Transit Windsor

Transit Windsor

Windsor International Transit Terminal
Founded	1977 (Predecessor SW&A was founded in 1872)
Headquarters	3700 North Service Road East Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Locale	Windsor, Ontario
Service area	Windsor, Ontario Parts of Essex County (LaSalle, Essex, Kingsville, Leamington, Amherstburg) Detroit, Michigan
Service type	Public transit
Routes	18
Stations	Windsor International Transit Terminal
Fleet	117 buses
Daily ridership	22,410 (2018)
Fuel type	Diesel, Hybrid-Diesel-Electric
Operator	City of Windsor
Executive Director	Tyson Cragg
Website	Official website

Transit Windsor provides public transportation in the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada as well as LaSalle, Essex, Kingsville, Amherstburg and Leamington and serves more than 6 million passengers each year (6.72 million in 2017),^[1] covering an area of 310 km² (120 sq mi) and a population of 235,000. They operate a cross border service between the downtown areas of Windsor and Detroit, Michigan, U.S via the Tunnel Bus, and service to events at Detroit's Comerica Park, Little Caesars Arena, Huntington Place, and Ford Field.^[2] The Windsor International Transit Terminal neighbours with the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre.

History

Transit Windsor was started on November 1, 1977 with 90 transit buses, one double-decker bus from England, three highway coaches, and two suburban buses. Before 1977, the company was called the Sandwich, Windsor & Amherstburg Railway Company or the "SW&A".

1872 to 1939

The earliest ancestor of the SW&A (and thus, Transit Windsor) is the Sandwich and Windsor Passenger Railway Company, which was officially incorporated on March 2, 1872 and operated from July 20, 1874 onwards. On March 3, 1880, it was operated under foreclosure by Mr. A. J. Kennedy, who re-incorporated it as the SW&A on June 25, 1887. During this period, the SW&A was using horse-drawn streetcars. In Autumn of 1877 to May 1878, the SW&A experimented with using steam dummy railway propulsion for its streetcar and interurban services, before switching to electric power on a full-time basis, from August 15, 1891, until May 6, 1939.

A map showing the Detroit United Railway's network in 1904. Interurban routes link street railroads in Detroit, Port Huron, and Windsor.

From August 31, 1901 to March 31, 1920, the SW&A was under ownership of the Detroit United Railway, when the local municipalities (the cities of Windsor and East Windsor, the towns of La Salle, Riverside, Tecumseh, Amherstburg, Ojibway, Sandwich, and Walkerville, and the townships Sandwich East and Sandwich West) purchased it back from them to retain it as a municipal operation.^[3] A result of this sale was the SW&A switching to electric streetcars, though the company began phasing out streetcars (electric and steam) during the 1930s and began using motorbuses. While under municipal ownership, it was operated by the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario from April 1, 1920 until September 22, 1934 under their "Hydro Electric Railways: Essex District" division.

Electric trolleybuses were introduced on May 4, 1922, but were withdrawn on January 10, 1926, with the arrival of their replacements, the motorbuses. During the Great Depression, the SW&A withdrew its buses from regular service to save on operations costs, becoming purely trolley and interurban in service from 1931 until March 21, 1938, when buses returned and the interurban and trolley lines started being decommissioned.

On that date (March 21, 1938), the trolley lines to Amherstburg were the first to be replaced with buses, with the "Windsor-Walkerville" along Wyandotte Street and "Erie Streetcar" along Ottawa Street being the last to convert to buses, on May 6, 1939. The Windsor-Tecumseh Interurban would be the last rail service of any type, being replaced with buses on May 15, 1938.^[4][5]

Remains of the streetcar network can be found at the intersection of Sandwich and Mill streets, where the crosswalks of Sandwich Street still retain their original streetcar rails from 1939. Keen-eyed motorists and pedestrians can still see the paved-over rails along Elm Avenue between Riverside Drive and University Avenue as two long, exceptionally straight grooves or cracks in the pavement. A business on University Avenue (formerly London Street) called "the Junction" is one of the original streetcar barns that was used by SW&A before it ended use of the streetcars.

