Winnipeg Transit

Recent history (1970–present)

1970–73

The last trolleybus in Winnipeg ran on 30 October 1970; the vehicle used is preserved.

As early as 1971, Dial-A-Bus was studied as a way to transport passengers from very low-density suburban neighbourhoods.

In August 1970, several River Heights residents opposed a jointly managed Unibus shuttle service for students of the University of Manitoba. Riding Unibus would save students from paying the regular adult fare, instead having them pay $20 for six months' use. In December, however, a legal case was opened at the Manitoba Court of Queens Bench, filed by a Lindsay Street (River Heights) resident claiming that Metro Transit, under the 1960 Metropolitan Winnipeg Act, had no authority to operate the Unibus service. Residents were upset that the routes would depreciate housing where the buses traversed and that the service was only available to University students. In September 1971, 60 residents showed up to the last Metro Council meeting to protest the running of the Unibus service in the Riverview area, complaining of bus traffic on Balfour, Maplewood, and Casey streets.

Two weeks later, the City's civic election took place, replacing Metro Winnipeg with a Unicity government. Upon this municipal merger, public transit services became the responsibility of the newly unified City of Winnipeg on January 1, 1972, with Metro Transit becoming the City of Winnipeg Transit Department, or Winnipeg Transit.

At the behest of Metro, a summer-only shuttle service to Birds Hill Provincial Park, outside the city, was instituted on 21 May 1971, charging 75 cents for adults and 50 cents for seniors. However, Winnipeg Transit would go on to say that they were not making enough on the fares to pay for the shuttle, and ended the service on 3 September 1979.

1974–79

Express bus service between downtown Winnipeg and King's Park commenced 17 February 1974, replacing the local bus service to that community.

In February 1975, the city began DASH (Downtown Area SHuttle; now Downtown Spirit), a free shuttle service operating on 5-minute headways, Mondays to Fridays between 9am and 4pm, throughout the Central Business District of downtown Winnipeg.

In early 1976, the union for Winnipeg Transit, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1505, had not signed a new contract. Workers went off the job starting 26 January 1976. Both the Mayor of Winnipeg and Premier of Manitoba were powerless in stopping the transit strike, which strike lasted for 47 days and ended after ratification by the ATU on March 12. Council voted 41-1 (out of a nominal 50 members) the day prior to agree to the new 17-month contract. Councillor Florence Pierce (ICEC - Glenlawn) was the only Councillor present who voted against the new contract. The effects of the strike left many people stranded or unable to travel to work or for medical appointments. The issues were mainly wage and work scheduling-related. The Board of Commissioners had stated that if the ATU wins a pay increase, certain routes may be cancelled and a 10 cent far implemented on the DASH route and Dial-A-Bus service to Saint Norbert & Fort Richmond cancelled. According to D. I. MacDonald:

It may be necessary to review the level of transit service provided, due to the rapid escalation of transit costs, to the point where the transit deficit is now a major budget item.

In 1977, Winnipeg Handi-Transit began as a 2-year test project to provide parallel public transit service to those with limited physical mobility. Two years later, Handi-Transit was made a permanent feature of Winnipeg Transit's operations.

Also in the late 1970s, Winnipeg Transit paid an outside design firm to create a new logo for the transit department, although it would not be until two or three years later when bus stops begun to feature the new design.

1980s–90s

Winnipeg Transit installed a modern two-way radio system, capable of addressing a specific bus in 1982. The project received $2.5 million from the City and $90,000 from the federal government.

In 1982, Winnipeg Transit refurbished 8 GM New Look buses that were originally built in the early 1960s rather than purchasing brand new buses. From 1984 onwards and for the next six years, Winnipeg Transit would refurbish 10 buses annually. When Edmonton and Calgary completed the first phase of their light rail (LRT) systems in the early 1980s, they found that they needed fewer diesel buses. They sold some of them to Winnipeg Transit, which in turn bought 10 double-rear-door Flyer models from Edmonton (380 series) at a cost of $20,000 each, and another nine GM New Look buses from Calgary (290 series) at a cost of $35,000 each. The Edmonton buses had red seats and featured double rear doors. The Edmonton buses were sold off by 1985.

