1970–73 The last trolleybus in Winnipeg ran on 30 October 1970; As early as 1971,
Dial-A-Bus was studied as a way to transport passengers from very low-density suburban neighbourhoods. In August 1970, several
River Heights residents opposed a jointly managed
Unibus shuttle service for students of the
University of Manitoba. Riding Unibus would save students from paying the regular adult fare, instead having them pay $20 for six months' use. In December, however, a legal case was opened at the
Manitoba Court of Queens Bench, filed by a Lindsay Street (River Heights) resident claiming that Metro Transit, under the 1960
Metropolitan Winnipeg Act, had no authority to operate the Unibus service. Residents were upset that the routes would
depreciate housing where the buses traversed and that the service was only available to University students. In September 1971, 60 residents showed up to the last Metro Council meeting to protest the running of the Unibus service in the Riverview area, complaining of bus traffic on Balfour, Maplewood, and Casey streets. Two weeks later, the
City's civic election took place, replacing Metro Winnipeg with a
Unicity government. Upon this municipal merger, public transit services became the responsibility of the newly unified
City of Winnipeg on January 1, 1972, with Metro Transit becoming the
City of Winnipeg Transit Department, or
Winnipeg Transit.
1974–79 Express bus service between
downtown Winnipeg and
King's Park commenced 17 February 1974, replacing the local bus service to that community. In February 1975, the city began DASH (Downtown Area SHuttle; now Downtown Spirit), a free shuttle service operating on 5-minute
headways, Mondays to Fridays between 9am and 4pm, throughout the Central Business District of
downtown Winnipeg. In early 1976, the union for Winnipeg Transit,
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1505, had not signed a new contract. Workers went off the job starting 26 January 1976. Both the
Mayor of Winnipeg and
Premier of Manitoba were powerless in stopping the transit strike, which strike lasted for 47 days and ended after ratification by the ATU on March 12. Council voted 41-1 (out of a nominal 50 members) the day prior to agree to the new 17-month contract. Councillor Florence Pierce (ICEC - Glenlawn) was the only Councillor present who voted against the new contract. The effects of the strike left many people stranded or unable to travel to work or for medical appointments. The issues were mainly wage and work scheduling-related. The Board of Commissioners had stated that if the ATU wins a pay increase, certain routes may be cancelled and a 10 cent far implemented on the DASH route and
Dial-A-Bus service to
Saint Norbert &
Fort Richmond cancelled. According to D. I. MacDonald: It may be necessary to review the level of transit service provided, due to the rapid escalation of transit costs, to the point where the transit deficit is now a major budget item.
1980s–90s Winnipeg Transit installed a modern
two-way radio system, capable of addressing a specific bus in 1982. The project received $2.5 million from the City and $90,000 from the federal government. In 1982, Winnipeg Transit refurbished 8
GM New Look buses that were originally built in the early 1960s rather than purchasing brand new buses. From 1984 onwards and for the next six years, Winnipeg Transit would refurbish 10 buses annually. When
Edmonton and
Calgary completed the first phase of their
light rail (LRT) systems in the early 1980s, they found that they needed fewer diesel buses. They sold some of them to Winnipeg Transit, which in turn bought 10 double-rear-door Flyer models from Edmonton (380 series) at a cost of $20,000 each, and another nine
GM New Look buses from Calgary (290 series) at a cost of $35,000 each. The Edmonton buses had red seats and featured double rear doors. The Edmonton buses were sold off by 1985. In April 1982 the Works and Operations Committee awarded Mediacom, Inc. a contract to build and maintain 200 transit shelters with advertising for a period of 15 years. During the week of 23 September 1982, Winnipeg Transit tested a
GM-built
articulated bus on the
Portage and
Pembina routes. The bus, numbered 900, was constructed from parts of a GM New Look with a Classic front end. It was destined to operate as part of the
Mississauga Transit fleet. Winnipeg Transit purchased 20 electronic fareboxes from GFI in 1985 at the cost of C$7,000 each to eliminate theft of dollar bills by bus operators. However, the boxes were incompatible with the
one dollar loonie coin introduced in 1987 and were then removed from service. During the summer of 1985 all bus stops in Winnipeg were replaced with new ones bearing a telephone number that started with 235-. When a transit passenger called this number he/she would hear a computerized female voice give the current time, and the transit routes and times those routes passed through that particular stop. Telebus, which is based on software by Teleride Corporation, was officially launched in February 1986. Costs were shared 50-50 between the Province and City to pay the $1.3 million to set up the original system. However, in 1987 all bus stop decals were replaced with the 287- telephone exchange. After