Windsor Electric Street Railway Company

The Windsor Electric Street Railway was the first public electric street railway in Canada, having begun service on June 6, 1886 with official opening ceremonies on June 9.^[6] Electricity was replaced with steam dummy operations in April 1888 until the fall of that year, when it was replaced with horse-drawn carriages afterwards. It was reorganized on April 18, 1893 as the City Railway Company of Windsor, and was leased to the SW&A on March 21, 1894. The SW&A would completely absorb it on June 4, 1904 turning the Windsor-Essex Street Railway into its trolley line to Walkerville, Ontario.

Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Interurban

March 31, 1902 saw the purchase of the South Essex Electric Railway (incorporated on April 7, 1896) by the SW&A, which held a charter to construct an interurban line to Amherstburg. This purchase would allow the SW&A to construct the yet-unbuilt line to Amherstburg from Windsor. The line was completed by the SW&A on July 4, 1903 and operated until May 15, 1938, when it was the first of the lines to be replaced with buses. Bus service to Amherstburg was sold to an independent operator, Sun Parlour Coach Lines in 1958, and would be absorbed into Charterways in 1960.

Windsor and Tecumseh Electric Railway Company

The Windsor and Tecumseh Electric Railway Company was incorporated in 1904 and acquired the charter and assets of the Ontario Traction Company, Limited's yet-unbuilt interurban line to Tecumseh from Windsor, on May 25, 1905. The line began interurban trolley service from May 1, 1907, and was purchased by the SW&A on March 31, 1920. It, and the "Erie Streetcar" along Ottawa Street in Windsor, were the two last trolleys/interurbans to be discontinued, surviving until May 15, 1938. Bus service would continue to Tecumseh until 1956.

The original interurban trolley line ran along Wyandotte Street, then Clairmont Street (later Clairview Street, today's Clairview Trail) and Ganatchio Trail before turning south along the west side of Lesperance Road in Tecumseh, terminating at a loop next to the CN Rail/VIA Rail tracks.^[4][7]

Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore Interurban

The Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore Rapid Railway Company was incorporated in 1901 and was controlled by the Dominion Traction and Lighting Company. This Interurban line became active on September 19, 1907 and introduced a regional bus service by 1925 as "Highway Motor Coach Line". It would be acquired by local municipalities (City of Windsor, towns of Kingsville, Leamington and Essex and the townships of Sandwich West, Sandwich East, Sandwich South, Gosfield North and Gosfield South) as the Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore Electric Railway Association on September 8, 1929, coming under common ownership with the SW&A and its interurban lines. Under its new ownership, the line received substantial upgrades to its rails, as well as brand-new rolling stock. Its interurban cars and buses were branded as "The Sunshine County Route". Due to a severe drop in riders, service was suspended in 1932. Attempts to sell the line to a steam railroad was unsuccessful and all infrastructure was dismantled and sold in 1935 Interurban service was along city streets in Leamington and Windsor, and either on its own right of way or parallel to the public highway in the county.^[8][9]

1940s to 1960s

In the 1940s, SW&A was running Ford and Twin Coach branded buses. During the 1950s, it stopped the River Canard line (1951), the 6 mile Tecumseh route (1956), and the Amherstburg line (1958).

In the 1960s it ran 14 routes:

1. Crosstown 2. Dougall Avenue 3. Erie Street 4. Highway No.2 5. Lauzon Road 6. Malden Road 7. Howard Avenue

8. Ottawa 9. Pillette 10. St. Mary's Academy 11. Sanatorium 12. Sandwich East 13. Tecumseh-Drouillard 14. Wellington-Campbell

By 1973, these would be renumbered to the following:

1 Ouellette 2 Bruce 3 Riverdale 4 Campbell 5 Ottawa 6 Dominion 7 Crosstown 8 Dougall

9 Erie 10 Highway #2 11 Forest Glade 12 Howard 12A Devonshire (Came later than 1973) 13 Lincoln 14 Lauzon 15 Malden 16 Wellington

Lincoln-Trent Management Limited operated system for the City of Windsor from July 15, 1970 to November 1973.

1977 to present

Transit Windsor New Flyer XDE40 hybrid bus in 2014

After changing its name to "Transit Windsor" in 1977, the company began operating GMC New Look buses and GM highway coaches.