In April 1982 the Works and Operations Committee awarded Mediacom, Inc. a contract to build and maintain 200 transit shelters with advertising for a period of 15 years.

During the week of 23 September 1982, Winnipeg Transit tested a GM-built articulated bus on the Portage and Pembina routes. The bus, numbered 900, was constructed from parts of a GM New Look with a Classic front end. It was destined to operate as part of the Mississauga Transit fleet.

Winnipeg Transit purchased 20 electronic fareboxes from GFI in 1985 at the cost of C$7,000 each to eliminate theft of dollar bills by bus operators. However, the boxes were incompatible with the one dollar loonie coin introduced in 1987 and were then removed from service.

During the summer of 1985 all bus stops in Winnipeg were replaced with new ones bearing a telephone number that started with 235-. When a transit passenger called this number he/she would hear a computerized female voice give the current time, and the transit routes and times those routes passed through that particular stop. Telebus, which is based on software by Teleride Corporation, was officially launched in February 1986. Costs were shared 50-50 between the Province and City to pay the $1.3 million to set up the original system. However, in 1987 all bus stop decals were replaced with the 287- telephone exchange.

After Calgary Transit's C-Train LRT expanded into the Northeast in April 1985, 30 brand new Flyer buses (600–630 series) were sold to Winnipeg and put into service in 1986. Calgary Transit had offered to sell 30 "slightly used" GM New Look buses to Winnipeg Transit, but the Province pressured the city to purchase the Flyer buses to support the provincially owned Flyer Industries as a local manufacturer. Building new buses cost the City $5.4 million, $1.5 million more than it would have cost to purchase the "slightly used" Calgary vehicles.

On 31 December 1992, transit services to Headingley were withdrawn.

After several years delay, the Graham Avenue Transit Mall was completed over a two-year period (1994–95) at a cost of $5.7 million.

Winnipeg Transit bought its first low-floor accessible bus in 1994. Also that year, the Winnipeg Free Press conducted a downtown idea contest, which Jeff Lowe won with an idea for a rail-based streetcar to serve the downtown Winnipeg area. Subsequently, this idea was added to the CentrePlan report; the CentrePlan formed a "downtown connector" committee, of which a representative from Winnipeg Transit participated.

Since June 1995, Winnipeg Transit allowed non-directional transfers, which were initially set for a 90-minute period. When the electronic fareboxes were introduced in 2013, the transfer time was reduced to 75 minutes, making it somewhat difficult to accomplish errands that are further away or take up more time. Beginning in September 1995, Winnipeg Transit designated Main Street, between Higgins Avenue and Graham, as a bus-only lane during peak hours (7-9 am, 15h30-17h30 weekdays).

The Pan American Games were hosted by Winnipeg in the summer of 1999, and in order to provide transportation to athletes, volunteers, media, and spectators, Winnipeg Transit increased its fleet to 665 buses.

Also in 1999, the Downtown BIZ had put forward a request for a feasibility study on a streetcar connector for downtown; however, this did not happen until 2002. The subsequent report, which was never released, was very soft on recommending any form of connector service.

2000–10

In September 2000, a new transit route concept was introduced, the SuperExpress. The idea behind the SuperExpress is to shuttle passengers who live in the outer suburbs (closer to the Perimeter Hwy.) faster than the normal Express routes. This was based on how the NYC MTA Bus system is organized. Originally introduced as the 61 University SuperExpress, it has since been extended to other routes, such as 25 Ness SuperExpress, 36 NorthWest SuperExpress.

In the early 21st century, the three levels of government made a deal to fund the development of three infrastructure projects:

1. the Kenaston Underpass, which was completed in the fall of 2006;
2. funding for expansion of the Floodway, which was completed in 2010; and
3. Phase I of the Southwest Transit Corridor, which was completed in 2019

In early 2007, it was announced that, if more than 24 centimetres (9.4 in) of snow were to fall, only 7 mainline transit routes would operate. Since then, Winnipeg Transit has devised a more detailed winter snow plan, with three phases:

• In the first phase (the "Blue Snow Plan"), most suburban and short-trip routes (including DART service) would not operate, and most other routes would operate on shortened or simplified routes.
• In the second phase (the "Red Snow Plan"), transit service would be reduced to 13 routes running along major arterial roads and serving downtown, major hospitals, and the airport.
• In the third phase, transit would cease to operate completely.

