125th Anniversary

On October 20th 1882 public transit was successfully tested in Winnipeg with regular service starting the next day. The first service in Winnipeg consisted of four horse drawn street cars on tracks. 125 years later with a fleet of 533 buses Winnipeg Transit continues to provide the citizens of Winnipeg with efficient, reliable, and affordable public transit.

To view the 125th Anniversary Supplement that ran in the Winnipeg Free Press click Transit 125

Message from the Mayor

Service first began on October 20th 1882 under Albert William Austin. In recent years, we have made significant investments to our transit system that will see diesel-electric hybrid articulated buses, signal priority lights, and more heated bus shelters serving our citizens.

Aside from the daily service our department provides to Winnipeggers, Winnipeg Transit has provided transportation to all major events that have helped define our city. This includes the Pope's visit to Birds Hill Park in 1984, the 1999 World Junior Hockey Championship, the Pan Am games in 1999, the 2002 Indigenous Games, and multiple Grey Cups.

On behalf of city council, I would like to congratulate Winnipeg Transit for providing 125 years of dedicated service.

Mayor Sam Katz

The History of Transit in Winnipeg

1880 - A 23 year old man named Albert William Austin moves from Toronto to Winnipeg. Austin's father was the founder of the Dominion Bank and he left a relatively comfortable life in Toronto to head out west.

1882 - By July the Winnipeg Street Railway Company was born and an Act to Incorporate was passed by City Hall. Austin was laying track on Main Street within a short time and was complete and ready to begin operation by mid October.

1882 - On October 20th Austin's first street car was tested. With the successful completion of the test regular service was introduced the following day.

1888 - Austin sees a need to expand the reliability of his transit service. Out east two types of transit are beginning to be used. One is an underground subway service and the other is an above ground electric streetcar service that runs power from an overhead line. Austin approaches City Hall about getting permission to install electric streetcars. Council rejects the idea. Eventually Austin gets permission to build a test track in Fort Rouge.

1891 - Austin's test track is completed and power is connected in mid January. Austin's electric streetcar test took place on January 28th at 7:30pm. Members of City Council as well as many curious onlookers watched as the car powered up for the first time. After successfully completing its test run electric streetcars were an inevitability in Winnipeg.

1892 - On May 5th of 1892 after controversy surrounding who had the right to run electric streetcars in Winnipeg James Ross and William Mackenzie of Montreal began their streetcar service as the Winnipeg Electric Street Railway. Austin was forced to only run his horse cars inside city limits.

1894 - Austin sells his Winnipeg Street Railway Company for $175,000, including the land his car garages were on, the cars, and the powerhouse built on Assiniboine Ave.

1904 - The Winnipeg General Power Company and the Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Company amalgamated to become the Winnipeg Electric Railway Company.

1918 - The first motor buses were introduced on the Westminister Avenue.

1924 - The Winnipeg Electric Railway Company changed its name to the Winnipeg Electric Company.

1938 - In May six Mack CR3 40 passenger Trolley Coaches were purchased. Trolley coaches were rubber tired buses that ran off overhead electrical power lines. The Trolley coaches arrived in November and went into service on Monday November 21st. The Trolley's preformed so well that in May of 1939 an additional nine coaches were purchased.

1953 - On May 29th the Manitoba Government took over operation of the Winnipeg Electric Company marking the beginning of public transit in Winnipeg. Now known as the Greater Winnipeg Transit Commission the first Chairman was William Henry Carter, who was the former president of the Winnipeg Electric Company. He was 79 years old at the time he became the first Chairman.

1955 - September 19th was the last day of service for the Street Cars in Winnipeg. The war years had taken their toll and a lack of maintenance to the track and surrounding pavement left the company looking at several hundred thousand dollars worth of infrastructure work. The last Street Cars were paraded on Main St with the lead car painted with a crying face and the phrase "We've had it!" above the windows.

1960 - Public Transit for the Greater Winnipeg area became the responsibility of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg.

