://www.regina.ca/opencms/export/sites/regina.ca/residents/transit-services/.media/web_schedules/sunday-service-brochure.pdf
  6. ↑ Regina Paratransit main page, 2007.
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