As of September 2009, Winnipeg Transit has not had to implement the snow plan.

On November 16, 2007, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments announced the Transit Improvement Program, which included upgrades and improvements to existing infrastructure for buses, such as transit priority signals, transit-only lanes, and new bus shelters. In addition to an order of 33 new regular 12-metre (40 ft) low-floor buses, Winnipeg Transit also ordered twenty new 18-metre (60 ft) articulated Diesel-Electric Hybrid buses; the first bus was delivered by the end of 2007. The test of the first articulated bus was not successful, and that part of the order was cancelled.

In 2008, Winnipeg Transit added the "next stop" program, wherein the upcoming bus stop on a route is announced by a computerized female voice, as well as the street name being shown on a small display on the ceiling at the front of the bus. The display would also show whether a stop has been requested by a passenger. The program was preceded by a phase where transit operators called out stops, which led to debate over whether this would distract drivers from the road.

As of 2009, Telebus operates through only telephone number corresponding to BUS-RIDE phrase. Users can access information about buses stopping at a specific bus stop by entering the five-digit code located on the sign for that stop. The first number of the stop designates the municipal area the stop is located in (1 for the old City of Winnipeg, 5 for St. Boniface and St. Vital, etc.).

In 2010, installation of bicycle racks on buses was revived. (This was preceded by earlier trials on Route 18 in 1999, and on Route 60 from 2000 to 2004 or 2006.) Thirty buses that are used on Routes 160, 162, and 170 now have two-place bike racks installed during summer months, between May 1 and October 31. However, as of 2017, some transit users have been frustrated that the program is not dependable. Beginning in spring 2018, buses with bike racks were made identifiable on Navigo, Winnipeg Transit's online scheduling system.

On 8 April 2012, Winnipeg officially opened the Southwest Transitway, as well as introducing Rapid Transit (RT) to the city.

In 2012, Winnipeg Transit purchased twenty 2003/2004-era New Flyer buses (sized 60 feet or 18.29 metres) from OC Transpo for $53,000 each. After refurbishment between 2012 and 2014, Winnipeg Transit began operating some of these buses, starting with the 54 St. Mary's and 59 South St. Anne's express routes on 13 January 2014.

In July 2016, Winnipeg Transit introduced the Peggo electronic fare payment system, designed to replace paper tickets and passes. This new reloadable electronic fare card featured an embedded microchip that communicates with the on-board farebox.

In a report released in June 2019 it was estimated to cost Winnipeg Transit $2.4 million annually to extend the free fare for children aged birth to 11 (currently age 5).

2019

A June 2019 Leger survey commissioned by the Canadian Urban Transit Association found that in Winnipeg alone, one in three survey respondents "think public transit is poorly developed in their area" and that more than half found "transit infrastructure in their community is outdated."

Since late October 2019, Winnipeg Transit Inspectors have worn protective vests, to protect themselves if there are confrontations with passengers or others nearby.

Contract negotiations

From January 2019 to the fall of that year, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) workers at Winnipeg Transit were without a contract. During the spring and summer there were two days of "free" transit where bus operators did not enforce fares. There were four votes on contracts, all of them voted down. The ATU said that while they did not want to go on strike (as in 1976), they might be forced to do so. Issues this time centered around safety issues since the murder of Irvine Fraser on 14 February 2017.

In mid-September, University of Manitoba Students' Union expressed their support for the transit union's issues, but feared that a major transit strike would cause undue hardship on students as the University of Manitoba is Winnipeg Transit's second most important trip attractor, besides downtown Winnipeg.

A new 48-month contract was voted on, with 52% in favour of accepting the current offer. It was subsequently approved by EPC on October 17, and passed by Council one week later on October 24. The new contract increased wages 1.25% (2020), 2% (2021), 1.75% (2022), and 2% (2023).

Transit Master Plan

In May 2017, transit planner Jarrett Walker was invited by advocacy group Functional Transit Winnipeg to speak in Winnipeg on the topic of a Frequent Transit Network. Jarrett travels to various cities to promote frequent transit as a priority over coverage.

