London Transit

London Transit

Slogan	Wherever Life Takes You
Founded	1875
Headquarters	450 Highbury Avenue N
Service area	London, Ontario
Service type	Public Transit
Routes	37 regular routes[1] 3 community buses
Fleet	195 buses
Annual ridership	24.1 million (2014) [2]
Operator	City of London
Website	www.ltconline.ca

A retired GM Classic bus in the old 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. In 2014, annual ridership totaled 24.1 million.^[2] The LTC has 37 regular bus routes, plus 3 community bus routes.

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]

Active fleet

As of 2010, the LTC has 191 transit buses in its fleet. Until recently, London Transit had one of the oldest transit fleets in Ontario, with many buses older than 25 years old. However, with new buses being purchased within the last decade, this has changed. All older model high-floor buses were phased out in 2012, making the LTC fully operated with low-floor accessible buses.

During peak service periods on weekdays there are over 154 buses on the road. Sunday service reduces that number to fewer than 50.

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.

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 low-floor accessible 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.

In 2009, new digital message signs were placed at strategic transit stops to tell passengers when the bus is expected to arrive. The LTC website also allows customers to check when a particular bus will arrive in real-time.

Also in 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 was initially being tested on four routes, and was later expanded in 2011 to include the entire fleet.

In 2011, a second transit garage opened in the west end of the city to improve efficiency and create room for a larger transit fleet. Currently, the Wonderland Road Garage houses approximately 40 buses, with expansion room to store 60 more.

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 and LTC have begun to plan for the future Transportation Master Plan. The research program will be called "Smart Moves: What Moves You?" and will take transportation goals in London to 2030. For LTC, the study will examine rapid transit corridors while considering Bus Rapid Transit and other Rapid Transit options.

AM 980 reported that the city's planning staff had put forward a plan to introduce rapid transit.^[6][7][8][9] The plan would cost $1.2 billion, and would include both a bus rapid transit and a light rail components.

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 was taken by the USC including a flag-a-ride program and a shuttle service for groceries.^[10] David Empey president of the UWO staff association was against this volunteer service helping students calling it "scab labor" and said it was irresponsible to set up a system which replaced the job of striking workers. Despite this information pickets were set up at the University encouraging students to help their cause. "The strike is really inconveniencing people who are paid even less than the drivers," said a third-year Western student."This shuttle is a good idea. I had hoped they'd put something like this together. We still have to pay for our transit pass" even if there's a strike.^[11]

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.^[12]

The strike ended on December 14, 2009.

Fares

Effective December 1, 2008 the new fare is as follows:^[13]

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.

Routes

Regular Routes

Buses serving these routes stop at blue bus-stop signs.

