Founded | 1961 |
---|---|
Defunct | 31 December 2022 |
Headquarters | 2012 First Street South |
Service area | St. Catharines and Thorold, Ontario |
Service type | Bus service, Paratransit |
Routes | 29 |
Stations | Downtown Terminal, 70 Carlisle Street 43°09′35″N79°14′38″W / 43.15972°N 79.24389°W |
Fleet | 75 |
Fuel type | Diesel, Diesel-electric hybrid |
Operator | St. Catharines Transit Commission |
Website | www.YourBus.com |
St. Catharines Transit (SCT) was a public transit agency which provided bus services to St. Catharines, Ontario, and the neighbouring city of Thorold. The St. Catharines Transit Commission took over operation of transit services within the city from Canadian National Transportation in 1961. [1] In January 2023, St. Catharines Transit was merged with Niagara Falls Transit, Welland Transit, and Fort Erie Transit to form a single regional transit service, Niagara Region Transit. [2]
The Transit Operations Facility opened in 1991 and the Downtown Terminal (within a regional district building of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation) opened in 1996. The bus terminal is also served by Coach Canada for intercity coach service to Toronto, [3] with connections to a number of major cities throughout Canada and the United States.
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 in 1908 which became Canadian National Railways 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 operating name of St. Catharines Transit in 1974. [4] All St. Catharines Transit services and equipment were transferred to Niagara Region Transit in January of 2023 to create a single unified regional transit service that included Welland Transit and Niagara Falls Transit. [2] However, buses in the old St. Catharines Transit livery can continue to be seen as not all have been converted to the new livery.
In 2022, the service began exploring an electrification of its existing diesel fleet. [5]
This section needs to be updated.(February 2015) |
The St. Catharines Transit Commission (SCT) operated most of their routes through Downtown St. Catharines, with routes meeting at the Downtown Bus Terminal. Additional main transfer points also existed at The Pen Centre, Fairview Mall, Thorold Towpath Terminal, and at Brock University.
The majority of the routes operated weekdays using one numbering scheme, while weekday evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and major holidays operated with a separate numbering scheme. [6]
Though it may appear confusing at first glance, many routes interlined, meaning that they continued 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. [7]
Although the services are no longer operated by St. Catharines Transit, they continue to operate largely unchanged under Niagara Region Transit as of February, 2023. [2]
Route | Name | Terminal | Terminal |
---|---|---|---|
301 | Hospital | Downtown | Port Dalhousie |
302 | Ontario Street | Downtown | Lakeshore Road |
303 | Pelham Road | Downtown | Smart Centre West |
304 | Oakdale Avenue | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
305 | Haig Street | Downtown | Linwell & Geneva |
306 | Lake Street | Downtown | Port Dalhousie |
307 | Niagara Street | Downtown | Port Weller |
308 | Grantham Avenue | Downtown | Grantham Lions Park |
309 | Geneva Street | Downtown | Grantham Lions Park |
310 | Glenridge Avenue | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
311 | Hartzell Road | Downtown | St Davids & Ormond |
312 | Vine Street | Downtown | Lakeshore Road |
314 | Scott Street | Fairview Mall | Dorchester & Sheman |
315 | West St. Catharines | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
316 | Brock-Glenridge | Downtown | Brock University |
317 | Bunting Road | Downtown | Linewell & Sherman |
318 | Secord Woods | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
320 | Thorold | The Pen Centre | Thorold Towpath Terminal |
321 | Confederation Avenue | Brock University | Thorold Towpath Terminal |
322 | Thorold South | Thorold Towpath Terminal | Thorold South |
323 | West Brock Commuter | Brock University | Pelham & Louth |
324 | Tupper Drive | Brock University | Richmond & Confederation Av |
331 | Richmond Street | Brock University | Richmond & Confederation Av |
332 | Brock Towpath | Brock University | Thorold Towpath Terminal |
335 | Brock-Pen Centre | Brock University | The Pen Centre |
336 | Brock-Pen-Glendale | Brock University | The Pen Centre |
337E | Crosstown-East | Niagara Health System | Lock 3 Museum |
337W | Crosstown-West | Lock 3 Museum | Niagara Health System |
338 | GO Train Connection | Downtown | St. Catharine's GO |
Route | Name | Terminal | Terminal |
---|---|---|---|
401 | Hospital | Downtown | Port Dalhousie |
402 | Ontario Street | Downtown | Lakeshore Road |
403 | Pelham Road | Downtown | Smart Centre West |
404 | Oakdale Avenue | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
406 | Lake Street | Downtown | Port Dalhousie |
408 | Grantham Avenue | Downtown | Grantham Lions Park |
409 | Geneva Street | Downtown | Grantham Lions Park |
410 | Glenridge Avenue | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
412 | Vine Street | Downtown | Lakeshore Road |
414 | Scott Street | Fairview Mall | Dorchester & Sheman |
415 | West St. Catharines | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
416 | Brock-Glenridge | Downtown | Brock University |
417 | Bunting Road | Downtown | Grantham Lions Park |
418 | Secord Woods | Downtown | The Pen Centre |
420 | Thorold | The Pen Centre | Thorold Towpath Terminal |
421 | Confederation Avenue | Brock University | Thorold Towpath Terminal |
423 (Weeknights Only) | West Brock Commuter | Brock University | Pelham & Louth |
424 (Weeknights Only) | Tupper Drive | Brock University | Richmond & Confederation Av |
425 (Weeknights Only) | Brock Bullet | Brock University | Downtown |
431 (Weeknights Only) | Richmond Street | Brock University | Richmond & Confederation Av |
432 (Weeknights Only) | Brock Towpath | Brock University | Thorold Towpath Terminal |
435 | Brock-Pen Centre | Brock University | The Pen Centre |
436 (Weeknights Only) | Brock-Pen-Glendale | Brock University | The Pen Centre |
437E | Crosstown-East | Niagara Health System | Seapark Dr |
437W | Crosstown-West | Seapark Dr | Niagara Health System |
438 | GO Train Connection | Downtown | St. Catharine's GO |
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.