Calgary Transit's
C-Train LRT expanded into the Northeast in April 1985, 30 brand new Flyer buses (600–630 series) were sold to Winnipeg and put into service in 1986. Calgary Transit had offered to sell 30 "slightly used" GM New Look buses to Winnipeg Transit, but the Province pressured the city to purchase the Flyer buses to support the provincially owned Flyer Industries as a local manufacturer. Building new buses cost the City $5.4 million, $1.5 million more than it would have cost to purchase the "slightly used" Calgary vehicles. On 31 December 1992, transit services to
Headingley were withdrawn. Winnipeg Transit bought its first
low-floor accessible bus in 1994. Subsequently, this idea was added to the CentrePlan report; the CentrePlan formed a "downtown connector" committee, of which a representative from Winnipeg Transit participated. Since June 1995, Winnipeg Transit allowed non-directional transfers, which were initially set for a 90-minute period. When the electronic
fareboxes were introduced in 2013, the transfer time was reduced to 75 minutes, making it somewhat difficult to accomplish errands that are further away or take up more time. Beginning in September 1995, Winnipeg Transit designated Main Street, between Higgins Avenue and Graham, as a
bus-only lane during peak hours (7-9 am, 15h30-17h30 weekdays). The
Pan American Games were hosted by Winnipeg in the summer of 1999, and in order to provide transportation to athletes, volunteers, media, and spectators, Winnipeg Transit increased its fleet to 665 buses. Since then, Winnipeg Transit has devised a more detailed winter snow plan, with three phases: • In the first phase (the "Blue Snow Plan"), most suburban and short-trip routes (including DART service) would not operate, and most other routes would operate on shortened or simplified routes. • In the second phase (the "Red Snow Plan"), transit service would be reduced to 13 routes running along major
arterial roads and serving downtown, major hospitals, and the
airport. • In the third phase, transit would cease to operate completely. , Winnipeg Transit has not had to implement the snow plan. On November 16, 2007, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments announced the Transit Improvement Program, which included upgrades and improvements to existing infrastructure for buses, such as transit priority signals, transit-only lanes, and new bus shelters. In addition to an order of 33 new regular
low-floor buses, Winnipeg Transit also ordered twenty new articulated
Diesel-Electric Hybrid buses; the first bus was delivered by the end of 2007. The test of the first articulated bus was not successful, and that part of the order was cancelled. In 2008, Winnipeg Transit added the "next stop" program, wherein the upcoming bus stop on a route is announced by a computerized female voice, as well as the street name being shown on a small display on the ceiling at the front of the bus. The display would also show whether a stop has been requested by a passenger. The program was preceded by a phase where transit operators called out stops, which led to debate over whether this would distract drivers from the road. As of 2009,
Telebus operates through only telephone number corresponding to BUS-RIDE phrase. Users can access information about buses stopping at a specific bus stop by entering the five-digit code located on the sign for that stop. The first number of the stop designates the municipal area the stop is located in (1 for the old City of Winnipeg, 5 for
St. Boniface and
St. Vital, etc.). In 2010, installation of bicycle racks on buses was revived. (This was preceded by earlier trials on Route 18 in 1999, and on Route 60 from 2000 to 2004 or 2006.) Thirty buses that are used on Routes 160, 162, and 170 now have two-place bike racks installed during summer months, between May 1 and October 31. However, as of 2017, some transit users have been frustrated that the program is not dependable. Beginning in spring 2018, buses with bike racks were made identifiable on Navigo, Winnipeg Transit's online scheduling system. On 8 April 2012, Winnipeg officially opened the
Southwest Transitway, as well as introducing
Rapid Transit (RT) to the city. In July 2016, Winnipeg Transit introduced the Peggo
electronic fare payment system, designed to replace paper tickets and passes. This new reloadable electronic fare card featured an embedded
microchip that communicates with the on-board farebox.
2019 A June 2019 Leger survey commissioned by the
Canadian Urban Transit Association found that in Winnipeg alone, one in three survey respondents "think public transit is poorly developed in their area" and that more than half found "transit infrastructure in their community is outdated." Since late October 2019, Winnipeg Transit Inspectors have worn protective vests, to protect themselves if there are confrontations with passengers or others nearby.