1970 - On Friday October 30th the last Trolley Cars operated in Winnipeg. The last coach to operate in service was Trolley number 1752, a big T48. The last run was on the Corydon - North Main line. The Trolley left the Kenaston Loop and headed east on Corydon where it was met by a large crowd at Confusion corner. The Trolley finished its run, turning off Main St onto Carruthers and into the garage for the last time.

1972 - Public Transit became the responsibility of the newly unified City of Winnipeg.

1977 - Handi-Transit begins as a two year test project to provide parallel public transportation for those with limited mobility.

1979 - Handi-Transit is made a permanent part of Transit operation by Winnipeg City Council.

1980 - Winnipeg Transit officially becomes its own city department. (It had previously fallen under the Transportation Department)

1997 - All Winnipeg Transit buses purchased from this point on are Easy Access Low Floor Buses.

The History of the Flying T

When the City of Winnipeg Transit Department was created, separating from the Streets and Transportation Department, a new logo was commissioned to identify the new department. The Streets and Transportation Department was run by Director Harry Burns and Assistant Director Boris Hryhorczuk. After a long creative process where several design were created the T logo was chosen.

The logo cost $3,000.00 to produce and was not without its controversy. City Council would not approve a mass change over for the logo arguing that the cost was too high to implement a complete changeover and instead decided to phase in the new logo during routine bus stop maintenance and new purchases.

The distinctive look of the "T' was chosen for its timeless design and strikingly visible colour scheme that was easily identifiable. The flying "T", as it is affectionately known, actually incorporates two letters. The right side of the "T" when looked at on an angle is actually a "W", representing Winnipeg, while the "T" represents Transit and Transportation in general.

Logo's that tend to be the most successful are ones that are timeless. Logos' like the Nike swoosh, the apple from Apple computers, or McDonald's golden arches. These logos all possess a timeless quality allowing them to successfully represent their companies, just as the Flying T has successfully represent Winnipeg Transit for nearly 30 years.

421 Osborne

Sitting on over 25 acres of land and containing more than 20,000 cubic yards of poured concrete the buildings of 421 Osborne have served Winnipeg Transit for 36 years. Officially opening on November 20, 1969 the transit base was a state of the art facility with 39 bus hoists and the ability to service a fleet of up to 650 buses. When completed in 1969, the garage was able to service, vacuum, and wash 40 buses per hour and had storage room for 264 buses. Ten years later storage for an additional 165 buses was added to the garage extending it out to its current location next to Osborne St.

The Fort Rouge facility replaced the Assiniboine Ave facility which had been the home base of Winnipeg's transit system for 75 years. The Fort Rouge property was purchased partly from city owned land, partly from private purchases, but the majority was given to the city in an exchange of land with the C.N.R. which wanted the Fort and Assiniboine property.

Almost Thirty-eight years on, the Fort Rouge transit base still stands as the corner stone of transit operations in Winnipeg.

The Future of Winnipeg Transit

In the 2006 capital budget that was approved by City Council on February 21, 2006 significant funding was authorized to implement many of the recommendations made by the Rapid Transit Task Force. The Task Force was set up by Mayor Sam Katz to develop a "made in Winnipeg" approach to future transit needs.

Over the next five years Winnipeg Transit will see many changes in the way transit service is provided. With the planned purchase and delivery of articulated electric hybrid buses, upgraded and refurbished bus stops along "Quality Corridors", and major technological developments in the way we provide transit service information to the public, the next few years will bring major challenges and improvements to Winnipeg Transit.

Dave Wardrop
Director of Transit

Transit Improvements - On Street

Traffic priority for transit is a key strategy that can be used to attract passengers and control costs concurrently. The implementation of transit priority measures, such as diamond lanes, queue jumps, and transit signal priority lights, improves speed and reliability making transit travel more competitive with automobile travel.

Transit priority measures have the greatest impact on streets where a large number of buses operate. Because transit vehicles carry a very large proportion of the person-movements on such streets, and because buses carry more people than other vehicles in relation to their use of road space, the efficiency of the overall transportation system is improved by providing traffic priority to transit.

