Wheel-Trans
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| Parent | Toronto Transit Commission |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Lakeshore Bus Garage |
| Service area | Within the City of Toronto limits and to Pearson Airport |
| Service type | Door-to-Door Paratransit |
| Web site | www3.ttc.ca/WheelTrans |
TTC Wheel-Trans is a specialized accessible transit service provided by the Toronto Transit Commission within the City of Toronto, Canada.
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[edit] History
The para-transit system was created in 1975 and operated on behalf of the TTC, Metropolitan Toronto and the province of Ontario. Service was initially contracted to All-Way Transportation Corporation of Toronto before being taken over by the TTC. Service is provided by accessible buses and contracted accessible taxi mini-vans. Wheel-Trans is a door-to-door service. Rides are reserved one day in advance, by calling the reservation line, or by using the automated Ride-Line touch-tone phone service.
[edit] Operations
[edit] Fleet
Wheel-Trans currently operate a fleet of 129 buses. With 540[dated info] wheel chair accessible buses in the regular fleet the TTC operates one the of the largest para-transit systems in North America[dubious ], behind New York City's MTA Access-A-Ride with a total of 2116 buses.
Numbering of buses prior to 2010 used the same 4 digit format as the TTC regular fleet. Starting in 2010, Wheeltrans' newer buses used a numeric format starting with W and followed by three digits.
| Make/Model | Description | Fleet size | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
| Dalls Smith Corporation Friendly Buses - with Ford F-450 Lo-Floor Chassis-Cab | custom built wheelchair accessible vehicle | 110 | 2009–2010 | Still active; new | Marketing by American Bus Products Incorporated, body by Supreme Corporation Startrans; option for 88 additional buses for deliver 2011–2014; expected to replace ELF and remaining Orion II Community buses |
| Overland Custom Coach ELF | custom built wheelchair accessible vehicle | 124 | 1998–2000 | Still active; retirement by 2014 | Retiring after Friendly Bus delivery completed and buses reach retirement |
| Ontario Bus Industries Orion II | custom built wheelchair accessible vehicle | 88 | 1985 | 1998 - all retired | Buses experienced mechanical problems and was deemed too costly to fix |
| Ontario Bus Industries Orion II Community bus | custom built wheelchair accessible vehicle | 5 | 1987–1991 | Still active; retirement by 2014 | Will be retiring after Friendly Bus delivery completed and buses reach retirement |
| Thomas Built Buses Mighty Mites | custom-built wheelchair-accessible vehicle | 62 | late 1970s - by contractor Allways Transportation | 1985 - all retired by TTC | Buses did not have regular TTC livery (cream with red and white stripe); all buses owned by contractor |
| Thomas Built Buses Transette | custom built wheelchair accessible vehicle | 5 | late 1970s - by contractor Allways Transportation | 1985 - all retired by TTC | Buses did not have regular TTC livery (cream with red and white stripe); all buses owned by contractor |
| Accessobus Mark II (likely a Prevost Car H3 series suburban bus) | 48 seat highgway coach-custom built wheelchair accessible vehicle | 1 | 1986 | N/A | Demonstrater bus only |
| Dutcher Motors Corporation Para Transit Vehicle (PTV)[1] | custom-built 7-passenger van based wheelchair accessible vehicle | 1 | 1987 - demonstrator bus only | N/A | Dutcher Motors founded 1984 and failed to make any production PTV and later acquired by MedNet Inc of Battlefield, Michigan[2] |
| Chevrolet Caprice Classic | wheelchair accessible station wagons | 22-27 | early 1980s | 1989 | Cars were not painted with TTC livery |
[edit] Contracts
Most of Wheel-Trans operations are provided by the TTC, but some of the services are contracted out to private operators.
[edit] Able Atlantic Taxi
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
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| Chrysler Caravan | Converted van | 2 |  |
[edit] Bee Line Taxi
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[edit] Beck Taxi
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
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| Chevrolet Uplander | Converted van | ? | |
[edit] Celebrity Taxi/Dignity Transportation
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford E350 minibus | Converted van | |
[edit] Royal Taxi
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
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| Dodge Grand Caravan Sport | Converted van | 2 | |
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| Pontiac Montana | Converted van | 2 | |
[edit] Scarboro City Cab
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
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| Dodge Grand Caravan Sport | Converted van | 2 | |
[edit] Toronto Para Transit
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
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| Chevrolet Venture-Kino Maxi Shuttle | Converted van | 2 | |
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| Chrysler Caravan | Converted van | 2 | |
[edit] Wheelchair Taxi
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford E350 minibus | Converted van | |
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| Chrysler Caravan | Converted van | 2 | |
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| Chrysler Sprinter van | Converted van | 2 | |
[edit] See also
- Caledon Community Services Transportation
- Mississauga Transit Accessible Services - regular routes with accessible buses
- Transhelp - Peel Region
- York Region Transit Mobility Plus