Contract negotiations From January 2019 to the fall of that year,
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) workers at Winnipeg Transit were without a contract. During the spring and summer there were two days of "free" transit where bus operators did not enforce fares. There were four votes on contracts, all of them voted down. The ATU said that while they did not want to go on strike (as in 1976), they might be forced to do so. Issues this time centered around safety issues since the murder of Irvine Fraser on 14 February 2017. In mid-September,
University of Manitoba Students' Union expressed their support for the transit union's issues, but feared that a major transit strike would cause undue hardship on students as the University of Manitoba is Winnipeg Transit's second most important trip attractor, besides downtown Winnipeg. A new 48-month contract was voted on, with 52% in favour of accepting the current offer. It was subsequently approved by EPC on October 17, and passed by Council one week later on October 24. The new contract increased wages 1.25% (2020), 2% (2021), 1.75% (2022), and 2% (2023). Jarrett travels to various cities to promote frequent transit as a priority over coverage. Recently, Winnipeg Transit received funding to redesign its transit system for the next quarter century. Called the
Transit Master Plan (
TMP), public consultations took place in March and April 2019, with "Draft Route Plans" released in October 2019. The TMP came about because many passengers feel that many WT routes do not go where people need to go (work, school, shopping). Other issues involve: • Buses that do not operate frequently enough when people need the service such as late at night or on weekends. • Passengers experience buses that are early, late, do not show up at all (phantom buses). • Overcrowding is a problem on several routes. To help alleviate this issue, WT ordered 28 New Flyer buses, with delivery in 2019. These buses will be used on the BLUE BRT route, which begun in April 2020. • Peggo, the electronic fare card system introduced in 2016, has been plagued by software glitches. • Adult fares ($3.00 cash, $102.05 monthly) are considered high for those who are underemployed or unemployed. A Low Income Fare & Pass policy is currently being considered for implementation for the Spring of 2020. • Winnipeg Transit does not serve communities beyond the
Perimeter Hwy (with the exception of
St. Norbert). These include
Headingley,
Oakbank,
East St. Paul, and
Niverville. The Transit Master Plan will examine how to serve these and other communities in the
Winnipeg Metro Region. The TMP process is designed to address the above issues. Part of the Transit Master Plan may address the issue of serving communities beyond the
Perimeter Highway. In March 2019 the
RM of Rosser urged Winnipeg Transit to extend its service between the RM and the growing CentrePort employment area. Since then a wider study that is part of an updated Transportation Master Plan will examine ways extending service to exurban communities and introduce Park & Ride facilities on major thoroughfares near the Perimeter Hwy. A "Public Engagement Report" was published in July summarizing feedback from March and April 2019. On October 25, 2019, the Phase II Draft report of the Transit Master Plan was released. It shows a total redesign of transit routes, many of them operating in a straight line, some no longer operating within the downtown Winnipeg area, some others on other roads. For example, routes 'A' (SW Transitway-Portage), 'B' (Main-St. Mary's), and 'C' (Grant-Regent) are designated rapid transit. The 55 St. Anne's would no longer travel west beyond the Univ. of Winnipeg, and would not travel south on Main St. and St. Mary's Rd. which already duplicates the 14 St. Mary's route. Instead a route 'G' (St. Anne's-Univ. of Winnipeg) would continue eastward over the Provencher Bridge to Rue Des Meurons and head south till it meets with St. Anne's Rd. Funding for the $2.6 million Transit Master Plan comes from the federally administered Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.
2021 Winnipeg City Council adopted the final TMP on April 29.
2023 In November Winnipeg's Public Works Committee approved a proposal to accelerate implementation of the TMP's primary route network to June 2025, instead of 2026 as previously scheduled.
2025 Winnipeg Transit started to introduce zero-emission buses (ZEB) in service. Winnipeg became the first Canadian city to operate a 60-foot
battery-electric bus in August and a 60-foot
hydrogen fuel cell bus in December. Winnipeg Transit also began operation of 40-foot battery-electric buses in September and 40-foot hydrogen fuel cell buses in December. On June 29, the Transit Master Plan's Primary Transit Network came into effect, which saw most pre existing routes in the city discontinued or modified. The new network also saw the decommissioning of the
Graham Avenue Transit Mall, with all but two stops removed after the new network launched. == Services and programs ==