slogan driving today for a better tomorrow founded 1977 predecessor sw & a was founded in 1872 headquarters 3700 north service road east windsor ontario service area windsor ontario detroit michigan service type public transit routes 13 stations transit terminal fleet 112 buses daily ridership 16 865 2010 fuel type diesel hybrid diesel electric operator city of windsor website official website transit windsor is a company that provides public transportation in the city of windsor ontario canada . transit windsor provides transportation to more than 6 million passengers each year covering an area of 121 square miles 310 km2 and a population of 211 000 . transit windsor operates a cross border service between the downtown areas of windsor and detroit via the tunnel bus and service to events at detroit s comerica park joe louis arena cobo hall and ford field . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 1872 to 1939 1.1.1 windsor electric street railway company 1.1.2 sandwich windsor and amherstburg interurban 1.1.3 windsor and tecumseh electric railway company 1.1.4 windsor essex and lake shore interurban 1.2 1940s to 1960s 1.3 1977 to present 2 fares 3 routes 4 operating profiles 5 references 6 external links history edit transit windsor was started on november 1 1977 with 90 transit buses one double decker bus from england three highway coaches and two suburban buses . before 1977 the company was called the sandwich windsor & amherstburg railway company or the sw & a . 1872 to 1939 edit the earliest ancestor of the sw & a and thus trainsit windsor is the sandwich and windsor passenger railway company which was officially incorporated on march 02 1872 and operated from july 20 1874 onwards . on march 03 1880 it was operated under foreclosure by mr. a. j. kennedy who re incorporated it as the sw & a on june 25 1887 . during this period the sw & a was using horse drawn streetcars . in autumn of 1877 to may of 1878 the sw & a experimented with using steam dummy railway propulsion for its streetcar and interurban services before switching to electric power on a full time basis from august 15 1891 until may 06 1939 . a map showing the detroit united railway s network in 1904 . interurban routes link street railroads in detroit port huron and windsor . from august 31 1901 to march 31 1920 the sw & a was under ownership of the detroit united railway when the local municipalities the cities of windsor and east windsor the towns of la salle riverside tecumseh amherstburg ojibway sandwich and walkerville and the townships sandwich east and sandwich west purchased it back from them to retain it as a municipal operation . 2 a result of this sale was the sw & a switching to electric streetcars though the company began phasing out streetcars electric and steam during the 1930s and began using motorbuses . while under municipal ownership it was operated by the hydro electric power commission of ontario from april 01 1920 until september 22 1934 under their hydro electric railways essex district division . electric trolleybuses were introduced on may 04 1922 but were withdrawn on january 10 1926 with the arrival of their replacements the motorbuses . during the great depression the sw & a withdrew its buses from regular service to save on operations costs becoming purely trolley and interurban in service from 1931 until march 21 1938 when buses returned and the interurban and trolley lines started being decommissioned on that date march 21 1938 the trolley lines to amherstburg were the first to be replaced with buses with the windsor walkerville along wyandotte street and erie stretcar along ottawa street being the last to convert to buses on may 06 1939 . the windsor tecumseh interurban would be the last rail service of any type being replaced with buses on may 15 1938 . 3 4 remains of the streetcar network can be found at the intersection of sandwich and mill streets where the crosswalks of sandwich street still retain their original streetcar rails from 1939 . keen eyed motorists and pedestrians can still see the paved over rails along elm avenue between riverside drive and university avenue as two long exceptionally straight grooves or cracks in the pavement . a business on university avenue formerly london street called the junction is one of the original streetcar barns that was used by sw & a before it ended use of the streetcars . windsor electric street railway company edit the windsor electric street railway was the first public electric street railway in canada having begun service on june 06 1886 with official opening ceremonies on june 09 . 5 electricity was replaced with steam dummy operations in april of 1888 until the fall of that year when it was replaced with horse drawn carriages afterwards . it was reorganized on april 18 1893 as the city railway company of windsor and was leased to the sw & a on march 21 1894 . the sw & a would completely absorb it on june 04 1904 turning the windsor essex street railway into its trolley line to walkerville ontario . sandwich windsor and amherstburg interurban edit march 31 1902 saw the purchase of the south essex electric railway incorporated on april 07 1896 by the sw & a which held a charter to construct an interurban line to amherstburg . this purchase would allow the sw & a to construct the yet unbuilt line to amherstburg from windsor . the line was completed by the sw & a on july 04 1903 and operated until may 15 1938 when it was the first of the lines to be replaced with buses . bus service to amherstburg was sold to an independent operator sun parlour coach lines in 1958 and