Regina Transit

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.

Regina Transit
Regina Transit Bus 646 (NovaBus LFS 40102) in the present livery (August 2018)
Founded1911[1]
Headquarters333 Winnipeg Street
LocaleRegina, SK
Service areaRegina City limits
Service typebus service, paratransit
Routes21
HubsCornwall Centre, Superstore East, Southland Mall, Walmart South, Golden Mile
Fleet121 buses[2]
Annual ridership7,368,049[3]
Fuel typeDiesel
WebsiteRegina.ca

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)[4] 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.

Routes

Regular service
Regina Transit Bus 566 (TC40-102N Classic) in pre-2008 livery
Regina Transit Bus 545 (TC40-102N Classic) in present livery (2009)

Regina Transit operates 21 routes on weekdays, 12 routes on Saturdays and 9 routes on Sunday with statutory holidays following Sunday schedule [5]

  • 1 Dieppe/Broad North
  • 2 Argyle Park/Wood Meadows
  • 3 University/Sherwood Estates
  • 4 Hillsdale/Walsh Acres
  • 5 Uplands/Downtown
  • 6 Westhill/Ross Industrial
  • 7 Glencairn/Whitmore Park
  • 8 Eastview/Normandy Heights
  • 9 Parkridge/Albert Park
  • 10 Normanview/RCMP
  • 12 Varsity Park/Mount Royal
  • 15 Heritage
  • 16 Lakeridge/Hawkstone
  • 17 Mapleridge
  • 18 University/Harbour Landing
  • 21 University/Glencairn
  • 22 University/Arcola East
  • 30 University/Rochdale Express
  • 40 Albert Street Express
  • 50 Victoria East Express/Victoria Downtown Express
  • 60 Arcola East Express/Arcola Downtown Express

Mosaic Stadium shuttle

Regina Transit offers free shuttle bus service to Mosaic Stadium during major events held at the stadium, including Saskatchewan Roughriders football games.[6][7]

High School Special
Regina Transit NovaBus 605 operating on Route 53 (Special Route 3), August 2018.

Regina transit offers a service for students travelling to LeBoldus, Campbell Collegiate, Balfour Collegiate, Miller Comprehensive, Sheldon Williams Collegiate, Winston Knoll and Riffel high schools. Routes 51, 53, 56, 58, and 59 (labeled as Special 1, Special 3, Special 6, Special 8, and Special 9) operate once in the morning and once in the afternoon. These routes are operated in the same ways as the regular Regina Transit services, except for the fact that students must flag the bus down in areas not covered by mainline service.[8]

Bus fleet
Cabin of Regina Transit NovaBus 833, facing the front
Typical sign for a Regina Transit bus stop

Regina Transit's fleet consists mostly of Nova Buses, with a few Vicinity operating on less-busy routes. As of 2014, all buses in the Regina Transit fleet are at least partially low-floored, as all high-floor buses were retired around that time.[9]

Regina Transit Fleet
Bus Number Seating
 Notes
Novabus LFS 118 37
Grande West Vicinity 30' 3 24[10] Used on routes with less demand

NovaBus Fleet

The Nova Bus fleet is the backbone of Regina Transit's fleet, consisting of Nova Bus LFS buses. Buses built in 1998-99 were originally built for CATS and were numbered 801-809 and are now retired. Buses built in 1996-1998 were originally built for STM are also retired and were moved to Saskatoon Transit. Buses manufactured between 2005-2019 are numbered 598-665 and 667-699 and 812-836.[9]

Vicinity Fleet

The Vicinity fleet is used on less-busy routes, such as Route 15 - Heritage, as they have less capacity. Currently only 3 buses are in the fleet, numbered 708, 709 and 710. The buses were built in 2017.[9]

Paratransit Services

Regina Transit operates a charter bus service and a 33-fleet paratransit service for residents who cannot use the regular transit system. Regina Transit Services has been working with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission to improve accessibility and inclusivity of public transportation since 2013. The SHRC recognized the work of the City of Regina in 2016. Part of that work includes the introduction of low-floor accessible buses and installation of audible stop announcements. Regina Transit continues to improve the accessibility of its services. [11]

References
  1. "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. "Riding With Us". City of Regina. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  3. http://open.regina.ca/dataset/foi-2020-20-ridership-data/resource/088086ff-217d-43b0-9de6-3436319d89e5
  4. "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.)
  5. City of Regina - Bus Schedules
  6. "Normanview opts out of free stadium busing due to parking lot nightmare". Regina Leader-Post. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  7. "How to use the city's Rider Transit service for Saturday's game". Regina Leader-Post. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  8. "Schedules & Routes". City of Regina. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  9. "Regina Transit". CPTDB Wiki. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  10. Vicinity (PDF) https://vicinitybus.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/vicinitybusy-models-floor-plan-30-ft-24-pass-fwd-facing-seats.pdf. Retrieved 14 December 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. Regina Paratransit Service.
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