Recently, Winnipeg Transit received funding to redesign its transit system for the next quarter century. Called the Transit Master Plan (TMP), public consultations took place in March and April 2019, with "Draft Route Plans" released in October 2019.

The TMP came about because many passengers feel that many WT routes do not go where people need to go (work, school, shopping). Other issues involve:

• Buses that do not operate frequently enough when people need the service such as late at night or on weekends.
• Passengers experience buses that are early, late, do not show up at all (phantom buses).
• Overcrowding is a problem on several routes. To help alleviate this issue, WT ordered 28 New Flyer 60 ft (18.29 m) buses, with delivery in 2019. These buses will be used on the BLUE BRT route, which begun in April 2020.
• Peggo, the electronic fare card system introduced in 2016, has been plagued by software glitches.
• Adult fares ($3.00 cash, $102.05 monthly) are considered high for those who are underemployed or unemployed. A Low Income Fare & Pass policy is currently being considered for implementation for the Spring of 2020.
• Winnipeg Transit does not serve communities beyond the Perimeter Hwy (with the exception of St. Norbert). These include Headingley, Oakbank, East St. Paul, and Niverville. The Transit Master Plan will examine how to serve these and other communities in the Winnipeg Metro Region.

The TMP process is designed to address the above issues.

Part of the Transit Master Plan may address the issue of serving communities beyond the Perimeter Highway. In March 2019 the RM of Rosser urged Winnipeg Transit to extend its service between the RM and the growing CentrePort employment area. Since then a wider study that is part of an updated Transportation Master Plan will examine ways extending service to exurban communities and introduce Park & Ride facilities on major thoroughfares near the Perimeter Hwy.

A "Public Engagement Report" was published in July summarizing feedback from March and April 2019. On October 25, 2019, the Phase II Draft report of the Transit Master Plan was released. It shows a total redesign of transit routes, many of them operating in a straight line, some no longer operating within the downtown Winnipeg area, some others on other roads. For example, routes 'A' (SW Transitway-Portage), 'B' (Main-St. Mary's), and 'C' (Grant-Regent) are designated rapid transit. The 55 St. Anne's would no longer travel west beyond the Univ. of Winnipeg, and would not travel south on Main St. and St. Mary's Rd. which already duplicates the 14 St. Mary's route. Instead a route 'G' (St. Anne's-Univ. of Winnipeg) would continue eastward over the Provencher Bridge to Rue Des Meurons and head south till it meets with St. Anne's Rd.

Funding for the $2.6 million Transit Master Plan comes from the federally administered Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.

2021

Winnipeg City Council adopted the final TMP on April 29.

2023

In November Winnipeg's Public Works Committee approved a proposal to accelerate implementation of the TMP's primary route network to June 2025, instead of 2026 as previously scheduled.

2024

In 2024, Winnipeg Transit released updated system maps for the upcoming Primary Transit Network. In addition to various route changes, the way Primary Network routes were identified was changed. Instead of using a singular letter (A, B, C, etc.), they would instead use an acronym of the route class (FX, F, D), followed by a number. The only exception was route A, which changed to BLUE, same as the already-existing route. The Feeder Network routes continued to use 2 or 3-digit numbers.

2025

Winnipeg Transit started to introduce zero-emission buses (ZEB) in service. Winnipeg became the first Canadian city to operate a 60-foot battery-electric bus in August and a 60-foot hydrogen fuel cell bus in December. Winnipeg Transit also began operation of 40-foot battery-electric buses in September and 40-foot hydrogen fuel cell buses in December.

On June 29, the Transit Master Plan's Primary Transit Network came into effect, which saw most pre existing routes in the city discontinued or modified. The new network also saw the decommissioning of the Graham Avenue Transit Mall, with all but two stops removed after the new network launched.

Services and programs

From 1975 to 2020, the city was operating the Downtown Spirit (formerly Downtown Area SHuttle, or DASH), a free shuttle service operating weekdays throughout the Central Business District of downtown Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Handi-Transit, introduced as a permanent service of Winnipeg Transit in 1979, provides parallel public transit service to those with limited physical mobility.

Rapid Transit

In response to an expressway plan published in 1957 that was sponsored by the Downtown Winnipeg Association, a city councillor sponsored the hiring of Norman D. Wilson to design a subway plan for the greater Winnipeg area. This plan was published on 11 April 1959 as the Future Development of the Greater Winnipeg Transit System.

