London Transit

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For public transportation in London, United Kingdom, see Transport for London.

London Transit

Slogan	Wherever Life Takes You
Founded	1875
Headquarters	450 Highbury Avenue N
Service area	London, Ontario
Service type	Public Transit
Routes	35 regular routes[1] 3 community buses
Fleet	195 buses
Daily ridership	20.8 million annually[2]
Operator	City of London
Web site	www.ltconline.ca

A GM Classic bus in the older colour scheme

The London Transit Commission (LTC), is responsible for the operation of the public transit system on behalf of the City of London, Ontario, Canada. It serves 20.8 million passengers annually. The LTC has 35 regular bus routes, plus 3 community bus routes.

[edit] History

London Street Railway Company (LSR) brought public transit to the city with the start of horse drawn streetcar operations in 1875, with electric power being introduced about twenty years later and the conversion to buses being completed in late November 1940 (planned for the end of 1940, but forced by a blizzard that damaged trolley wires). In 1951 the City of London bought LSR and formed the LTC to operate the system. Services have progressed throughout the years, with the introduction of community bus routes, paratransit services and accessible low floor buses. ^[3]

[edit] Active fleet

As of 2008, the LTC has 192 transit buses in its fleet. At one time, London Transit had one of the oldest transit fleets in Ontario, with some buses older than 20 years old. However, with new buses being purchased in recent years, this has changed.

During the week there are over 100 buses on the road, and on Sundays only 40 buses are on the road.

[edit] Ridership

After the public transit boom of the 1960s and 1970s, ridership began to slip. At that time almost every transit route was passing through London's downtown area. An attempted building of two downtown malls and the economic recession of the 1990s combined to force the downtown area into serious decline. An economic slump echoed in a parallel drop in ridership, made even worse by the traditional responses of service cuts and fare increases. Between 1987 and 1996, LTC ridership declined by almost 40 percent.

In 1994, the LTC began developing a comprehensive business plan to turn these trends around. Innovations included an overhauling of fare structure, re-thinking routes, bringing buses into mall areas (which would later become true terminal areas), and making standard public transit buses increasingly wheelchair-accessible. Post-secondary students attending the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College now receive a subsidised bus pass incorporated into their tuition: a program which has become a great success.

Due in large part to these measures, the LTC is currently experiencing a massive increase in ridership, straining current transit resources.

[edit] Plans

With the recent announcement of federal^[4] and provincial^[5] gas tax money for municipalities, the LTC has decided to spend funds on improving service, creating bus depots at major shopping centres, and purchasing new buses.

All LTC buses are equipped with GPS technology which automates stop announcements. There is also a proposal to allow LTC buses to lengthen the timing of traffic signals at key intersections to improve service.

Beginning in 2009, a second transit garage will be built in the west end of the city to improve efficiency and create room for a larger transit fleet. Also in 2009, new digital message signs will be placed at strategic transit stops to tell passengers when the bus is expected to arrive. The LTC website will also allow customers to check when a particular bus will arrive in real-time.

In June 2009, London Transit began equipping some buses with bicycle racks. This allows for cyclists to ride the bus while transporting their bike as well. The program is initially being tested on four routes. If successful, there is the potential for expansion of this initiative on additional routes.

Within the next decade, London Transit may have express bus routes on high volume corridors. There has been talk from LTC that the express routes would run along Wellington/Richmond, Commissioners Road, Highbury, Oxford, Wonderland, and Dundas to aid current bus routes along these roads. This would implement the Express-Local system in London for bus routes. This system uses express buses to take people from one place to another of a greater distance by skipping stations at less popular areas (Example- A bus that starts at White Oaks Mall and stops at Wellington-Commissioners). The local buses would run on the same route, however they would stop at each and every station.

The City has launched a plan for development of a light rail transit (LRT). The research program will be called "Smart Moves: What Moves You?" for 2030 similar to programs in Hamilton and Kitchener/Waterloo.

[edit] 2009 transit strike

On November 16, 2009, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 741 representing bus drivers and support workers went on strike, the first transit strike for London Transit since 1980. The strike affected all public routes, however specialized transit services for the disabled continued to operate.

To lessen the inconvenience on university students, the University of Western Ontario (UWO) increased its shuttle bus service. As well, the University Student's Council (USC) secured rental vans driven by volunteers looping around the city picking up students at key areas and dropping them off at the university. A community-based approach is being taken by the USC including a flag-a-ride program and a shuttle service for groceries. ^[6]

On December 7, 2009, ATU turned down the LTC's "Final Offer" of 9.3% wage hike over three years. This offer was rejected by 78.5% (322 of 410) of the ATU membership. ^[7]

The strike ended on December 14, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Fares

Effective December 1, 2008 the new fare is as follows:^[8]

There are also a number of passes available:

• Citipass: $ 81.00 monthly.
• Weekday Pass: $ 69.00 monthly.
• Seniors Pass: $ 57.50 monthly.
• Post Secondary: $ 70.00 monthly.
• Summer Student: $ 81.00 for July and August for Grade 7 to 12.
• Tuition Passes: added to student fees.
• Sight Impaired--CNIB Pass: $ 10.00 yearly.

