bay transit bus at brodie st terminal . slogan climb on board save the fuss ... ride with us founded 1970 originally 1892 headquarters 570 fort william road thunder bay ontario canada locale thunder bay urban area 1 fort william first nation 2 service area 256 km2 99 sq mi 3 service type local bus service alliance cuta 4 routes 17 5 hubs 2 fleet 49 low floor models daily ridership 9 000 6 fuel type diesel 46 biodiesel 3 7 operator city of thunder bay transportation and works department website thunder bay transit thunder bay transit is the public transit operator in thunder bay ontario canada . it was formed in 1970 after the amalgamation of the cities of port arthur and fort william and their respective transit agencies . 8 thunder bay transit is a member of the canadian urban transit association . thunder bay transit operates 17 transit routes in the urban area of thunder bay and neighbouring fort william first nation 1 2 an area of 256 km2 99 sq mi . 3 its fleet of 49 buses run on diesel and biodiesel fuels . 7 thunder bay transit carries 3 300 000 passengers annually or approximately 9 000 passengers daily and employs 140 people . 6 9 the company maintains two transit terminals one at 40 north water street in port arthur and the other at city hall at 500 donald street east in fort william . thunder bay transit is the first transit agency in ontario to be 100 % handicapped accessible 9 and the first canadian transit agency to use the nextbus system with passenger counters fare box integrations and passenger information systems . 10 contents 1 history 2 fares and passes 3 routes 3.1 bus frequency 3.2 rural bus service 4 list of bus routes 4.1 interlining 5 fleet 5.1 technology 5.2 accessibility 6 facilities 6.1 city hall terminal 6.2 water street terminal 6.3 transit garage 6.4 greyhound bus depot 6.5 other transfer points 7 see also 8 references 9 further reading 10 external links history edit public transit in thunder bay was first established in 1892 . the silver boom had recently ended destroying port arthur s primary economic raison d tre . compounding the matter was the canadian pacific railway s decision to build its grain elevators and rail yards in neighbouring fort william 6 km 4 mi away . with businesses and population vanishing port arthur decided after much debate to build a street car line to connect the town with the rail yards in neighbouring fort william much to that town s chagrin . 11 in 1891 the town of port arthur was authorized to construct and operate the first municipally owned street railway in canada . the port arthur street railway pasry commenced operations in march 1892 and in that same year mcdonald and company commenced operations of a private street railway in neighbouring fort william which connected the port arthur street railway s southern terminus at fort william s northern town limits into the downtown core of fort william . 8 although fort william wanted nothing to do with port arthur s municipal railway pasry gained control of the mcdonald and company line on june 1 1893 and extended its operations into the town . 11 12 in 1907 port arthur and fort william became cities . the ontario railway and municipal board forced port arthur to sell its section of the railway in fort william to that city on march 11 1908 and to submit to operation by a joint commission until december 1 1913 under the name port arthur and fort william railway . thereafter each city ran its own street railway port arthur assumed the name port arthur civic railway in 1914 and fort william assumed the name fort william street railway . 8 port arthur added two belt lines to its main line in 1913 with the first street cars running on the north belt line october 29 1913 . the port arthur public utilities commission which ran the street railway acquired its first 36 passenger bus painted maroon and cream in august 1946 manufactured at the canadian car and foundry plant in fort william . it immediately phased out the arthur street railway line and renamed its system as port arthur transit . . 13 gasoline powered buses were introduced in december 1946 to serve the intercity route . electric trolley buses were introduced on december 15 1947 14 the same year that the fort william street railway was renamed the fort william transit company . the trolley buses were manufactured by j. g. brill and company at the canadian car and foundry plant in fort william . the intercity trolley coach line of each city s system opened in 1947 and was interlined with operators coaches serving the entire line in both cities until 1955 . street railway operations ended in thunder bay in 1948 . port arthur s last three antiquated cars made their final run over the north belt line on february 16 1948 in a driving snowstorm and fort william s street cars ceased operations on october 16 1948 . since january 1 1970 when port arthur and fort william were amalgamated into the city of thunder bay the system has been known as thunder bay transit . 8 electric trolley buses were discontinued on september 10 1972 14 and the city has since used diesel buses . thunder bay transit purchased its first low floor buses in 1994 15 and by march 2007 became the first full sized transit agency in ontario to have a fleet that consisted entirely of accessible buses . 9 later that year thunder bay transit became the second canadian transit agency to implement grey island systems gps avl and nextbus system with passenger counters fare box integrations and passenger information systems . 