Saint John Transit

Saint John Transit
Founded1979
Headquarters55 McDonald Street Saint John
Service areaSaint John, Rothesay, Quispamsis, Hampton
Service typebus service
Routes14 local routes; 1 regional route
HubsKing's Square North; Lancaster Mall; Place 400; Metcalf St; McAllister Place
Annual ridership1,766,094 (2023)[1]
OperatorSaint John Transit Commission
WebsiteOfficial website

Saint John Transit is the public transit agency serving Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Established in 1979 to provide scheduled transit service to the city, it is the largest public transit system in the province in terms of both mileage and passengers.[2]

Services

Fixed routes

Saint John Transit provides 7 day a week service, with a series of Main Line routes that provide the backbone of the system and feeder routes that connect at 4 major hubs throughout the city. Service begins as early as 5:50 am on main routes, and around 6 am for secondary and limited routes and ends as late as 11:10 pm on some of the main routes and around 10 pm on secondary.[3]

Route
No. 		Route name Service type Sunday
Holiday 		Note
1 McAllister Place / Field House Main Line YES
3 McAllister Place / Regional UNB Main Line YES
9 McAllister Place / Regional Hospital Main Line YES
12 Martinon West-side
15 Harbour Bridge West-side YES
20 Wright St. / Fort Howe North and South
21 South End / St. Joseph's North and South
23 Crescent Valley North and South
24 North End North and South
30 Champlain Heights/Silver Falls East-side
31 Forest Glen East-side YES
32 Loch Lomond East-side
33 Champlain Lakewood East-side
35 NBCC Express East-side
52 Kennebecasis Valley Comex Comex

FLEX service

FLEX service does not operate on a fixed route or schedule. Riders must use a smartphone app or call a dispatcher to schedule a ride from a specified FLEX stop. Riders can travel within a zone, or transfer to routes 1, 12 or 15 at common stops. FLEX service is provided Monday to Friday from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, and on Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. Saint John Transit uses six leased Karzan electric buses for FLEX service.[4] The 20-foot (6.1 m) buses can carry 20 passengers.[5]

As FLEX service is rolled out, Saint John Transit has discontinued or rerouted fixed routes.[5]

Saint John Accessible Transit

The Saint John Accessible Transit service is provided by Independence Plus Inc. for people who cannot use the regular transit system due to disabilities.[6] The service was formerly known as the Handi-bus – this name has been changed due to its 'derogatory and degrading' connotations.[7] The city will gain a new bus for its services, bringing the total of the fleet to six.[7]

History

Saint John Transit had six predecessors:[8]

  • People's Street Railway Company (1869–1876): Horsecar operation
  • Saint John City Railway Company (1887–1892): Horsecar operation
  • Consolidated Electric Company (1892–1897): Streetcar operation (electrified April 12, 1893)
  • Saint John Railway Company (1897–1917): Streetcar operator
  • New Brunswick Power Company (1917–1948): Streetcar and bus operator (buses since 1936; streetcars until August 7, 1948)
  • City Transit Limited (1948–1979?): city bus operator[9]
  • Saint John Transit Commission (1979–date): current city bus operator[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ McPhee, Emma (3 January 2024). "2023 a big year for Saint John Transit". Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  2. ^ "City of Saint John Community GHG & Energy Action Plan". City of Saint John. January 2019. pp. 13, 14.
  3. ^ "Saint John Transit – Routes, Stops, and Schedules". City of Saint John. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  4. ^ "Saint John Transit – ". City of Saint John. January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Saint John Transit continues to enhance service beginning December 27, 2022". City of Saint John. December 27, 2022.
  6. ^ "Saint John Transit – Accessibility". City of Saint John. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Tiwari, Nipun (October 23, 2024). "Saint John rebrands accessible transit service, jettisons 'derogatory and degrading' name". CBC.ca.
  8. ^ Wyatt, David A. (June 19, 2015). "All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems – Saint John, New Brunswick". University of Manitoba.
  9. ^ a b "Saint John Transit – Organization". City of Saint John. Retrieved January 26, 2023.

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