would be absorbed into charterways in 1960 . windsor and tecumseh electric railway company edit the windsor and tecumseh electric railway company was incorporated in 1904 and acquired the charter and assets of the ontario traction company limited s yet unbuilt interurban line to tecumseh from windsor on may 25 1905 . the line began interurban trolley service from may 01 1907 and was purchased by the sw & a on march 31 1920 . it and the erie streetcar along ottawa street in windsor were the two last trolleys interurbans to be discontinued surviving until may 15 1938 . bus service would continue to tecumseh until 1956 . the original interurban trolley line ran along wyandotte street then clairmont street later clairview street today s clairview trail and ganatchio trail before turning south along the west side of lesperance road in tecumseh terminating at a loop next to the cn rail via rail tracks . 6 7 windsor essex and lake shore interurban edit the windsor essex and lake shore rapid railway company was incorporated in 1901 and was controlled by the dominion traction and lighting company . this interurban line became active on september 19 1907 and introduced a regional bus service by 1925 as highway motor coach line . it would be acquired by local municipalities city of windsor towns of kingsville leamington and essex and the townships of sandwich west sandwich east sandwich south gosfield north and gosfield south as the windsor essex and lake shore electric railway association on september 08 1929 coming under common ownership with the sw & a and its interurban lines . under its new ownership the line received substantial upgrades to its rails as well as brand new rolling stock . its interurban cars and buses were branded as the sunshine county route . due to a severe drop in riders service would be suspended in 1932 . attempts to sell the line to a steam railroad was unsuccessful and all infastructure was dismantled and sold in 1935 interurban service was along city streets in leamington and windsor and either on its own right of way or parallel to the public highway in the county . 8 9 10 1940s to 1960s edit in the 1940s sw & a was running fords and twin coaches . during the 1950s it stopped the river canard line 1951 the 6 mile tecumseh route 1956 and the amherstburg line 1958 . in the 1960s it ran 14 routes 1 . crosstown 2 . dougall avenue 3 . erie street 4 . highway no. 2 5 . lauzon road 6 . malden road 7 . howard avenue 8 . ottawa 9 . pillette 10 . st. mary s academy 11 . sanatorium 12 . sandwich east 13 . tecumseh drouillard 14 . wellington campbell by 1973 these would be renumbered to the following 1 ouellette 2 bruce 3 riverdale 4 campbell 5 ottawa 6 dominion 7 crosstown 8 dougall 9 erie 10 highway 2 11 forest glade 12 howard 12a devonshire came later than 1973 13 lincoln 14 lauzon 15 malden 16 wellington lincoln trent management limited operated system for the city of windsor from july 15 1970 to november of 1973 . 1977 to present edit after changing its name to transit windsor in 1977 the company began operating gmc new look buses and gm highway coaches . in the 1980s transit windsor bought 30 ft 9.1 m and 40 ft 12 m orion 01.501 and 01.508 buses and 40 ft 12 m gm new looks . the company also purchased gm classics mci classics and an orion 05.501 demo . in 1997 it purchased its first low floor buses the nova bus lfs . no new high floor buses have been purchased since . on sunday june 24 2007 transit windsor and greyhound began using the newly constructed windsor international transit terminal witt . 11 the new facility was built to replace the former bus station which was in disrepair . the routes that run through witt include the transway 1a transway 1c central 3 west ottawa 4 dominion 5 dougall 6 walkerville 8 parent 14 and the tunnel bus . the terminal is located at 300 chatham street west behind the windsor family aquatics centre . in 2014 transit windsor place 16 used vehicles into service that were second hand units from london transit commission . those units were numbered 670 685 and were new flyer industries d40i invero model buses . fares edit 2014 transit windsor fare structure 12 group cash fare monthly pass tunnel bus tunnel pass combo city & tunnel student summer saver child under 5 free with adult fare n a 5 n a n a n a student 3 66 5 n a n a 105.50 adult 3 95.70 5 95.70 157 n a senior 3 48.40 5 n a n a n a ride all day passes are also available for 9 and are unlimited use on any regular service all day family passes are available for 9 and can be used by 2 adults and up to 3 children 5 12 years old on any regular service transfers are valid for 2 hours after printing on any regular service running in any direction sheets of 5 tickets can be purchased for 12.65 9.90 for seniors and students transfers can be issued for tickets . routes edit current transit windsor bus routes fall 2014 fall 2015 13 route name description notes 1a transway 1a windsor international transit terminal to devonshire mall via ouellette and howard serves devon dr. for first 3 trips 20 minute peak service weekdays and saturday 1c transway 1c college avenue community centre to forest glade including the windsor international transit terminal 10 minute peak weekday service 2 crosstown college avenue community centre to tecumseh mall via wyandotte street 10 minute peak weekday service 3 central college avenue community centre to transit centre including rhodes industrial park no sunday or evening service . 22 minute peak weekday service 3w central 3 west college avenue community centre to windsor international transit terminal evenings