Bus companies in Ontario range in scale from small family run businesses to subsidiaries of large international transportation groups. Many operate yellow school buses for student transportation on behalf of local school boards, while others concentrate on luxury coach charters and tours. Some municipalities use these private companies to run their public transit systems.
417 Bus Line is a coach and school bus operator in Casselman, a small village on Ontario Provincial Highway 417 between Ottawa and Montreal. The company began as Laplante Bus Line in 1958, which became Casselman Bus Line in 1965 and was incorporated in 1974 as 417 Bus Line Ltd. The founder, Jean-Paul Laplante, started with a single vehicle transporting students to the local school. Steady growth of the fleet lead to expansion with a bus route between Casselman and Ottawa. The family continues to operate the company today.
417 Bus Line Ltd. now also includes Lalonde Bus Line, Matte Bus Line and Larocque Bus Line as part of their operations, which has a combined fleet of over 150 units.[1]
Aboutown Transportation is a diversified transportation company based in the city of London, serving southwestern Ontario for over 60 years.[2] Bus services that they operate include charters, intercity routes and public transit systems in Chatham-Kent and St. Thomas. During the school year they operate six transit bus routes between Kings and Brescia Colleges, and the main campus at the University of Western Ontario. Local services provided in the London area include taxis, limousines, school buses, paratransit services, minibus charters, shuttle services and airport services. As well as their core business they also operate Foot's Bay Marina on Lake Joseph in Muskoka, and Trillium Sport Aviation Inc., a 50 percent owned affiliate, based at London International Airport.[3]
This inter-city bus service connects communities throughout southwestern Ontario, with fourteen scheduled routes.[4]
Ayr Coach Lines is a small family-owned business which provides charter services in the southwestern Ontario cites of Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge. They have a diverse fleet of motor coaches, activity coaches and mini coaches.
Badder Bus Service is a charter bus company that started out in 1950 in Thamesville as a school bus company. In 1978, due to the demand for charter service, they decided to acquire highway coaches and expand that side of the business.[5]
In 2006 the company was split, with Badder Bus Service Limited becoming a charter oriented company, with the integration of the newly acquired coach operations of Gino's Bus Lines of Ingersoll, and The Badder Group Incorporated being created out of their school bus operations which had expanded with the addition of Waylin Bus Lines of Aylmer in 1995 and Elgin Bus Service in 1997.[6]
Badder are licensed to operate charter buses from the cities of Hamilton and Toronto, the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York, the municipality of Chatham-Kent, the counties of Brant, Bruce, Dufferin, Elgin, Essex, Grey, Haldimand, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Perth and Wellington.[5]
The school bus division serves the Thames Valley District School Board, London District Catholic School Board, Lambton Kent District School Board, St. Clair Catholic District School Board, and Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest.[7]
Bergeron Bus Lines is a commuter and school bus operator based in Vars.
Begeron operates a commuter bus service for the Township of Russell Transit Service, as part of the Rural Partners Transit Service of OC Transpo.
Bus and Coach Charter company located in Toronto, Canada. Fully licensed to travel in Canada and United States. Providing shuttle, casino, shopping and tourism travel.
Can-ar Coach Service is a chartered coach operator based in the Greater Toronto Area that also operates two scheduled routes:
They formerly operated transit buses, owned by York Region Transit, under an extension of the contract whereby they had previously operated Vaughan Transit on behalf of the City of Vaughan, Ontario.
Cha-Co Trails provides charters and regional bus services throughout southwestern Ontario and to Detroit. The buses are operated by Penetang-Midland Coach Lines, Chatham Coach Lines (J. I. DeNure (Chatham) Limited) and Detroit based Chatham Coach Lines Inc., which are all subsidiaries of Greyhound Canada.
Chatham Coach Lines was started in 1948 by J. I. DeNure in Chatham, Ontario. The operating name was changed to Cha-Co-Trails in 1988, before complete control was acquired by Laidlaw in 2000 and it continues as part of Greyhound Canada's local operations.
Cherrey Bus Lines is a Listowel and Stratford based operator of motorcoaches, activity buses, school buses, and passenger vans. They provide day trips, sightseeing, and tours through their Maxey Travel and Robin Hood Tours divisions.
They are licensed to provide coach services from: Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph, Cambridge, Chatham-Kent; regions of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York; counties of Brant, Bruce, Dufferin, Elgin, Essex, Grey, Haldimand, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Perth and Wellington.
Coach Canada is an affiliate of Coach USA, and part of the North American operations of Stagecoach, the international transport group. The Canadian subsidiary is headquartered in Peterborough and operates throughout the urban areas of southern Ontario and Quebec, with intercity service extending as far as New York City.
Dallas Coach, based in Mississauga, provides bus charters, shuttle services and tours, mainly in the Greater Toronto Area.
Delaney Bus Lines is a charter, tour, and school bus company headquartered in Avonmore. Founded in 1948, they provide school services for the Upper Canada District School Board and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. They also offer several casino tour packages.