There are many terminals/hubs throughout the system, these include:
In January 2023, St. Catharines Transit's fleet was transferred to Niagara Region Transit as part of the amalgamation of local transit services in the region.
St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2017, St. Catharines has an area of 96.13 square kilometres (37.12 sq mi) and 140,370 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Catharinites. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails.
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750.
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was erected because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and has followed four different routes since it opened.
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The peninsula is located in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, and has a population of roughly 1,000,000 residents. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier.
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 end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
Grand River Transit (GRT) is the public transport operator for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It operates daily bus services in the region, primarily in the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, alongside the ION rapid transit light rail system which began service on June 21, 2019.
King's Highway 58, commonly referred to as Highway 58, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route is divided into two segments with a combined length of 15.5 km (9.6 mi). The southern segment travels from Niagara Regional Road 3, formerly Highway 3, in Port Colborne, to the Highway 58A junction in the southern end of Welland, a distance of 7.2 km (4.5 mi). The northern segment begins at Highway 20 near Allanburg and travels north and west to a large junction with Highway 406 at the St. Catharines – Thorold boundary, a distance of 8.3 km (5.2 mi). An 18.1 km (11.2 mi) gap separates the two segments within Welland and Pelham. The entire route is located within the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Gray Coach was a Canadian inter-city bus line based in Toronto, Ontario, from 1927 to 1992. It was founded and initially owned by the Toronto Transportation Commission, until sold to Stagecoach in 1990. In 1992 the business was sold to Greyhound Canada and the brand was retired.
Niagara Falls Transit was a public transit agency that operated the public transport bus services in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada between 1960 and 2022.
The Trillium Railway is a Canadian short-line railroad operating in the province of Ontario. Much of its right-of-way in the Niagara area was formerly part of the "Welland Canal Railway" that closely followed the route of the second Welland Canal.
The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway was an interurban radial electric railway in the Niagara Peninsula of Southern Ontario, Canada. It operated from 1899 to 1959. It was based in St. Catharines and had lines to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Dalhousie, Niagara Falls, Thorold, Welland and Port Colborne.
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 assumed full operation of the transit system in 1977. On January 1, 2023, it was merged with St. Catharines Transit and Niagara Falls Transit to form Niagara Region Transit.
Fort Erie Transit was a public transit operator in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada.
The Ainslie St. Transit Terminal is a bus station and terminal in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the core of Galt, a former city which is now a community within Cambridge.
Niagara Falls Transit Terminal is located south of Bridge Street on Erie Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, directly across from the Niagara Falls railway station.
Niagara Region Transit is a regional public transit system operating in the Niagara Region of Ontario. Initial service commenced on September 12, 2011, and consisted of inter-municipal routes. In January 2023, Niagara Region Transit assumed the operations of Welland Transit, Fort Erie Transit, St. Catharines Transit, and Niagara Falls Transit to form a single unified local transit service for the entire Niagara Region.
Niagara-on-the-Lake Transit was a provider of public transportation in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. Initiated on April 2, 2012, it served as a conventional bus operator serving both local residents and tourists. The service was suspended in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grimsby GO Station is a proposed commuter rail station on the GO Transit train and bus network in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located in the town of Grimsby in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, it would be a stop on the Lakeshore West line, east of the proposed Confederation GO Station in Hamilton. It was expected to open in 2021 and would have been the first station to open in the planned Niagara extension, which will also include stops at St. Catharines and Niagara Falls stations.