Peterborough Transit

Peterborough Transit
Founded 1978 (Originally 1893)
Headquarters 190 Simcoe Street
Locale Peterborough, Ontario
Service area Urban area
Service type Bus service, Paratransit
Routes 12 main routes, 3 express routes
Hubs Downtown Transit Terminal
Fleet 65 buses
Fuel type Diesel
Operator City of Peterborough
Website Official Site

Peterborough Transit is the public transport operator for the City of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

The majority of their system consists of twelve regular routes within the urban area of the city. There are express routes to Trent University and Fleming College. An additional express route, which only operates weekday mornings and afternoons, serves the industrial area in the southeast. For those who are physically unable to use the regular transit bus there is a special Handi-Van paratransit service. Regular transit bus routes operate Monday to Friday between 6:00 am and 11:20 pm, Saturday from 6:40 am to 11:20 pm and Sunday from 8:00 am to 7:20 pm.

History

A Peterborough on George Street.

Transit began in Peterborough as a streetcar service with the Peterborough and Ashburnham Street Railway Company, which was established in 1893 and operated until 1898.[1] This was followed by the Peterborough Radial Railway Company, which operated from 1902 until 1927. This ended the streetcar era in Peterborough.

Cooney and Joplin was briefly the only transit company in the city during 1927 after the Peterborough Radial Railway Company ceased operations. Later during 1927, Border Transit Limited started. It operated through until 1978 at which point the present day Peterborough Transit began operations and continues today.[2]

Routes

Peterborough Transit Terminal
Location 190 Simcoe St., Peterborough, ON
Coordinates 44°18′18″N 78°19′18″W / 44.30500°N 78.32167°W / 44.30500; -78.32167Coordinates: 44°18′18″N 78°19′18″W / 44.30500°N 78.32167°W / 44.30500; -78.32167
Owned by City of Peterborough
Bus operators Peterborough Transit
GO Transit
Other information
Station code GO Transit: PETB
Fare zone 30

There are twelve main routes, two Trent Express routes, one Fleming Express route and paratransit service.

Main routes

All core routes operate seven days a week at 40 minute headways (Routes 2, 7, 8, and 10 run on 20 minute service between 7 and 9 am, and 2:20 and 6 pm). Each of these routes terminates at the Peterborough Transit Terminal, which is at the intersection of Simcoe Street and Aylmer Street in the downtown area.

Regular Routes
No. Name Terminus Other Destinations Served
1 George North Trent University Northcrest Plaza
2 Chemong Walmart on Chemong Northcrest Plaza, Brookdale Plaza
3 Highland Portage Plaza Brookdale Plaza
4 Jackson Park Glenforest & Weller Peterborough Regional Health Centre
5 Charlotte Lansdowne & The Parkway Peterborough Regional Health Centre
6 SSFC/Kawartha Sir Sandford Fleming College
7 Lansdowne Sir Sandford Fleming College Lansdowne Place
8 Monaghan Monaghan & Crawford Lansdowne Place
9 Nicholls Park Armour & Nassau Mills
10 Collison Collison & Bensfort Market Plaza
11 Ashburnham Willowcreek Plaza
12 Major Bennett Major Bennett & Jameson Lansdowne Place, Market Plaza

Trent University Express Routes

Peterborough Transit bus 14 on Trent Express East Bank service.

Trent University routes connect the school with downtown and run at 10-minute headways daily during the Fall and Spring semesters, with reduced service during breaks and the Summer semester. A late night service that serves the west bank route outbound and the eastbank route inbound runs until 3:20 AM. The service is directly paid for by the students through their tuition fees.

Trent Express Routes
Name Terminus
Trent East Bank Express Otanabee Residences
Trent West Bank Express Bata Library
Trent Late Night Bata/Otanabee Residence

Other express routes

The Technology Drive route operates during the weekday rush year round. The Fleming College route operates during the weekday rush only when school is in session. Both routes terminate in downtown. The TASS route operates four trips in the morning from the downtown terminal to Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School, and four trips from TASS to the downtown terminal in the afternoon. The route is an alternative to 20-minute service on the Nicholls Park route during the school year, as most riders during the morning and afternoon rush are going to or from the school.

Express Routes Notes
Name Terminus
Fleming Lansdowne Fleming College
Fleming Sherbrooke Fleming College To be introduced in January 2017
Fleming Late Night Fleming College
TASSS Thomas A. Stewart Secondary Operates only 4 trips in morning/afternoon
Technology Drive Ashburnham & Technology

Fares

[3]

Age group Individual Fare 10 Ride Card 30 Day Pass
Children (Under 2) Free n/a n/a
Children (Ages 2–12) $2.50 $22.00 $40.00
Students in secondary school $2.50 $22.00 $55.00
Adults and post-secondary $2.50 $22.00 $60.00
Seniors
(65 years of age and older) 		$2.50 $22.00 $40.00

There is also a senior semi-annual and annual passes that cost $220 and $165 respectively.

Sir Sandford students pay $365 in tuition fees, for buses and other improvements to the campus. Trent students pay up to $300 in tuition fees for a 13 month pass. In addition, a day pass now allows up to two adults and four children unlimited rides for a day, this pass is $8.00. There's also a fare for "TransCab", which is for people with wheelchairs, scooters, etc. the fare is $3.00 per trip. Transfers are valid for 90 minutes to allow connections to other routes.

Fleet

Make Model Quantity Notes
Nova Bus LFS 63
Ontario Bus Industries Orion VI 4 All four are/will be retired by 2018.

Criticisms

Many Peterborough Transit riders have criticized buses for being repeatedly late. Since 2005, Peterborough Transit has been slowly implementing changes to improve bus schedules. In 2006, buses began running every 40 minutes, rather than every 30 minutes, since buses would often run every 35–45 minutes anyway. This way, buses could at least meet their schedules.

Peterborough Transit is also frequently criticized for not having buses run late enough. During weekdays, the last bus departs from the terminal at 10:40, even though many riders need buses until around 1:00 am. It was also criticized for not offering Sunday service, a problem that was fixed in 2006.

The mayor, Daryl Bennett, owner of Capitol Taxi, proposed changes that would result in the cancellation of Saturday service after 6:00 pm.[4] However, on January 31, 2011. Peterborough city council voted against these transit cuts because of the overwhelming number of complaints from residents,and because of the perceived conflict of interest for the mayor.

The buses being required to back out of the bays at the existing terminal eat up roughly 10 minutes before all buses can start their trips. This can cause buses to end up running behind schedule later on in the day, as the arrival/depart time at the terminal generally falls farther and farther behind the more trips that are made.

Attempts to implement a Community Bus route by merging the Trent East Bank and the Nicholls Park route failed, mainly due to overcrowding issues on the route (renamed to 'Trent Armour'). As a result, the East Bank and Nicholls Park route returned and the Trent Reid and Trent Armour were cancelled.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Elwood James (2016-11-05). "The Street Railway in Peterborough". Peterborough Examiner. Retrieved 2016-11 05. Peterborough had a street railway from 1893 to 1897, and then from 1904 to 1928. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. ↑ Transit History of Peterborough, Ontario
  3. ↑ http://www.peterborough.ca/Living/City_Services/Transportation/Transit/Fares.htm
  4. ↑ Peterborough Transit, Bus Routes & Schedules
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