All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems

by David A. Wyatt

Saint John, New Brunswick

Principal System

People's Street Railway Company (24 August 1869 - early 1876)
street railway/light rail Incorporated 09 July 1866 (NB). Operations ended early in 1876.

Saint John City Railway Company (17 October 1887 - 1892)
street railway/light rail Incorporated September 1886 (NY) and reincorporated 15 April 1887 (NB). Acquired by the CECo 1892.

Consolidated Electric Company (1892 - 07 April 1897)
street railway/light rail Company sold at bankruptcy auction.

Saint John Railway Company (07 April 1897 - February 1917)
street railway/light rail Successor to CECo and suceeded by NBPCo.

New Brunswick Power Saint John ticket (front)New Brunswick Power Co. [Saint John] #56 (Ford), Market Sq. 1943. (Peter Cox) New Brunswick Power Company (February 1917 - 07 August 1948)
street railway/light rail Electric power utility. Introduced first bus in sightseeing service 1927. First buses used in transit service 1936 (or 1934, sources differ). Forced to close its street railway by the City of Saint John. (Angus 1979, Bus Industry, Vol. 20, No. 76, June 2005, pp. 30-31, photo Peter Cox)

City Transit Ltd. [Saint John] 4529 GM T6H-4521 new look (1972 Apr. 14 Peter Cox coll.) City Transit Limited (01 July 1948 - 31 December 1976?)
Subsidiary of S.M.T. (Eastern) Limited. (Canadian Coach 1970, Dawes et al. 1972, CUTA 1976-77, photo: Peter Cox collection).

Saint John Transit Commission (01 January 1977? - present)
Municipal operation. Extended transit service to Grand Bay-Westfield May 2015 replacing ComeX commuter service. (CUTA 1988, CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992) (Photo: G. Donnelly through Jacques Matte)

Saint John Transit logo
system logo
Service area population80,000 (1991)
Vehicle fleet49 buses (2000)
Employees77 (1991)
Ridership2,609,381 (2009)
Data sources:CUTA 1991/2
CTHF/SSG 2000
CTF [Aug. 2010] (ridership)
website 2011 (logo)

Secondary Systems

Saint John Motor Line 11 in the 1920s The Saint John Motor Line Limited (1927 - 1978)
Suburban bus service from Saint John to Fairvale & Gondola Point, Woodman's Point & Public Landing, and Lorneville. Acquired by Irving interests and included in SMT System Limited when that entity was incorporated 03 September 1936. Parent company renamed S.M.T. (Eastern) Limited 30 June 1937. Beginning in the 1940's equipment was generally lettered for the parent company. Last SJML route discontinued 1978. (Lawrence and Leger, photo: William A. Luke).

SMT 3223 (GM old look) at Saint John (William A. Luke)

Bay Beaches Bus Co. (circa March 1928 - ?)
Fundy Beaches Bus Co. granted a permit to operate scheduled bus service Saint John - Anthony's Cove circa March 1928, and changed it's name to BBB Co. circa April 1928 (CR&MW April 1928, p. 233 and May 1928, p. 300). (CR&MW February 1929, p. 107).

Maritime Transit Company (July 1936 only)
Bus service in direct competition with NBPCo. Operations halted through the courts by the NBPCo.

ComeX (04 September 2007 - present)
Commuter trips between central Saint John and the outlying communities of Grand Bay, Westfield, Rothesay, Quispamsis, and Hampton, operated by Saint John Transit with financial support of the federal and provincial governments. The name ComeX is short for the bilingual names: Community Express and Communauté Express. ComeX service to Grand Bay–Westfield discontinued in favour of integrated service by Saint John Transit May 2015.

ComeX [Saint John] logo
ComeX system logo
Data source: website 2011 (logo)

Note

West Saint John Ferry tickets (NBMuseum) ferry There were (and continue to be) a number of ferries in the greater Saint John area. Among the collection of photographs and ephemera of the New Brunswick Museum are tickets for the West Saint John Ferry, and schedules for the Saint John and Carleton Ferry and the steamer Maggie Miller [page 1] [page 2] operating ferry service across the Kennebecasis River connecting Millidgeville, Summerville, Kennebecasis Island and Bayswater. A footnote on page two of the 1911 Maggie Miller schedule notes that Seeley's Busses make connections between Saint John streetcars and all sailings of the steamer. (New Brunswick Museum via David O'Reilly).

Modes

Animal railway24 August 1869 - early 1876,
17 October 1887 - early May 1893
Electric railway12 April 1893 - 07 August 1948
Motor bus1936 - present (city)
1927-1978, 2007-present (suburbs)

References


Copyright ©1989-2015 David A. Wyatt. All Rights Reserved.
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The author is always interested in comments, corrections and further information. Please email to:

dawwpg@shaw.ca
This page last modified: Friday, 19-Jun-2015 11:02:13 CDT