St. Catharines Transit provides bus service to St. Catharines, Ontario, and the neighbouring city ofThorold. 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 opened in 1996. The bus terminal is also served by Greyhound and Coach Canada for intercity coach service to Hamilton, London, Toronto, Buffalo, and New York City, 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 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 current operating name of St. Catharines Transit in 1974.
Services
Regular routes
The St. Catharines Transit Commission 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, 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.
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 this is the main interchange for bus travel within the Niagara Region and to points beyond. Connections are provided by St. Catharines, Niagara and Welland Transit Commissions and Coach Canada Centrally located to all the local transit services and adjacent to Hwy 406, the university campus is ideal for this purpose.