16 fares and passes edit thunder bay transit fares and passes cash fare 2.60 children free with adult family pass 6.00 10 tickets 17.50 20 ride pass 31.00 monthly passes regular 67.00 discount 57.00 semester pass 195.00 thunder bay transit fares were last increased on may 1 2009 . exact cash fare on thunder bay transit is 2.50 and children under the age of eight ride free when accompanied by an adult . bus tickets can be purchased in groups of 10 for 17.50 and twenty ride punch passes can be purchased for 31.00 . tickets and twenty ride passes are transferable they can be shared by many people at one time and twenty ride passes do not expire . a transfer pass can be obtained when boarding with cash tickets or a twenty ride pass and allows passengers to change buses up to two times for the price of one fare . transfer passes have a one hour time limit and are non transferable they can be used only by the person to whom they are issued . thunder bay transit offers monthly semester and family group passes . these passes allow unlimited rides within the time period specified on the face of the card so that pass holders do not need to use transfers to change buses . a 20 ride bus pass . monthly passes cost 67.00 and discount monthly passes can be purchased for 57.00 by high school students under 18 children between 9 and 12 seniors over 65 and persons with valid disabled id cards . family group passes can be purchased for 6.00 allow for unlimited trips for two adults and three children one adult and four children or two adults . proof of age is required and children must be under the age of 18 . students at lakehead university and confederation college receive a u pass as part of their tuition which allows for unlimited trips during the school year for the person to whom the pass is issued . 17 18 routes edit for detailed travel information do not rely solely on this page ; please refer to the thunder bay transit website . thunder bay transit operates 17 regular transit routes covering approximately 350 kilometres 220 miles of city streets . 6 19 most bus routes are anchored on one of the city s two main terminals and several routes have buses travelling in only one direction which can result in unnecessarily long trips between short distances . 20 thunder bay transit operates two extra routes during rush hour serving sir winston churchill and dennis franklin cromarty high schools in the northwood area and employees of the bombardier and abitibi bowater plants in the city s southwest end . bus frequency edit peak routes run monday to friday between 6 00 am and 6 00 pm and saturday between 9 00 am and 6 00 pm . most peak routes have a frequency of 30 minutes between stops . some busy routes have a frequency of 15 minutes during rushhour . non peak routes run monday to saturday between 6 00 pm and 12 40 am saturday morning between 6 00 am and 9 00 am all day sunday and statutory holidays . most non peak routes have a frequency of 40 minutes between stops . 21 rural bus service edit thunder bay transit resumed service to rural areas within city limits in spring 2008 as part of a pilot project funded by the city s share of provincial gas tax revenue . ridership on both routes was well below the municipal guideline of 10 passengers per hour of service . 22 service resumed in south neebing on march 18 after being cancelled in 2004 due to low ridership . 23 the route operated on tuesday and thursday with two runs in the morning and two runs in the afternoon . 24 the route averaged 1 passenger per hour of service and cost 73 per passenger to operate . the trial cost 19 200 and brought in only 400 in revenue resulting in a net cost of 18 800 . service to south neebing ended on november 27 . 22 service resumed in mcintyre on june 4 after a telephone survey conducted by the city found some demand for transit service in the area which had bus service in the 1980s and 1990s . the route operated on wednesday and saturday with two runs in the morning and two in the afternoon . 25 the route averaged 0.5 passengers per hour of service and cost 148 per passenger to operate . the trial cost 15 600 and brought in only 200 in revenue resulting in a net cost of 15 400 . service to mcintyre ended on november 29 . 22 list of bus routes edit route termini north to south major streets north to south frequency notes 1 mainline schedule cowan at hodder current river mary at neebing westfort hodder avenue northbound only cumberland street fort william road simpson street frederica street peak 30 minutes non peak 40 minutes northbound as mainline current river southbound as mainline westfort see 1 mainline extra 2 crosstown schedule water terminal port arthur city hall terminal fort william court street southbound only algoma street northbound only golf links road edward street victoria avenue peak 15 minutes non peak 40 minutes northbound as 2 crosstown water street southbound as 2 crosstown city hall 2 crosstown westfort schedule water terminal port arthur brown at frederica westfort court street southbound only algoma street northbound only golf links road edward street monday to friday 6 am to 6 pm 30 minutes southbound as 2 crosstown westfort northbound as 2 crosstown water street 2 crosstown college in summer does not go to city hall terminal 3 airport schedule city hall terminal fort william arthur street highway 61 peak 30 minutes non peak 40 minutes serves thunder bay international airport 3 county park schedule water terminal port arthur wardrope avenue county boulevard wardrope avenue market street red river road peak 30 minutes non peak 40 minutes 3 jumbo