In the late 1960s, as part of the Greater Winnipeg Development Plan, the Winnipeg Area Transportation Study (WATS) recommended a 8.7-kilometre (5.4 mi) underground subway line between Queen St. in St. James to Hespeler Avenue in Elmwood.

Winnipeg Transit's official policy since 1973 has been to promote Bus Rapid Transit as the mode of choice for the Southwest Transit Corridor.

By the mid-2000s, Mayor Sam Katz had wanted to move the rapid transit situation forward. He commissioned several studies: Rapid Transit Task Force (2005), Transportation Authority Study (2009), LRT Conversion Study (2009–10), Winnipeg Transportation Strategy (2010).

On April 8, 2012, service on Phase one of Winnipeg's bus rapid transit line; the Southwest Transitway began. All RT routes terminate at Balmoral Station in Downtown Winnipeg (Except Route 185), next to the University of Winnipeg. RT routes then run along the Graham Avenue Transit Mall to Main Street, then south down Queen Elizabeth Way to Stradbrook Avenue where buses enter the 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) Southwest Transitway and travel southwest.

There are four stations on the Southwest Transitway; Harkness Station, Osborne Station, Fort Rouge Station, and Jubilee Station.

Buses enter/exit the Southwest Transitway either just past Osborne Station or the Jubilee Overpass and continue to their final destinations in South Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba or Investors Group Field. The Cost of Phase one was 138 million dollars.

Phase Two will see the Southwest Transitway extended south from the Jubilee Overpass to Bison Drive just west of the University of Manitoba. The cost for the second phase is around 408 million dollars.

Winnipeg Transit also is looking at other corridors for the city including the East Corridor to Transcona, as well as a proposed West Corridor, along Portage Avenue to Polo Park, with a spur line to the airport.

During the Summer of 2018, road inspections deemed it necessary to repave parts of the SWBRT, a mere six years after the opening of Phase I. The repaving project cost $700,000.

Phase 2 of the Southwest Transitway was opened on April 8, 2020.

In June, 2025, Winnipeg's bus rapid transit line was extended alongside the implementation of the primary route network.

Routes

As of July 2025, Winnipeg Transit operates 71 routes, of which:

• 1 is Rapid Transit
• 3 are Frequent Express (FX)
• 5 are Frequent (F)
• 9 are Direct (D)
• 10 are Connector
• 30 are Community
• 13 are Limited

Additionally, Winnipeg Transit also operates 12 On-Request zones. Winnipeg Transit operates accessible buses on all routes.

Every route has an official name as well as number, and are usually named based upon the main streets on which they travel, but can also be named after neighbourhoods they travel through.

The "Primary Network" consists of the Rapid Transit, Frequent Express, Frequent and Direct routes. The "Feeder Network" consists of the Connector, Community, Limited and On-Request routes.

The On-Request zones serve communities across Winnipeg, during periods of low ridership. Using an app, riders can book a trip between any two points within a given zone. Traveling between different zones is not possible, and requires transferring.

Special event shuttles

During the Red River Ex annually in the month of June, Winnipeg Transit operates a shuttle between downtown Winnipeg and the Red River Exhibition grounds.

When the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are playing at Princess Auto Stadium during the summer and early fall months, Winnipeg Transit operates several shuttle buses to and from the stadium. These routes are labeled with an X before the route number, and have a destination of "Princess Auto Stadium" (example: "XF8 Princess Auto Stadium").

For many decades Winnipeg Transit operated a shuttle bus between Winnipeg and Birds Hill Provincial Park for the annual Winnipeg Folk Festival held in July. However, they did not do this for the 2019 Folk Festival due to the possible strike by the ATU, and because Winnipeg Transit did not win the competitive bid to provide this service. In 2020 and 2021, the Folk Festival was cancelled entirely. In 2022, the Folk Festival finally returned, and Winnipeg Transit provided the service to Birds Hill for the first time in 4 years.

Peggo

Winnipeg Transit introduced the Peggo electronic fare payment system in July 2016. This was designed to replace paper tickets and passes. However, the software used to update the balance on the cards has been problematic, sometimes causing the withdrawal of thousands of dollars from a passenger's credit card.

