History of Winnipeg Transit
19th Century History of
Winnipeg Transit
21st Century History of
Winnipeg Transit
1900s
July 25, 1900 -- Winnipeg, Selkirk, and Lake Winnipeg Railway was incorporated.summer 1900 -- Turning loop constructed on Cornish Ave. between Sherbrook and Maryland.
March 1, 1902 -- Winnipeg General Power Co. and Suburban Rapid Transit Co. incorporate by Acts of the Manitoba Legislature.
1902 Osborne St. double tracked from River Ave. through to Corydon Ave. to better serve River Park and Elm Park.
August 6, 1902 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. begins track laying work along Portage Ave. from St. James St. to the Village of Headingley MB.
1903 -- Agreement reached between WESR and SRT that SRT would lease streetcars from WESR. In order for the Suburban Rapid Transit Co. to have enough hydro electric to serve Headingley MB, an agreement to construct the St. James Substation at the corner of Portage Ave. @ St. James St. Single track extended to serve the J.Y. Griffin's meat packing plant (Griffin's Spur), running from north side of the Louise Bridge, north on Levis and west via Midwinter Ave. to Kelvin Ave. to East Kildonan Road (Henderson Hwy.) @ Linden Ave.
1903 -- Track expanded along Dufferin Ave. from Main St. to Sinclair Ave.
December 2, 1903 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. officially opens its' line on Portage Ave. from St. James St. to St. Charles.
1904 -- Winnipeg General Power Co. & Winnipeg Electric Street Railway merge.
November 25, 1904 -- Fort Rouge and Selkirk routes, and Broadway and St. John's routes combined, making them the first "through routes".
December 20, 1905 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. extends tracks from St. Charles to Headingley MB. As a result of SRT's expansion to Headingley, dairy farmers and market gardeners of Headingley were now able to ship their product into the City. SRT builds dairy platforms at some locations.
1906 -- Sunday streetcar service implemented.
1906 -- Tracks extended along East Kildonan Rd. (Henderson Hwy.) from Springfield Rd. to Foxgrove Ave. Tracks constructed along Pembina Hwy. from Corydon Ave. through to Carlaw. Suburban Rapid Transit Co. constructs line to Tuxedo Park via Canadian Northern Bridge (near what is now Kenaston Blvd.) to the southeast entrance of Assiniboine Park.
1907 -- Corydon route implemented, running along Academy, south on Stafford St. to Grosvenor Ave.
1907 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. extends track southward from Victoria St. to the St. Charles Country Club. The motorman was the caretaker of the Country Club. There was no schedule on this spur line as it ran on members' request.
1908 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. extends service to Tuxedo Park via Canadian Northern Railway across Assiniboine River, south on Kenaston Blvd., west on Willow Ave., south on Doncaster St., west on Roblin Blvd., as far as Assiniboine Park,
1909 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. extends track along Roblin Blvd. from Assiniboine Park to the Charleswood Post Office.
1910s - 1930s
1913 -- Winnipeg Electric Railway Chambers, WESR's administration office, completed Notre Dame @ Albert St.May 1, 1918 -- First gas powered bus commences service along Westminster route.
1921 -- Great Falls hydro project started.
April 25, 1924 -- Winnipeg Electric Railway Company renamed to Winnipeg Electric Co.
May 6, 1930 -- Last streetcar to Headingley, replaced by Headingley bus service to Portage @ Hargrave St. in Winnipeg.
August 20, 1930 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. withdraws Headingley bus service, as it had lost up to $900/month.
September 13, 1935 -- Charleswood bus replaces Charleswood streetcar line.
November 21, 1938 -- First trolley coach in operation on Sargent route.
late 1930s -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co. implements bus service on Berry, Woodhaven, Muriel, and St. Charles routes.
1940s
October 26, 1940 -- Suburban Rapid Transit Co.'s 35-year franchise ended and all assets and liabilities were sold off to Winnipeg Electric Co. (WECo.)Winter 1945/46 -- Winnipeg Electric Co. (WECo.) ridership reaches an all time high of 105 million, a number that has never been surpassed since.
Spring 1949 -- Corydon/Cambridge Loop constructed.
