What's New
Winnipeg Transit Wins National Transit Industry Award
On May 18, 2010, the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) awarded Winnipeg Transit an award for Exceptional Performance/Outstanding Achievement for the City’s Transit Improvement Program.
Since gaining City Council approval of a comprehensive multi-year transit improvement program in 2006, we have implemented significant enhancements to improve the speed, reliability, accessibility, comfort and convenience of our services. The program, called Revolutionizing Transit Service in Winnipeg: The Physical and The Virtual, includes several components.
Physical improvements include:
- Upgrades to over 500 stops (new shelters (many heated), signage, benches, landscaping) to provide safe, comfortable waiting areas,
- New on-street transit priority measures (diamond lanes, transit signal priority, queue jumps) to improve speed and reliability in 10 “Quality Corridors”,
- New Park & Ride facilities to provide more commuting options for Winnipeggers,
- An accelerated program of bus replacements to renew the transit fleet with low-floor “Easy Access” buses,
- Construction of Winnipeg’s first rapid transit project, the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor.
Virtual improvements use innovative applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems technology to improve service delivery and make transit easier to use:
- iBUS technology has been installed on the transit fleet (automated vehicle location, schedule adherence monitoring, “next stop” display/enunciation, security cameras, automatic passenger counters),
- A new Control Centre system developed by internal staff, Intracom, provides new service monitoring and incident management tools to better manage daily transit operations,
- Real-time passenger information is provided through several conduits: a new winnipegtransit.com website (effective June 23), online trip planner (Navigo), an improved TeleBUS system, text messaging (BUStxt), electronic signs at major stops (BUSwatch), a smartphone web application (BUSguide – effective June 23), a downloadable gadget to a desktop computer that passengers can use to monitor departures from bus stops (BUSgadget- effective June 23), and Twitter feeds that notify passengers of service adjustments and transit news.
To learn more about Winnipeg Transit’s leading edge technology read our Innovation in Motion.pdf.
Winnipeg Transit testing safety shields
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Winnipeg, MB – Winnipeg Transit is exploring the idea of installing safety shields to protect its 1,100 Bus Operators from assaults. Prototype enclosures have been installed in the driver compartment of two transit buses to evaluate the effectiveness of the shatterproof panels and gauge reaction from Bus Operators and customers.
Winnipeg Transit and the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1505 (ATU) have been looking into the feasibility of using clear plastic shields to enhance the safety and security of Bus Operators. The test shields are designed to reduce the chance of anyone making physical contact with an Operator. The shields are made from a polycarbonate material that is strong enough to deflect most projectiles. Customers will still be able to communicate verbally with the Operator through speaking holes in the partition.
In 2009, there were 70 reports of Operators being subjected to some type of physical assault, about 40% of assaults were in the form of persons spitting or throwing an object at the Operator. Transit officials estimate a safety shield could prevent a significant number of these assaults.
“There is evidence that safety shields could decrease the number of assaults on our Operators”, said Dave Wardrop, Director of Winnipeg Transit. “More importantly, our initial research indicates the shields might reduce the severity of an assault. The safety and security of our employees is a priority and we’re very interested in seeing the results of this test”.
“The ATU and Winnipeg Transit share the same concerns with regard to safety”, said Keith Scott, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505. “We will continue to work with our members and Transit to reduce assaults on Bus Operators and provide as safe a workplace as possible for our membership”.
Testing of the shields is expected to take several months and further evaluation may be required before there is any decision to install the devices on more buses. Part of the purpose of the trial is to research costing and to establish appropriate budgeting required. Winnipeg Transit is encouraging the public to call 311 or visit winnipegtransit.com to let them know how they feel about the protective shields.
A number of transit systems in North America have installed or are testing similar shields.
Please click the link for a photo of the shield
Balmoral Street Winnipeg Transit Terminal Construction
On Monday, May 17th, construction will begin on a new Winnipeg Transit Bus Terminal at the old Greyhound Bus Depot on Balmoral Street. Work is expected to be complete by the end of July.
During construction, Balmoral Street will be reduced to one-lane northbound from Portage Avenue to just north of the exit from the old bus depot. Buses will continue to operate northbound on Balmoral, but the stop at Northbound Balmoral at Portage (stop 10831) will be temporarily cancelled. All buses will use the Northbound Balmoral at Ellice stop (10838) during construction.
See map below for more details.
Jubilee Overpass Closure
The Jubilee Overpass will be closed for four months of rehabilitation work beginning Monday, May 3rd, 2010.
During the bridge closure, the Route 95 to Riverview which normally uses the overpass from southbound Pembina Highway to eastbound Jubilee Avenue will be re-routed as follows:
Buses will operate regular route to south on Pembina, west on Byng Place, south down the back lane (between Pembina and the rail line) to the Windermere Bus Loop (observe stop in bus loop). Buses will then travel east on Windermere, north on Pembina and east on Jubilee back to regular route. (See map for details.)
Follow Winnipeg Transit on Twitter
Winnipeg Transit has two twitter accounts to provide passengers with our latest transit information.
Search for Winnipeg Transit for all the latest transit news, upcoming events, and special service. Winnipeg Transit will send out messages for upcoming service changes, advising of when we will be running holiday service, and letting you know about special service such as Bomber fan fare, Folk Festival service, and Red River Ex service.
Search for Transit Alerts for all the latest re-route or service advisory information. Our transit alerts advises passengers of all re-route information and sends a follow up tweet to let you know when the re-route has finished and service has returned to regular route.
Winnipeg Transit launches BUStxt
Winnipeg, MB. – Winnipeggers can now access Transit information anytime, anywhere with a simple text from their cell phone. Winnipeg Transit has introduced BUStxt, a Short Message Service (SMS) that lets transit users get real-time Transit information on their mobile devices.
Transit customers can use texting features on their standard cell phones or web-enabled ‘smart’ phones to find Transit stops nearest them, bus departure times at stops, or find out when the bus they are on will reach a location further along the route. BUStxt can be accessed at 287898 (bustxt). Standard text messaging rates may apply.
As SMS messages are limited to 136 characters, all messages are presented in a condensed form. BUStxt allows customers to access information using a variety of search commands and simple keywords. Within a short time of receiving a text message inquiry from a customer, BUStxt automatically returns service information based on the customer’s search parameters.
For example, a customer can send a message to BUStxt to:
- Find the stops closest to an address, intersection, or major landmark specified in the customer’s text message.
- Find the bus departure times for any of Winnipeg Transit’s 5,000 bus stops. The 5-digit bus stop ID number or the stop intersection (eg. ‘10171’ or ‘nb osborne@river’ for the stop at northbound Osborne@River) must be specified in the customer’s text message. BUStxt will automatically reply with a message listing the departure time, route number and the destination of the bus (or buses) departing from that stop.
- Find information about the service of a bus they are riding on. For example, passengers can find out when the bus they are currently riding on will reach a specific location on its route which can helpful when passengers are planning to transfer to another bus.
BUStxt returns ‘real-time’ information based on schedule updates automatically reported to the Transit Control Centre by the GPS-equipped iBUS technology recently installed on the Winnipeg Transit fleet.
Complete instructions on how to use BUStxt are available by clicking on BUStxt User Guide. Condensed instructions can also be obtained by sending the text message “HELP” to 287898 (bustxt).