In the 1980s, Transit Windsor bought 30 ft (9.14 m) and 40 ft (12.19 m) Orion 01.501 and 01.508 buses and 40 ft (12.19 m) GM New Looks. The company also purchased GM Classics, MCI Classics, and an Orion 05.501 demo.

In 1997 it purchased its first low-floor buses, the Nova Bus LFS. No new high-floor buses have been purchased since.

On Sunday, June 24, 2007, Transit Windsor and Greyhound began using the newly constructed Windsor International Transit Terminal (WITT).^[10] The new facility was built to replace the former bus station which was in disrepair. The routes that run through WITT include the Transway 1A, Transway 1C, Central 3 West, Ottawa 4, Dominion 5, Dougall 6, Walkerville 8, Parent 14 and the Tunnel Bus. The terminal is located at 300 Chatham Street West behind the Windsor International Aquatics and Training Centre.

In 2014, Transit Windsor placed 16 used vehicles into service that were second-hand units from London Transit. Those units were numbered 670-685 and were New Flyer D40i Invero model buses.

Routes

Current Transit Windsor bus routes (2022)[11]
	#	Route Name	Terminus	Terminus	Via	Other Major Destinations	Service	Notes
	518X	518 Express	Tecumseh Mall	St. Clair College	E. C. Row Expressway	Devonshire Mall	Limited-stop express route
	418X	418 Express	Tecumseh Mall	Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	Tecumseh East, College Avenue & Sandwich Street.	University of Windsor	Limited-stop express route weekday service
	1A	Transway 1A	Windsor International Transit Terminal	Devonshire Mall	Ouellette & Howard		20 minute peak service weekdays and Saturday, 30 min service all day Sunday
	1C	Transway 1C	Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	Forest Glade	University, Ouellette & Tecumseh East	Windsor International Transit Terminal	10 minute weekday service, 15-30 minute evening/night service. 20-30 minute Saturday service. 40-60 minute Sunday service.
	2	Crosstown	Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	Tecumseh Mall	Wyandotte Street		10 minute peak weekday service 30 minute evening/night service, 20-30 minute Saturday service, 40-60 minute Sunday service
	3	Central	Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	Transit Centre	Tecumseh West, Erie, Drouillard, Pillette	Rhodes Industrial Park	30 minute weekday service, 60 minute evening/night service. 30-60 minute Saturday service, 60 minute Sunday service
	4	Ottawa	Windsor International Transit Terminal	Lauzon Parkway	Giles, Ottawa, Seminole, George, Pillette, and Ford	Tecumseh Mall	20 minute peak weekday service 45 min evening/night service. 30-45 minute Saturday service, 50 minute Sunday service.
	6	Dougall	Windsor International Transit Terminal	St. Clair College	Dougall Avenue		40 minute peak weekday service, 40-70 min Saturday service, 70 min Sunday service.
	7	South Windsor	Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	Legacy Park/Silver City	Sprucewood, Todd Ln & Cabana	St. Clair College, Devonshire Mall	30 min service Weekdays, 50 minute service Saturday, No Sunday/holiday service (except Boxing day 50 min service)	Note 1
	8	Walkerville	Windsor International Transit Terminal	Walker @ North Talbot	Lincoln/Gladstone & Walker		30 minute peak weekday service, 70 minute evening/night service. 40-70 min Saturday service, 70 minute Sunday service. Service to Windsor Airport weekdays only.
	10	Lauzon	Tecumseh Mall	Forest Glade (Southbound), East Riverside (Northbound)	Lauzon, Banwell & McHugh	WFCU Centre, St. Joseph's High School	No Sunday or holiday service. 35 minute peak weekday service. 70 minute Saturday service.
	14	Parent	Windsor International Transit Terminal	Devonshire Mall	Parent Avenue	Remington Park	No Sunday, Holiday, or evening service. 40 minute peak weekday service, no evening service. 60 minute Saturday service.	Note 1
	115	Dominion	Windsor International Transit Terminal	St. Clair College	Dominion & Campbell		20 minute weekday service 6 AM -11 PM, 30-60 min Saturday service, 60 minute Sunday service.	Replaces Dominion 5
	2222	Tunnel Bus	Windsor International Transit Terminal	Rosa Parks Transit Center, Downtown Detroit	Detroit-Windsor Tunnel		60 minute service 7 days a week	Note 2
	25	LaSalle	St. Clair College	Morton Drive	Normandy & Malden	Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex	No Sunday & Holiday or evening Service. 45 minute peak service on weekdays, 90 minute Saturday service
	305	Dominion	Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	St. Clair College	Dominion & Campbell		30 minute weekday service 6 AM -11 PM, 30-60 min Saturday service, 60 minute Sunday service.	Replaces Dominion 5
	42	Leamington LTW	St. Clair College	Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre	Highway 3	Essex Centre Sports Complex, Kingsville Arena Complex	Three times daily service during the week. Twice daily service on Saturday.
	605	Amherstburg	Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare Terminal	Amherstburg	Ojibway Parkway, Front Road		Three times daily service 7 days a week

