Regina Transit is the public transportation agency operated by the City of

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is the oldest public transit system in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and has been city-owned since its inception.

History

Regina Transit's roots go back to July 28, 1911 (as the Regina Municipal Railway) with streetcar operations, originally on of track, growing to 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

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 A Telebus, Dial-a-bus, or Dial-a-ride service is a bus service that operates in a mode partway between a normal scheduled bus service and a taxi; it is a form of demand responsive transport. Telebuses typically have a scheduled route, but passeng ...

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. 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 operates 21 routes on weekdays, 12 routes on Saturdays and 9 routes on Sunday with statutory holidays following Sunday schedule * 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 Mosaic Stadium is an open-air stadium at REAL District in Regina, Saskatchewan. Announced on July 12, 2012, the stadium replaced Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field as the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders. It wa ...

during major events held at the stadium, including

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

football games.

High School Special

Regina transit offers a service for students travelling to LeBoldus,

Campbell Collegiate Campbell Collegiate is a public high school located in the Whitmore Park area of south Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A part of Regina Public Schools, it has operated since 1963 and currently has the largest student population among high schools i ...

Balfour Collegiate Balfour Collegiate is a public high school in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, named after the city's former mayor, James Balfour. A part of Regina Public Schools, it officially opened on September 2, 1930. It is located in the Core Group neighbourh ...

, Miller Comprehensive, Sheldon Williams Collegiate,

Winston Knoll Winston may refer to: Places Antarctica * Winston Glacier Australia * Winston, Queensland, a suburb of the City of Mount Isa United Kingdom * Winston, County Durham, England, a village * Winston, Suffolk, England, a village and civil par ...

and

Riffel Riffel is a surname, and may refer to: * Caspar Riffel (1807–1856), German historian * James Riffel (born 1961), American film director and screenwriter * Rena Riffel Rena Riffel (born March 5, 1969) is an American actress, singer, dancer, ...

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.

Bus fleet

Regina Transit's fleet consists mostly of

Nova Bus Nova Bus (stylized as NOVABUS) is a Canadian bus manufacturer headquartered in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada. Nova is owned by the Volvo Group. The company has roots in the General Motors Diesel Division, which opened in 1979. Nova Bus was est ...

es, with a few

Vicinity Surroundings are the area around a given physical or geographical point or place. The exact definition depends on the field. Surroundings can also be used in geography (when it is more precisely known as vicinity, or vicinage) and mathematics, ...

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.

NovaBus Fleet

The

fleet is the backbone of Regina Transit's fleet, consisting of

Nova Bus LFS The Low Floor Series (LFS) is a series of transit buses manufactured by Nova Bus for North American customers from 1996 to the present. It is produced in 40' rigid and 62' articulated (nominal) lengths with a variety of powertrains, including conve ...

buses. Buses built in 1998-99 were originally built for

CATS The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

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 Saskatoon Transit (formerly Saskatoon Municipal Railway) is the public transport arm of the Saskatoon, City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It operates a fleet of Diesel engine, diesel buses. A total of 23 bus routes serve every area of the c ...

. Buses manufactured between 2005-2019 are numbered 598-665 and 667-699 and 812-836.

Vicinity Fleet

The

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.

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. Regina Paratransit Service

References

External links

*
Official Regina Transit websiteRegina Transit - Online Trip Planner
{{Authority control Transport in Regina, Saskatchewan Transit agencies in Saskatchewan Bus transport in Saskatchewan