October 1949 -- Crescent bus commences service, taking on part of the River Ave. bus, which was discontinued.
1950s
March 25, 1953 -- Though there was only a 22.8% turnout at the polls, citizens in the City of Winnipeg proper vote overwhelmingly to create a publicly owned Transit system that would serve the Metro Winnipeg area. View the results of the vote.May 29, 1953 -- Greater Winnipeg Transit Commission takes over the assets of Winnipeg Electric Company and comes under the control of Winnipeg City Council plus representatives of 4 suburban Municipalities in Greater Winnipeg. It is now a publicly owned transit system.
February 20, 1955 -- Carruthers Garage, used for storage of trolleybuses, opens.
September 19, 1955 -- Last streetcar, car #374.
November 1955 -- Talbot-Grant bus service, the longest bus route of its time, starts.
April 14, 1957 -- Greater Winnipeg Transit Commission increased Transit fares. View a reproduction of the original notice which appeared in the Friday April 12, 1957 edition of the Winnipeg Tribune.
Spring 1957 -- Express service trial in Winnipeg. The route ran from Downtown Winnipeg to the Windsor Park subdivision in the City of St. Boniface via Marion St.
November 1957 -- Winnipeg's first Express route in regular service running from Downtown Winnipeg to Assiniboia Manitoba, "Express St. Charles" and "Express Downtown". A 5 cent premium fare was required for riding in the Express zone and was paid as the rider entered or left the bus.
November 1957 -- Grant bus service extended to Grant @ Kenaston Blvd. Corydon Airport bus service discontinued -- Airport service operates between Winnipeg International Airport and Portage Ave. only. "Normal School" bus routed via St. James Bridge, south on Kenaston Blvd. to Corydon @ Tuxedo. Academy trolleybus extended to Tuxedo @ Edgeland (Town of Tuxedo border).
1960s
May 1960 -- Express Ness service commences.January 1, 1961 -- Metro Winnipeg Transit takes over from Greater Winnipeg Transit Commission.
January 1, 1962 -- Metro Transit takes over the former route that belonged to White Ribbon Bus Lines which had served Transcona MB for years.
1962 -- Metro Transit Route List from 1962.
January 1, 1964 -- Zone fare system disappears, Metro Transit riders ride on a single fare system throughout the whole Metro area.
June 26, 1966 -- Express Westwood, Express Crestview, and Express St. Charles routes replace single branch Express St. Charles route. Portage West feeder bus, which is now the 82 Westwood feeder, commences service.
September 2, 1969 -- Despite protests from Cambridge St. residents, Waverley bus commences service Monday thru Saturday between Polo Park Shopping Centre in St. James MB and the University of Manitoba in Fort Garry MB.
October 1, 1969 -- Metro Transit implements Photo ID for discount fare for Students and Seniors. Some said having their photo taken for riding the bus is degrading.
November 20, 1969 -- Fort Rouge Transit Base, at 421 Osborne St., Winnipeg opens.
1970s
mid-September 1970 -- Unibus, a chartered service paid for by the University of Manitoba Student's Union, commences service on two routes. It would eventually expand to 7 routes throughout Metro.October 30, 1970 -- Last trolleybus, #1768 operated on the Corydon Kenaston/North Main McAdam route.
January 1, 1972 -- City of Winnipeg amalgamates 15 municipalities, renames Metro Transit to City of Winnipeg Transit System.
November 19, 1973 -- Express Glenway route commences service: AM to Downtown Winnipeg, PM to North Kildonan.
February 18, 1974 -- Express King's Park route commences and serves the University of Manitoba via King's Park. Ridership was so good on the Express King's Park route that WT, in their Public Service News of April 1974, reported "A recent passenger count showed an amazing 50% increase in riding over a comparable day prior to the change in service."
November 18, 1974 -- Dial-a-Ride commences service between Fort Richmond and St. Norbert using 17-passenger Grumann diesel buses.
February 17, 1975 -- D.A.S.H. (Downtown Area SHuttle) service introduced -- Blue and Gold routes.
January 26, 1976 - March 12, 1976 -- A 47-day Transit strike causes people to find other means of transportation in the Metro area. February 1978 -- WT's first ever Park & Ride opens at Garden City Shopping Centre. This first attempt was a flop, as only one person registered.