Former routes

• Ouellette 1
• Transway 1B
• Transway 1C Express
• Crosstown 2 Express
• Central 3 West

• Dominion 5
• Dominion 5A
• Dominion 5B/C
• Dougall 6 Express
• Dougall 6A
• Dougall 6B
• Dougall 6A/B
• South Windsor 7A
• South Windsor 7B
• South Windsor 7C
• South Windsor 7D
• Walkerville 8A
• Walkerville 8B
• Drouillard 9
• Eastown 11
• Roseland 12
• Ojibway 13

Notes

represents all trips on designated route are fully accessible. (all routes have some accessible trips) Based on Fall 2014-Fall 2015 schedule. As of 2020 all buses are fully accessible.

Note 1. Service on the South Windsor 7 and Parent 14 ends at 7 PM

Note 2. The Tunnel Bus runs from Windsor International Transit Terminal to the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit, Michigan via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. More information can be found on Transit Windsor's website

Ridership

Between 2007 and 2017, ridership steadily grew while Transit Windsor's service area stayed stagnant at around 210,000 to 220,000 people.^[1]

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019[12]	2020	2021	2022[13]	2023[14]
Yearly ridership[1]	6.29m	6.86m	6.16m	6.10m	6.39m	6.41m	6.44m	6.37m	6.35m	6.51m	6.72m	8.18m	8.40m			5.26m	9.49m

References

1. "Transit Windsor Transit Master Plan" (PDF). City of Windsor. 2019. p. 7. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
2. "Tunnel Bus to Detroit". Retrieved 21 December 2012.
3. "Tecumseh DUR Station". internationalmetropolis.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
4. David A. Wyatt (2016-07-04). "Windsor, Ontario: Principal System". University of Manitoba. Archived from the original on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
5. Shaw, Gordon C. "The Erie Street Car". Walkerville Times Magazine. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
6. Tucker, Sherrill. "The Junction: Birthplace of Windsor & Area's Transit System". WalkervilleTimes.com. Walkerville Publishing. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
7. "Tecumseh Canada". Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
8. "Windsor, Essex & Lake Shore Rapid Rwy". newdavesrailpix.com. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
9. "The Windsor, Essex & Lake Shore Rapid Railway". Archived from the original on November 28, 2007.
10. "Grand Opening Of New Downtown Windsor Bus Terminal". Canada NewsWire Group. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
11. "Transit Windsor Routes". Retrieved 22 August 2014.
12. https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/city-of-windsor-takes-delivery-of-24-new-buses-as-ridership-increases-following-pandemic
13. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/transit-windsor-increased-ridership-1.7278869#:~:text=Total%20ridership%20for%202023%20was%20nearly%209.5%20million%20compared%20to,linked%20trips%20(including%20transfers).&text=Compared%20to%20pre%2Dpandemic%20ridership,increase%20of%2013%20per%20cent.
14. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/transit-windsor-increased-ridership-1.7278869#:~:text=Total%20ridership%20for%202023%20was%20nearly%209.5%20million%20compared%20to,linked%20trips%20(including%20transfers).&text=Compared%20to%20pre%2Dpandemic%20ridership,increase%20of%2013%20per%20cent.

External links

• Media related to Transit Windsor at Wikimedia Commons
• Transit Windsor homepage
• Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore Rapid Railway | Rock on Trains - maps and photos of the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Interurban Railway; the Windsor and Tecumseh Electric Railway Company; and the Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore Rapid Railway