[edit] Routes

	No.	Route Name[1]	Notes
	1	Kipps Lane / Thompson Road
	2	Dundas	Extended service to Masonville Place on Sundays only
	3	Hamilton Road
	4	Oxford East	Operates between the Cleardale/Ernest(4A) and Lockwood Park(4B) subdivisions to Fanshawe College via White Oaks Mall. The first four trips during weekday mornings and all trips after 6pm service both A and B routes. Trips following this route will sign 4 Oxford East.
	5	Springbank	Trips after 6:00 pm Monday to Friday and all day Saturday, Sunday at statutory holidays do not service Griffith between Boler and Byron Baseline. The bus routes along Boler Road to Commissioners to regular route. After 7:00 pm Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday, there is no service on Springbank Drive in both directions between Berkshire and Gardenwood. The bus routes eastbound via Berkshire, Gardenwood, Ridgewood, Greenwood to Springbank, and westbound the reverse.
	6	Richmond	After 7:00 pm Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday, interlines at Natural Science with route 9C Whitehills.
	7	Wavell	Interlines with 11 Southcrest at Dundas and Adelaide Westbound
	8	Riverside	Operates during weekday peak hours only
	9	Whitehills	Operates Monday to Saturday until 7pm
	9C	Whitehills Night	Operates after 7pm Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday.
	10	Wonderland	interlines with 14 Highbury at White Oaks Mall. Certain trips extended to Masonville Place Monday to Saturday. After 7:00 pm, Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday, this route operates in both directions via Berkshire and Teeple Terrace.
	11	Southcrest	Interlines with 7 Wavell at Talbot and York Eastbound
	12	Wharncliffe South	Route extended to Wonderland and Southdale Retail Area including Westmount Library
	13	Wellington Road	Certain weekday trips proceed from White Oaks Mall to Exeter Road, then directly north but do not return to the mall
	14	Highbury	Interlines with 10 Wonderland at White oaks mall
	15	Westmount	Interlines with 21 Huron Heights at York and Richmond Northbound. After 7:00 pm Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday, this route is extended south of Westmount Mall to service the Dalhousie area.
	16	Adelaide	Services Masonville Place Mon - Sat
	17	Oxford West	After 7:00 pm Monday to Friday, 9:00 pm Saturday and all day Sunday, buses route eastbound only via Riverside, Hyde Park, Oxford to regular route.
	19	Oakridge	Interlines with the 31 Orchard Park at the Hyde Park Smart Centre. No Sunday service
	20	Cherryhill
	21	Huron Heights	Interlines with 15 Westmount at Richmond and Dufferin Southbound
	22	Trafalgar	Interlines with 23 Berkshire at York and Clerence Westbound. No Sunday service.
	23	Berkshire	Interlines with 22 Trafalgar Eastbound at York and Talbot Eastbound. No Sunday service. Routes 5, 10, 15 cover the 23 route from Dalhousie Drive to downtown
	24	Baseline	No Sunday service, now extended to serve Summerside Subdivision
	25	Kilally	Weekdays only
	26	Jalna Blvd. West
	27	Fanshawe College	No Sunday service
	30	Newbold	Operates during weekday peak hours only. PM route is reverse of AM route.
	31	Orchard Park	No Sunday Service, Limited Saturday Service. Interlines with 32 Windermere at Alumni Hall, and 19 Oakridge at Hyde Park Smart Centre. Route extended to Wal-mart superstore in Hyde Park
	32	Windermere	Weekdays only. Interlines with 31 Orchard Park at Alumni Hall.
	33	Proudfoot	Weekdays only
	34	Medway	Operates during weekday peak hours only
	35	Argyle	No Sunday service
	36	Airport/Industrial	Operates between Fanshawe College and the London International Airport, and the airport industrial area on weekday peak hours and weekday late nights only.
	37	Sovereign Road	Operates between Argyle Mall and the Sovereign Road industrial area on weekday peak hours only.
	38	Stoney Creek	Operates between Masonville Place and the new Sunningdale subdivision except on Sundays and holidays.
	51	Community	Community bus operates different routes depending on the day (Tuesday & Thursday)
	53	Community	Community bus operates different routes depending on the day (Monday & Wednesday)
	54	Community	Community bus operates different routes depending on the day (Friday)
Denotes wheelchair-accessible routes

In addition to these routes, London Transit also operates the following routes that operate only during the University of Western Ontario school year during weekdays only:

• 2C Dundas (Downtown-University) follows the 2 Dundas route. Most trips to the university begin at Queens & Ridout, but all evening trips to the university begin at Dundas & Richmond. All trips from the university end at Dundas & Richmond.
• 6A Richmond (Downtown-University) follows the 6 Richmond route from Richmond & Dundas. All northbound trips end at Natural Science, while all southbound trips end at Richmond & Carling. Except weekends and Fridays, there are extra evening trips on this route that operate between the University and Downtown only.
• 10A Wonderland (Westmount-University) follows the 10 Wonderland route. All trips start/end at Westmount Mall.
• 10B Wonderland (Capulet-University) follows the 10 Wonderland route, but ends at Wonderland & Oxford, routing via the Capulet Lane subdivision.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• London Transit Commission Website
• Drawings and photos of London Transit buses

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