1980s
Fall 1978-1980 -- Winnipeg Transit installs new design bus stops at some locations in Winnipeg. Rounded rectangular with orange T on left side and international symbol for bus on the right.June-September 1982 (?) -- Two way radios installed in all buses.
September 1982 -- 'Express Charleswood' commences service between Downtown Winnipeg via Grant Ave. to Unicity Mall in Assiniboia.
May-July 1984 -- Route Numbers added to Route Names on buses and informational material.
January 18, 1985 -- New transfers are issued, showing the route no.
Summer 1985 -- WT replaces all bus stops with ones that provide tele.bus phone numbers. tele.bus prefix starts out with 235-nnnn, where nnnn is the bus stop number.
February 1986 -- tele.bus information system officially opens, testing phase complete.
June 22, 1986 -- 57 Southdale Express commences service between Downtown Winnipeg and Island Lakes subdivision of St. Boniface MB.
September 1986 -- Polo Park Transit Terminal opens.
September 1986 -- St. Vital Transit Terminal opens.
November 17, 1986 -- 54 St. Mary's Express commences service to South St. Vital. A renamed 16 Osborne Express becomes 58 Dakota Express and commences service to River Park South subdivision of St. Vital.
1990s
September 2, 1991 -- 31 Keewatin Express commences service between Downtown Winnipeg to Oak Point Hwy. and Meadows West part of northwest Winnipeg. 77 Crosstown North commences service between Kildonan Place (Transcona) and Polo Park Transit Terminal (St. James).August 31, 1994 -- WT's first (since February 1978) Park & Ride Stations open -- Main St. @ Jefferson Ave. (West Kildonan), Grant Ave. @ Laxdall (Charleswood).
September 1994 -- Phase I of Graham Avenue Transit Mall (Vaughan to Donald St.) opens.
September 1995 -- Phase II of Graham Avenue Transit Mall (Donald to Main St.) opens.
September 1, 1995 -- Kildonan Place Transit Terminal opens.
September 5, 1995 -- Bus Only lanes implemented on Main St. between Graham Avenue Transit Mall to Higgins Ave. Another Bus Only lane operates on Goulet St. in St. Boniface from Tache Ave. thru the Main-Norwood Bridge Complex.
September 5, 1995 -- 64 Lindenwoods Express service commences between Whyte Ridge subdivision of Fort Garry (MB) via Lindenwoods East subdivision of Tuxedo to/from Downtown Winnipeg.
June 16, 1996 -- DART "dial-a-bus" 1 year pilot project begins.
September 1996 -- Bus Only lane extended along Main St. from Graham Avenue Transit Mall thru to just over the Main-Norwood Bridge Complex in St. Boniface MB and northbound along St. Mary's Rd. from Enfield Cres. to the Main-Norwood Bridge Complex.
August 18, 1997 -- Bus Only lane implemented southbound along Osborne St. between St. Mary Ave. and River Ave. in Winnipeg, weekdays between the hours of 1530h-1730h (3:30 PM - 5:30 PM).
August 31, 1997 -- Weekend service was eliminated on 11 suburban feeder routes (see Transit News to view list of affected routes). Service was reinstated two weeks later, September 13th 1997, after massive protests from riders, particularly in the Westwood subdivision of Assiniboia and riders of the 95 Morley bus.
October 1997 -- Second generation St. Vital Centre Transit Terminal opens for service as previous space required for St. Vital Centre expansion.
October 1997 -- Bus roller signs are replaced from white text on a black background which was used for the past 100 years or so. The roller sign text will now be displayed in fluorescent yellow on a black background. This means that there will no longer be a difference between local and Express routes in terms of colour of the roller sign; green and red for Express. Some Express routes, for example, 47 Transcona Express (red) will become 46 Transcona Express. The last redesign of Winnipeg Transit bus stops was in 1985 when tele.bus info was added.
July 23, 1999 -- Winnipeg Transit debuts a new Internet website, www.winnipegtransit.com which coincides with the opening of the 1999 PanAm Games which were held in Winnipeg. WT's website provides up to date route schedules and maps, a service that UWTO had provided since 1997.