	No.	Route Name[1]	Notes	Termini	Other Major Destinations
	1	Thompson/Kipps Lane	Alternating trips between Pond Mills Road (1A) and King Edward Drive (1B).	Kipps at Adelaide Pond Mill Square	Glen Cairn Plaza, South Street Hospital, Downtown, St. Joseph's Hospital
	2	Dundas	Alternating trips between Trafalgar Heights (2A) and Bonaventure (2B). Extension to Masonville Place on Sundays only.	2A: Western University & Trafalgar and Marconi 2B: Western University & Dundas and Carlyle	Downtown, Banting Museum, Eastown Plaza
	3	Hamilton Road		Downtown Firestone at Gore Downtown	Fairmont Plaza
	4	Oxford East	Alternating trips between Dundalk Drive (4A) and Wilkins Street (4B). Buses serve both loops before 6AM on weekdays and after 6PM daily.	White Oaks Mall Fanshawe College	Downtown, Royal Canadian Regiment Museum, Oxbury Mall
	5	Springbank	Trips after 6PM Monday to Friday and all weekend trips do not service Griffith between Boler and Byron Baseline. Trips after 7PM Monday to Saturday and all Sunday trips bypass Springbank between Greenwood and Berkshire.	Downtown Boller at Byron Baseline	Southwest Shopping Plaza
	6	Richmond	Trips utilizing the Richmond and Wellington corridors servicing Western University, St. Joseph's Hospital, Downtown, Parkwood Hospital, and Victoria Hospital. Continues as the (9C) Whitehills after 7PM at northern terminus at Western University.	6: Parkwood Hospital & Western University	Downtown, St. Joseph's Hospital, Victoria Hospital
	7	Wavell		Downtown Argyle Mall	Banting Museum
	8	Riverside	Operates during weekday peak hours only.	Downtown Kains at Oxford
	9	Whitehills	Operates from Downtown via Platts lane, bypassing the centre of UWO, on Monday to Sunday trips before 7PM. After 7PM, (9C) Whitehills operates between Aldersbrook at Blackacres and Western University and continues southbound as the (6) Richmond.	9A/9B: Downtown & Aldersbrook at Blackacres 9C: Aldersbrook at Blackacres & Western University	Sherwood Forest Square
	10	Wonderland	Trips after 7PM on Monday through Saturday and all Sunday trips bypass Wonderland between Berkshire and Teeple. Uses Wonderland corridor to reach northern terminus at Western University. Extension to Masonville Place between 1:30PM and 9PM on weekdays and between 8:30AM and 9:00PM on Saturdays.	10: White Oaks Mall & Western University/Masonville Mall	Westhill Centre Plaza, Westmount Mall
	11	Southcrest		Downtown Westmount Mall
	12	Wharncliffe South		Downtown Wonderland Power Centre	Children’s Museum
	13	Wellington Road	Alternating trips between Grenfell and Northridge loops. Westminster Park (13A) served every two to three departures.	White Oaks Mall Fanshawe Park at McLean or Trossacks at Grenfell	Downtown, St. Joseph's Hospital, University of Western Ontario, Masonville Place,
	14	Highbury		White Oaks Mall Barker at Huron	Westminster Plaza, Pond Mills Square, Northumberland Mall
	15	Westmount	Trips after 7PM Monday through Saturday and all Sunday trips extend to Famham and Dalhousie	Downtown Westmount Mall
	16	Adelaide	Alternating trips between Pond Mills (16A) and Summerside (16B).	Masonville place Pond Mills at Deveron or Darnley at Meadowgate	Pond Mills Square, Banting Museum
	17	Oxford West	Trips after 7PM on Monday through Saturday and all Sunday trips bypass Oxford and Sanatorium between Hyde and Riverside.	Argyle Mall Griffith and Byron Baseline	Fanshawe College, Oxbury Mall, Royal Canadian Regiment Museum, Cherryhill Village Mall, Westhill Centre Plaza, Oakridge Mall
	18	Western Road	Weekdays only.	Natural Science Riverside ant Wharncliffe	Wharncliffe at Western
	19	Oakridge	Sunday service at a 60 min interval	Downtown Hyde Park Centre	Oakridge Mall
	20	Cherryhill	Trips after 7PM on weekdays and all weekend trips terminate at Westhill Centre Plaza.	Fanashwe College Beaverbrook at Sarnia or Westhill Centre Plaza	Downtown, Cherryhill Village Mall
	21	Huron Heights		Downtown Oakville at Huron	St. Joseph's Hospital, Huron Heights Plaza
	22	Trafalgar	No Sunday service.	Downtown Argyle Mall	Western Fair Sports Centre
	23	Berkshire	No Sunday service.	Downtown Famham at Dalhousie	Southwest Shopping Centre, Westmount Mall.
	24	Baseline	No Sunday service.	North Talbot Victoria Hospital	Westmount Mall
	25	Kilally	Weekdays only.	Fanshawe College McLean at Fanshawe Park	Huron Heights Plaza
	26	Jalna Blvd. West		Downtown White Oaks Mall
	27	Fanshawe College	Weekdays only.	Kipps Lane at Adalaide Fanshawe College	Huron Heights Plaza
	28	Lambeth	Weekdays only, base period.	Outer at Colonel Talbot Westmount Mall	Wonderland Power Centre
	29	Capulet	Weekdays only.	Wonderland at Oxford Western University	Sarnia Road
	30	Newbold	Operates during weekday peak hours only.	Hubrey at Enterprise White Oaks Mall	Wilton Grove industrial corridor
	31	Orchard Park	Trips after 6PM on weekdays and all weekend trips bypass Wychwood and Lawson between Sarnia and Wonderland. Sunday service at a 60min frequency. Interlined with the 19 Oakridge and 32 Windermere	Hyde Park Power Centre Western University	Sherwood Forest Mall
	32	Windermere	Sunday service at a 60 min frequency. Interlined with the 19 Oakridge and 31 Orchard Park	University of Western Ontario Huron Heights Plaza
	33	Proudfoot	Weekdays only.	Westhill Centre Plaza University of Western Ontario	Cherryhill Village Mall
	34	Medway	Operates during weekday daytime and late evening hours.	University of Western Ontario Masonville Place
	35	Argyle	No Sunday service.	Weymouth at Portsmouth Argyle Mall
	36	Airport/Industrial	Operates during weekday daytime and late evening hours.	Fanshawe College London International Airport	GM Diesel Plant
	37	Sovereign Road	Operates during weekday peak hours only.	Argyle Mall Neptune at Sovereign	Sovereign Road industrial corridor
	38	Stoney Creek	30 minute service Monday to Saturday 60 minute service Sundays	Masonville Place Sunningdale at South Weinage
	39	Fanshawe West	30 minute service Monday to Saturday 60 minute service Sundays	Hyde Park Power Centre Masonville Place

