Société de transport de l'Outaouais

Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) is the transit service of the Outaouais region of Quebec. It operates public transit routes in Gatineau, Quebec, including the Hull, Aylmer, Gatineau, Buckingham and Masson-Angers sectors, plus limited service to suburban communities such as Chelsea and Cantley.

STO is located in Canada's National Capital Region, and operates numerous bus routes through Downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It is the last transit company that still operates fishbowl buses in Quebec.

History

• Before 1971, Public Transit in Gatineau was operated by the private sector. The company had 42 buses to serve 11 million clients in 1956, number reduced to 2.5 million clients in 1971.^[1]

• In 1969, the law on the Regional Outaouais Community (Communauté régionale de l'Outaouais) is adopted. In 1971, the Commission de la communauté régionale de l'Outaouais (CTCRO) was created. In 1972, the CTCRO acquired their administrative headquarters, adopted their logo and official colours and for an amount of $2.25 million buys all three public transit companies operating in the region (Transport urbain de Hull, Transport Hull métropolitain, Transport d'écoliers du nord de l'Outaouais).

• In 1973, the CTCRO creates an agreement with OC Transpo, to make the transfers between the two services easier.

• In 1991, CRCRO becomes la Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO)

• In 1996, the STO celebrated its 25th anniversary. On a day, passengers were charged only 25 cents for one trip.

• In 1998, the STO was named the Canadian public transit operator of the year by the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA). It was at the same year that the company introduced a smart-card fare system, making it the first company not only in the Americas but the entire Western Hemisphere to have a smart-card system. Paper card bus passes were gradually retired until its official end in 2004 when smart cards became the exclusive bus pass.^[2]

• In 2002, the STO introduced its first fleet of low-floor buses from NovaBus. From this year forward, the company purchased low-floor only buses.

• In 2003, the STO have announced plans to build a bus-only roadway similar to OC Transpo's transitway in Ottawa, called the Rapibus. Currently under environmental assessments, the project is expected to be completed by 2011.

• In 2005, the STO announced a strategic plan for the period 2005–2015 in which they are projecting a ridership of 21 million by 2015 up from 16.3 million in 2006. Ridership from 1995 to 2006 had grown about 50% . In addition to the Rapibus, the STO is planning on increasing the number of park and ride facilities across the city as well as the introduction of bike racks, the expansion or addition of garages, fleet expansion and a pilot project with routes increasing accessibility to people with reduced mobility.^[3]

Operations

Information current to July 2010:^[4]

• Fleet: 288 buses
• Employees: 673, including 408 bus drivers.
• Routes: 62 (47 regular, 13 express and 2 interzones)
• Shelters: 277
• Ridership: over 19.3 million in 2009
• Kilometres travelled each year: 13.4 million in 2009
• Paratransit Service
• Rapibus (proposed)
• Park-n-Ride: 17

STO Bus Routes

• As of January 1, 2009

Regular routes

Rush-hour regular routes

Express Routes

Interzone routes

School Routes

The following routes are for students from Gatineau educational institutions only and numbers are not shown on the destination sign, on the bus flag, the Info-Plus information board or the User's Guide. It is mentioned only on the STO's website under the Students (Pour étudiants seulement) section. They are also not included in the InfoBus telephone information dispatcher system. They have three-digit numbers, and the last two indicate that it is using a route similar to its parent route (ex: 633 follows mostly Route 33). Generally, the name of the school is shown only on the destination sign, but sometimes it can also do the parent route's short trip. These routes runs only on school days from Late-August/Early-September to mid or late-June.

Parent Routes by sectors or towns

• Route 1 serves Chelsea
• Routes 5 and 6 serves Cantley
• Routes 10–39 serves the Hull sector (11 and 17 are express routes)
• Routes 40–59 serves the Aylmer sector
• Routes 60–89 serves the former city of Gatineau although Route 90 was added because numbers in the 80s were exhausted. (80–90 are express routes)
• Routes 94-96-98 serves the Buckingham & Masson-Angers sectors (94 & 98 are interzone routes)

• It should be noted that some of these routes travel through more than one area. All Hull routes, Aylmer routes (except 49 through 58), 67, 77, all Gatineau express routes and interzone routes cross the Ottawa River to Ottawa. Routes 28 and 58 do not serve the downtown core.

• Main terminals on the STO network includes Les Promenades de l'Outaouais (Gatineau), Jene-Rene Monette Park And Ride (Gatineau), Freeman Park and Ride (Hull), CEGEP Gabrielle-Roy (Hull), Front/Cormier (Aylmer), Rivermead Park And Ride (Aylmer) and Rideau street.

• Other major transfer points includes the Hull hospital on Boulevard Lionel-Emond, the shopping district on Boulevard Saint-Joseph (at Montclair and Gamelin in Hull) and the downtown area (Terrasses de la Chaudière and Place du Portage).

• STO adopted several changes from 2005 to 2007 to the service in every sector after public consultations. The most recent changes were adopted for the Aylmer and are in effect since June 25, 2007.^[5]

Fleet

• This is the current fleet of the STO Source

Active fleet

Note : All Classics & RTS' are generally used in rush hour service only.

Retired fleet

• This is the retired fleet of the STO Source

Fleet notes

• In the 2002 User's Guide, the STO was expected to convert half of its total bus fleet into low-floor buses by 2012. The low-floor buses are the NovaBus LFS models from 2002 to 2008. However, the more recent models contains a seating capacity for only 37 passengers, while most other models have a capacity of well over 40 seats. During rush hour, there is a higher chance to see overcrowded situations inside this type of bus.