Delaney is also the operator of three routes for OC Transpo's Rural Partnership Services. Route 515 connects the city of Cornwall with Ottawa and the government offices in Gatineau, Quebec; it also serves the villages of St. Andrew's West and Bonville in South Stormont, and the villages of Monkville and Moose Creek in North Stormont. Route 516 connects the North Stormont villages of Finch, Berwick, and Crysler with the nation's capital. Route 517 runs between Ottawa/Gatineau and the North Glengarry villages of Alexandria and Maxville.
First Student Canada, a subsidiary of the UK company FirstGroup, is a major provider of school bus services which were formerly operated as Laidlaw Transit and Cardinal.
Franklin Coach Lines of Belleville
Groupe Galland is a company providing school, coach, charter, commuter, and parcel services. Headquartered in Laval, Quebec, it was founded as a school bus operator in 1941. The business runs OC Transpo Rural Partnership Service Route 538. This line connected Carleton Place with Ottawa and Gatineau.
Great Canadian Coaches is a Kitchener provider of motorcoach charters and tours which began as Travel Ventures in 1984, and changed their name and image in 1998. Many of their fleet of over 40 Prevost, Setra and MCI coaches have unique Canadian themed paint schemes. They are a member of the Trailways Transportation System.[8]
Greyhound Canada, with its headquarters in Calgary, is a subsidiary of Britain's FirstGroup, linked with the Dallas-based Greyhound Lines. Greyhound has extensive intercity operations throughout Ontario and to destinations across Canada and the adjoining states of New York and Michigan.
Healey Transportation is located in Smiths Falls, Ontario, providing coach charters and tours from the city of Ottawa, and the counties of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville[9] and school bus services for school boards in Eastern Ontario. Healey operates 5 Prevost coaches and over 100 school buses, mini-buses and passenger vans.
Howard Bus Service is a school, charter, and coach operator located in Athens. The provide transportation to the Upper Canada District School Board.[10] They also run OC Transpo's Rural Partnership Service Route 509, which connects Merrickville-Wolford with Ottawa.
Kemptville Transportation Services is a school and charter bus operator located in Kemptville, Ontario. It runs two lines for OC Transpo's Rural Partnership Service. Route 542 provides express service between Kemptville and Ottawa and Gatineau. Route 543 connects Kemptville and North Gower to Downtown Ottawa.[11]
Leduc Bus Lines is a family-owned business, founded in 1968, in Rockland, Ontario. They provide highway coach, minibus, transit bus and school bus service in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario area.
They operate three routes under the Rural Partners Transit Service of OC Transpo. Route 520 is operated directly. It travels from Hawkesbury connecting through L'Orignal, Alfred, Plantagenet and Wendover to Ottawa. Leduc also provides contracted services to run the two municipally managed routes of Clarence-Rockland Transpo.[12]
McCoy Bus Service, Kingston
Ontario Northland operates an intercity bus service for the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a crown corporation of the provincial government based in North Bay and provide onward connections from Ontario Northland Railway passenger services. The area served is the eastern part of Northern Ontario with routes extending south to Toronto.
Ontario operations of Pacific Western are concentrated in the Toronto area, with a large fleet of charter coaches and Toronto Airport Express service between the downtown core and Pearson Airport.
Parkinson Coach Lines is a family business founded in 1946 in Snelgrove, Ontario by Harold Parkinson. The company was acquired by the Murrays in 1953; another family with generations in the bus and coach business, going back to 1922. The company hasn't strayed far from their roots in Brampton, Ontario and started running the predecessor to Brampton Transit in the 1960s. They further expanded into school buses in the 1960s and coach tours in the 1970s. Today, they have a fleet of 15 exclusively MCI coaches, as well as about 85 school buses and various mini-coaches.[13]
South Mountain Stagecoach Transit is a tour, charter, and commuter line operator based in South Mountain, Ontario. The run Route 565 of OC Transpo's Rural Partnership Service. This route connects Ottawa with the North Dundas villages of Inkerman, South Mountain, and Hallville.[14]
Transport Thom is a charter, tour, and commuter bus operator headquartered in Gatineau, Quebec.[15] They operate three lines as part of OC Transpo's Rural Partner Services. Route 500 connects Arnpoir with Central Ottawa and the government offices in Gatineau. Route 502 connects the villages of Pakenham and Almote in Mississippi Mills, Ontario, as well as the town of Carleton Place with Ottawa and Gatineau. Route 503 also terminates in the two city centres, after originating in Perth; the line also services Innisville in Drummond/North Elmsley and Carleton Place.[16]
Transtario is a charter, tour, and school bus operator based in Bradford.
Transtur Coach Lines, based in Niagara Falls Ontario, operates luxury coaches and conducts charters from Toronto to Montreal and to the USA.
Voyageur Colonial, now branded as just Voyageur, formerly owned by Canada Steamship Lines, is a subsidiary of Greyhound Canada. They provide intercity coach services between Ottawa and Montreal.
Wubs Transit is a commuter and school bus charter operator based in Winchester. They provide transportation services to the Townships of North Dundas and South Dundas in Eastern Ontario.
Wubs Transit operates a commuter bus service as part of the Rural Partners Service of OC Transpo
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