Express Routes

These routes are limited-stop service. Buses serving these routes stop only at orange bus-stop signs.

	No.	Route Name[1]	Notes	Termini	Other Major Destinations
	90	Express	Via Richmond Street and Wellington Road. No weekend or Holiday service.	Masonville Mall White Oaks Mall	St. Joseph's Hospital Downtown (Richmond and Dundas)
	91	Express	Via Oxford Street. Weekday peak-hour service only	Fanshawe College Oxford at Wonderland	Oxbury Mall Cherryhill Village Mall
	92	Express	Via Adelaide Street. Weekday peak-hour service only	Masonville Mall Victoria Hospital

Community Routes

The following regularly scheduled limited service routes operate to provide special access to seniors and individuals with impaired mobility to major shopping destinations. They are not designed as an alternative to the paratransit service.

	No.	Route Name[1]	Notes	Termini	Other Major Destinations
	51	Oakridge Community	Tuesday and Thursday service only.	Cherryhill Village Mall Oakridge Mall	Westhill Centre Plaza
	53	Westmount Community	Monday and Wednesday service only.	Cherryhill Village Mall Westmount Mall	Westhill Centre Plaza
	54	Masonville Community	Friday service only.	Cherryhill Village Mall Masonville Place	University of Western Ontario

Extra University service

The following branches of regular routes provide direct service for the University of Western Ontario on weekdays during the Fall and Spring semester.

	No.	Route Name[1]	Notes	Termini	Other Major Destinations
	2C	Dundas	(2C) operates between Western University and Downtown (Richmond and Oxford) SOUTHBOUND ONLY during the school year. Returns to the University as the 6A Richmond (NORTHBOUND)	Downtown Western University
	6A	Richmond	(6A) operates during the school year between Downtown (Richmond and Dundas) and Western University NORTHBOUND ONLY. Returns downtown from the University as the 2C Dundas.	Downtown Western University	St Joseph's Hospital
	10A	Wonderland	(10A) operates during the school year between Southdale and Wonderland & Western University at a 60min interval.	Westmount Mall Western University
	18	Western Road	Trips between Riverside and Wharncliffe and Western University during the school year. Southbound via Western Road and Platt's Lane and returns northbound to the University via Wharncliffe/Western corridor.	Riverside & Wharncliffe Western University
	29	Capulet Lane	Serves the Capulet Lane and Wonderland Rd and Western University during the school year. Used to be the (10B) Wonderland.	Westhill Centre Plaza Western University

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London Transit Commission.

• London Transit Commission Website
• Drawings and photos of London Transit buses
• ATU Local 741
• List of London Transit Buses. also History of the buses

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