The introduction of new transit priority measures will be considered for a number of the major arterial streets in the city (called the "Quality Corridors"). Initial feasibility and design work has recently been completed for three of the corridors, St. Anne's Rd, St. Mary's Rd and Pembina Highway, with implementation planned for 2007-08. This staggered process of design and build will be used in the other corridors between 2007 and 2009. These initiatives will improve the quality and reliability of service along the Quality Corridors.

Traffic signal priorities will also be expanded along the Quality Corridors. These will include the expansion of the "white light" transit priority signal, like the one at southbound Osborne and River, to other intersections starting in 2007. When the Automated Vehicle Location system is in place, Active Transit Signal Priority, another type of signal priority, will be integrated to improve service. Active Transit Signal Priority works when a bus sends a signal to the traffic signal controller prior to arriving at an intersection. Rules in the controller software are used to extend the green signal time or reduce red signal time to coincide with the arrival of the bus at the intersection. Once the bus clears the intersection, the traffic signals return to normal operation. This system will be tested at several intersections on Pembina Highway before being expanded to other Quality Corridors.

When the Automated Vehicle Location System is installed across the fleet an Active Transit Signal Priority pilot project will be conducted along Pembina Highway. This project is scheduled for 2008-09.

Look for the additional on-street transit priority measures to be implemented during the 2007 construction season.

Transit Improvements - Intelligent Transportation Systems

Improvements in communications, sensing, and network technology during the past few years have made possible the development of new applications to improve the management of daily transit operations. These improvements include real-time service information provided to passengers before and during travel, improved passenger security, and electronic fare collection systems. As part of the Rapid Transit Task Force recommendations Winnipeg Transit will be implementing several Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to improve service information provided to the public and safety to both passengers and staff.

Bus Radio
The existing bus radio communication system, which was implemented in 1982, no longer meets Winnipeg Transits operating needs. New technologies in radio communications, data management, and automated vehicle location offer opportunities to improve the quality of on-street transit operations and enhance customer service. A new communication system has recently been developed and is currently in on-street trials to test for accuracy and reliability. This new bus radio communication system is scheduled to be completed and installed across the fleet over the next two years.

Automated Vehicle Location System
The corner stone of Winnipeg Transit's ITS program is Automated Vehicle Location (AVL). Each bus has the service schedule loaded in an on-board computer. Based on the Global Positioning Satellite coordinates, speed of travel, and the known timing points, the bus will be able to determine where it is in relation to its assigned schedule. When a bus deviates from its assigned schedule, it will transmit data automatically to the control centre where the information automatically updates on-line timetables and Telebus. This technology will also help control centre staff deal with incidents and service disruptions in a timely manner. When an incident occurs on a bus, for example, the control centre will be able to identify the exact location of the bus and send assistance.

As part of Winnipeg Transit's ITS development, improvements will be made to in-vehicle safety for both passengers and operators. An on-board security camera system will be installed on all Winnipeg Transit buses beginning in late fall 2007.

Real-Time Schedule Information
Winnipeg Transit provides passengers with extensive schedule information (printed timetables, schedule posters at stops, Telebus, on-line route and stop schedules, and the web-based Navigo trip planner)., As buses operate in in mixed traffic, transit service is subject to delays caused by traffic congestion, construction, parade detours, vehicular accidents, emergency response, weather events, and many other factors. To provide passengers with the most current service information, it needs to be in real-time.

With AVL capabilities, "Real-Time Schedule Information" can be provided to passengers before and during their trip through a variety of communication devices such as the internet in homes, schools, and work, Telebus by cell phones and land lines, and wireless information via Personal Digital Assistants like a Blackberry, "next bus" displays at major bus stops similar to flight information at airports.

On board buses, the AVL system will also permit the name of the next stop to be automatically announced and displayed to passengers on an electronic display suspended from the ceiling as a bus progresses along its route. This technology, common in European transit systems, reduces uncertainty for users and permits occasional and regular passengers alike to use transit with confidence.