Winnipeg Transit planned to install wifi on twelve buses as a trial to commence in March 2018. The purpose of adding wifi to buses is for quicker updates of passengers' Peggo cards. Currently, Peggo data is updated overnight while buses are in their garage. This has led to fare dispute issues for some passengers who loaded their cards online.

Low Income Pass Program

The Low Income Pass Program was approved 14 to 1 by Council at a special meeting on 24 October 2019, with North Kildonan Councillor Jeff Browaty voting against the idea. To qualify for the lower income monthly transit pass, one must be a client of EIA, have income lower than the income cut-off, or be an immigrant that has resided in Winnipeg for less than 12 months. In its first year, the low income Adult pass will cost $70.70. Passengers will have to apply beginning April 2020 for the first passes to be issued in May.

WT currently sells 29,500 monthly passes. Lower costs for a pass will increase (estimated) sales to 78,000 by 2024, putting an extra strain on transit buses as more passengers ride the system. Additional buses may be required to handle the extra load.

Navigo

To facilitate use of the system, Winnipeg Transit's website provides a service called Navigo which allows users to specify a starting location and destination (either by address, Winnipeg landmark, or intersection) and the desired time of arrival or departure (specified as "before" or "after"). It then produces all the available bus routes that meet the criteria, estimating how much time is spent walking to bus stops and waiting for buses, as well as how many transfers are required to arrive at the destination.

Pass-ups

Since July 2019, Winnipeg Transit has been providing data on pass-ups on all bus routes. A pass-up is when a bus is too full to accept any more passengers. This is part of the city's open data initiative. Recent data showed that these 5 routes have the highest number of pass-ups, between September and December 2022: BLUE, 75 Crosstown East, 11 Portage-Kildonan, 60 Pembina, and 47 Transcona-Pembina.

Operations

There are about 3,800 Winnipeg Transit bus stops, 800 bus shelters, and 1,500 transit benches. Larger bus stops and stations often include electronic signage, called "BUSwatch" signs. These signs provide live info on upcoming bus departures.

Fleet

Winnipeg Transit has a fleet of approximately 630 low-floor buses, supplied by New Flyer Industries. The fleet includes:

• 51 low-floor diesel articulated buses, 18.29 metres (60 ft) long
• 4 low-floor battery-electric articulated buses, 18.29 metres (60 ft) long
• 4 low-floor hydrogen-electric articulated buses, 18.29 metres (60 ft) long
• 27 low-floor battery-electric buses, 12.19 metres (40 ft) long
• 4 low-floor hydrogen-electric buses, 12.19 metres (40 ft) long
• over 570 low-floor diesel buses, 12.19 metres (40 ft) long
• 11 low-floor buses, 9.14 metres (30 ft) long

In late 2018, it was announced that Winnipeg Transit was in the process of receiving twenty-eight 18.29 metres (60 ft) articulated buses (numbered 371–398) from New Flyer that would be delivered in the latter half of 2019.

Winnipeg Transit has a fleet of historic buses that have been restored by the Manitoba Transit Heritage Association.

Facilities

Major bus terminals

• Garden City Centre
• Graham Avenue Transit Mall (defunct)
• Kildonan Place
• Polo Park
• St. Vital Centre
• Unicity

Rapid Transit stations (see also Winnipeg Rapid Transit)

• Balmoral Station (defunct)
• Beaumont Station
• Chancellor Station
• Chevrier Station
• Clarence Station
• Fort Rouge Station
• Harkness Station
• Jubilee Station
• Markham Station
• Osborne Station
• Plaza Station
• Seel Station
• Southpark Station
• Stadium Station
• University of Manitoba Station
• St. Norbert Station

Park-and-ride locations

• Charleswood Centre
• Clarence Station
• Club Regent Casino
• Garden City Centre
• Grant & Cambridge
• Kildonan Place
• McPhillips Station Casino (defunct)
• Safeway (Pembina)
• Seel Station
• Southdale Centre
• Vista Place

In popular culture

The song "Civil Twilight", by Winnipeg rock band The Weakerthans from their 2007 album Reunion Tour, is sung from the point of view of a Winnipeg Transit driver whose route passes the house where he lived with his former significant other before the failure of their relationship.