• Another flaw in these buses is that even though they are considered low-floor buses and seem to have wheelchair access (a wheelchair sticker, although very small, is located near the exit door in the center of the bus), there have been some technical issues that prevent wheelchair access to the bus. However, it does ease access for those on crutches, those who have mobility problems, seniors and pregnant women. This means that no STO regular buses are wheelchair accessible. They must rely on paratransit service. The only wheelchair-accessible buses in the fleet are the 2009 third-generation LFSs.

• From 2001 to 2006, in order to satisfy growing demand, the STO purchased additional older buses from the Société de transport de Montréal, Société de transport de Laval, Société de transport de Sherbrooke and OC Transpo. All buses have been retired. 8202 was sold to a private collector in May 2009.

• In 2006–07, fishbowl buses had their rollsigns replaced with Balios LED signs taken from 1996 and 1997 Classics, 8310 was the last bus still with a rollsign, since it has been retired, all buses are now equipped with electronic destination signs.

• On February 15, 2007 the STO presented new hybrid buses and two of them were tested during the winter of 2007. Previously, it also tested a prototype bus from Ontario during the summer of 2002

• On October 31, 2007, the STO announced in their 2008 budget that 19 new buses will be added in 2008 and 2010 and 20 in 2009. [1]

• Seven buses were purchased from the STCUQ in 2007, they are currently in service, except 9130 which was retired.

• During the summer of 2008, the STO has started a test trial of a prototype NovaBus articulated bus on several of its routes. The bus has 58 seats and a total capacity of 115 passengers. [2]

• With the arrival of the '3rd-Gen' Nova LFSs, STO will begin offering more accessible service between 9 am and 3 pm on routes 36, 37, and 300 starting September 30, 2009. This is because that these buses feature the more reliable flip-out ramps, as opposed to the telescopic ramps on older LFSs which are disabled due to unreliability.

• STO is expected to have Nova LFS artics in service by the late 2011, or by early 2012 (making it the first articulated buses in STO's fleet).

Fares

Fares in this section were effective January 1, 2009.^[6]

STO's service consists of three types of bus routes:

• Regular: conventional bus routes, operating at all regular service hours
• Express: designated routes operating during rush hours
• Interzone: Routes 94 and 98 only, which reach the Masson-Angers and Buckingham sector

Cash fares

• Regular: $3.25, or 1 ticket
• Express: $3.75, or 1 ticket with $0.50
• Interzone: $5.60, or 2 tickets

Ticket fares (per ticket)

• Adult: $2.80
• Students & Seniors : $2.05

Monthly passes (Adults)

• Regular: $76.00
• Express: $91.50
• Interzone: $105.50

Day pass: $6.50

• unlimited use on Regular routes
• add $0.50 for Express routes, $2.80 for Interzone routes

Children and Students

• Cash fares are not discounted – the cash fare costs apply as above
• Regular monthly pass: $52.50
• Express monthly pass: $65.00
• Interzone monthly pass: $80.00

Seniors (at least age 65)

• Cash fares are not discounted – the cash fare costs apply as above
• Monthly pass (valid for Regular, Express or Interzone): $34.50

Transfers

• Transfers usually last for a maximum of 2 hours, except on Routes 33 and 39 where it is a maximum of 3 hours (at least when you board at Les Promenades de l'Outaouais terminal).
• There are no additional charge when boarding OC Transpo regular routes, although there are some premium charges on Express and Rural Express routes
• A supplement of $.50 is required when transferring to Express routes
• A supplement of $2.50 ($1.90 for students/seniors) is required when transferring to Interzone routes. Tickets are also accepted.

OC Transpo Transfers and Passes

• *Accepted without a supplement on the regular STO system. A supplement is required on express buses ($0.50) and on routes subject to interzone fares (students and seniors: $1.90 / adult: $2.60).
• *After 9:00 am throughout the area served – Before 9:00 am only when boarding in the downtown Hull and sector Ottawa, unless accompanied by an Ontario residency card.

• The OC Transpo day pass is also accepted on STO buses but can not be used as a family pass.
• As of February 1, OC Transpo titles will not be accepted for the duration of the bus strike.

Ontario Residency Card

• This photo ID card is available at STO issuing centres for $8.00, taxes included. It entitles the holder to use the STO's services with an OC Transpo pass at any time. The supplements required for the express and interzone buses apply

Forfait CamPuce

An exclusive offer for UQO students, CamPuce is a promotion that offers four months for the price of three.

• Starting in September 2006, a pilot project with the Université du Québec en Outaouais was introduced in order to encourage students to use transit. Previously starting at $51 per semester (regular network), the cost jumped to $57 in January 2007 and $107 in September 2007 due to a lesser contribution by the city of Gatineau on the project. In 2008, the cost jump was even higher and is $213 per semester as of 2008. Costs for the express network is $259.50 per semester and $307.50 for the interzone network.

CamPuce fares on January 1, 2009 for UQO students : $128.00 (regular), $174.50 (express) & $216,50 (interzone).
CamPuce fares on January 1, 2009 for CEGEP de l'Outaouais students : $100.00, $156.25 & $228.25.

Miscellaneous

Other fares are available for groups, special cases, or persons with disabilities.

Smart card

Monthly passes are in the form of a wireless electronic "smart card" known as Passe-Partout PLUS. The card itself has an initial cost of $8.00 and may be purchased from designated sales outlets. Monthly passes are also valid for connecting to OC Transpo routes in Ottawa.

See also

• List of park and rides in Gatineau
• OC Transpo

References

External links

• Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) Home Page
• STO Map Network
• Peter McLaughlin's STO photo page
• Barp.ca's STO bus gallery