St. Catharines Transit (SCT) provides bus service to St. Catharines, Ontario, and the neighbouring city of

Thorold Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first su ...

. The St. Catharines Transit Commission took over operation of transit services within the city from Canadian National Transportation in 1961. The Transit Operations Facility opened in 1991 and the Downtown Terminal (within a regional district building of the

Ontario Ministry of Transportation The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial ministry of the Government of Ontario that is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, when the pro ...

) opened in 1996. The bus terminal is also served by

Coach Canada Coach Canada is the Canadian affiliate of Coach USA. Charter services (rental of bus with driver) when originating in most areas in Ontario can travel to anywhere in North America. Megabus operations however are confined to the provinces of Quebe ...

for

intercity coach service An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public tr ...

to Toronto, with connections to a number of major cities throughout Canada and the United States.

History

Local public transportation in the area originally consisted of horse drawn cars, subsequently upgraded to electric railway service. Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway Company, founded in 1898, was acquired by the

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...

in 1908 which became

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

in 1918 and converted to bus operations after 1931. The portion of this system operating within the City of St. Catharines was transferred to the St. Catharines Transit Commission in 1961, which adopted the current operating name of St. Catharines Transit in 1974. In 2022, the service began exploring an electrification of its existing diesel fleet.

Services

Regular routes

The St. Catharines Transit Commission (SCT) operates most of their routes through Downtown St. Catharines, with routes meeting at the Downtown Bus Terminal. Additional main transfer points also exist at

The Pen Centre The Pen Centre (originally Niagara Peninsula Shopping Centre) is the largest shopping mall in the Niagara Region, located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. History The Pen Centre was built in 1957 as the Niagara Peninsula Centre, a single-l ...

, Fairview Mall and at Brock University. The majority of the routes operate weekdays using one numbering scheme, while weekday evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and major holidays operate with a separate numbering scheme. Though it may appear confusing at first glance, many routes interline, meaning that they continue to other routes once reaching their terminus. This occurs in at the bus terminal in Downtown St. Catharines, and at both northern and southern terminals.St. Catharines Transit Commission website
/ref>

Daytime Bus Routes

* 301 Hospital (Termini: Downtown / Port Dalhousie) * 302 Ontario Street (Termini: Downtown / Lakeshore Road * 303 Pelham Road (Termini: Downtown / Smart Centre West St. Catharines). * 304 Oakdale Avenue (Termini: Downtown / The Pen Centre) * 305 Haig Street (Termini: Linwell @ Geneva / Downtown) * 306 Lake Street (Termini: Downtown / Port Dalhousie) * 307 Niagara Street (Termini: Downtown / Port Weller). * 308 Grantham Avenue (Termini: Downtown / Grantham Lions Park) * 309 Geneva Street (Termini: Downtown / Grantham Lions Park) * 310 Glenridge Avenue (Termini: Downtown / The Pen Centre) * 311 Hartzel Road (Termini: Downtown / St. Davids @ Ormond) * 312 Vine Street (Termini: Downtown / Lakeshore Road) * 314 Scott Street (Termini: Fairview Mall / Dorchester @ Carlton) * 315 West St. Catharines (Termini: Downtown / The Pen Centre) * 316 Glenridge Avenue (Termini: Downtown / Brock University) * 317 Bunting Road (Termini: Downtown / Linwell @ Sherman) * 318 Secord Woods (Termini: Downtown / The Pen Centre) * 320 Thorold (Termini: Pen Centre / Thorold Towpath Terminal) * 321 Confederation Avenue (Termini: Brock University / Thorold Towpath Terminal) * 322 Thorold South (Termini: Thorold Towpath Terminal / Allanburg @ Lynn) * 323 West Brock Commuter (Termini: Brock University / Pelham @ Louth) * 324 Tupper Drive (Termini: Brock University / Richmond @ Confederation) * 328 Brock Towpath Shuttle (Termini: Brock University / Thorold Towpath Terminal) * 331 Richmond Street (Termini: Brock University / Richmond @ Confederation) * 335 Brock Pen Centre Shuttle (Termini: Brock University / The Pen Centre) * 336 Glendale Avenue (Termini: Brock University / The Pen Centre)

Paratransit

In addition to accessible bus routes, which enable those with reduced mobility to board a 'low floor' transit bus, St. Catharines Transit also provides paratransit services for those who cannot board a regular city bus and accessible bus service is not available.

Brock Hub

Located at

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bear ...

this is the main interchange for bus travel within the

Niagara Region The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern ...

and to points beyond. Connections are provided by St. Catharines,

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

and

Welland Transit Welland Transit was a public transportation agency in Welland, Ontario, Canada from 1977 to 2022. Upon its inception in 1973 the bus service was operated by a private company, known as "Metro Niagara Transit," funded by the city of Welland, which a ...

Commissions and

. Centrally located to all the local transit services and adjacent to Hwy 406, the university campus is ideal for this purpose.

Fleet

Vehicles currently being used are

New Flyer Industries New Flyer is a Canadian multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in the production of transit buses. New Flyer is owned by the NFI Group, a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Cana ...

D40LF, DE40LF (diesel-electric hybrid), DE40LFR (diesel-electric hybrid), D60LF, XD40, XD60 (articulated bus), and Nova Bus LFS/LFSA.

References

External links

St. Catharines Transit conventional transit roster at CPTDB Wiki
{{Authority control Transit agencies in Ontario Transport in St. Catharines