All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems
Nova Scotia Communities
by David A. Wyatt
Bridgewater Transit (25 September 2017 - present)
A six-month pilot local transit system is expected to begin operation in Bridgewater in the Fall of 2017. Second-hand buses will be donated by Halifax Transit.
Service will be fare-free 25 September - 01 October 2017.
(website 2017).
Harold R. DesBarres (1920's)
Received in 1927 a Public Utilities Board certificate to operated scheduled bus service between Canso and Hazel Hill [4 km] (Gillis p. 141).
Does not appear on the list of 1930 certificates.
(See also Nova Scotia Rural Paratransit Systems).
Joseph George Aucoin (1950's)
1954 Public Utilities Board certificate to operated scheduled bus service serving Petit Etang, Belle Marche, Plateau, and Cheticamp (Gillis p. 156).
Thomas E. Hutchinson (early 1920's - after 1930)
Received 15 December 1923 a Public Utilities Board certificate to operate two buses on scheduled service Wolfville - Kentville and Kentville - Kingsport (Gillis p. 140). Certificate renewed 1930 (Gillis p. 142).
Maritime Bus Corporation (circa 1935 - 1955)
Subsidiary of
United Service Corporation (owner
Fred Manning). 1938 P.U.B. certificates for
Wolfville - Kentville and Aylesford - Kentville (Gillis p. 145).
1946 P.U.B. certificate Wolfville - Kentville, Aylesford - Kentville via Berwick [30 km], and Wolfville - Canning [14 km] (Gillis p. 147).
1954 certificate covered the same three routes (Gillis p. 153).
Operating certificates cancelled 1955 (Gillis p. 159).
Hugh Kenneth Harris (1955? - 1956)
Operating certificate for scheduled bus service between Wolfville and Kentville cancelled 1956 (Gillis p. 160).
Sureline Bus Service Ltd. (circa 1978 - 01 May 1981)
Subsidized private operator between Kentville and Wolfville. Operation assumed by KTA.
(Bus Industry Vol. 8, No. 1, Jan.-Feb.-Mar. 1981, pp. 36-37).
![Kings Transit [Kentville] 3 Orion.01 (Bernard Drouillard 1988 Jun 21, Peter Cox coll.)](pics/thumbs/kentville-KT3orion01-bdrouillard1988jun21-t.jpg "Kings Transit [Kentville] 3 Orion.01 (Bernard Drouillard 1988 Jun 21, Peter Cox coll.)")
Kings Transit Authority (01 May 1981 - present)
Operating in the Annapolis Valley (Kings, Annapolis, and Digby counties) and
Hants County serving: Wolfville, Greenwich, New Minas, Kentville, Coldbrook, Cambridge, Waterville, Berwick, Aylesford, Auburn, Kingston, Greenwood,
Middleton, Lawrencetown, Bridgetown, Annapolis Royal, Cornwallis,
Digby, Weymouth, Hortonville, Avonport, Hantsport, Falmouth, Windsor, St. Croix, Ellershouse, Brooklyn.
Service also extends to Cornwallis Park and Upper Clements Park (website 2010).
Between 04 September 2007 and 30 September 2015 service area extended to include West Hants, Windsor and Hantsport, running between Hortonville, Windsor and Brooklyn (website 2010).
Kings Transit is a municipal corporation owned by the towns of Wolfville, Kentville, and Berwick, and the Municipality of Kings.
(Bus Industry Vol. 8, No. 2, Apr.-May-Jun. 1981, p. 25; RS, CUTA 1988, CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992, photo: Bernard Drouillard [Peter Cox coll.]).
system logo
|
Service area population | 18,000 (1991) |
| Vehicle fleet | 4 buses (2000) |
| Employees | 11 (1991) |
| Data source: | CUTA 1991/2
CTHF/SSG 2000
website 2011 (logo)
|
F.V. Anthony (1920's)
In 1927 received a Public Utilities Board certificate to operate scheduled service between Windsor and Hantsport (Gillis p. 141).
Does not appear on the 1923 or 1930 lists.
Doran's Taxi (mid 1930's - circa 1950?)
Received 1938 P.U.B. certificate for scheduled bus service Windsor - Hantsport and Windsor - St. Croix (as well as intercity route Windsor - Walton) (Gillis p. 145). Certificate renewed 1946 (Gillis p. 147).
Doran's Taxi Limited (circa 1950? - 1955)
P.U.B. 1954 certificate for Windsor - Hantsport and Windsor - St. Croix (Gillis p. 153).
P.U.B. cancelled certificate for Windsor - Hantsport and Windsor - St. Croix 1955 (Gillis p. 159)
John Graham Turner (1950's? - 1956)
1954 Public Utilities Board certificate to operate scheduled bus service Middleton - Wilmot - Kingston - RCAF Greenwood [14 km] (Gillis p156). Certificate cancelled 1956 (Gillis p160).
Note
The
Cornwallis Valley Railway (inc. 1887 NS), a subsidiary of the
Dominion Atlantic Railway, operated twice daily mixed train service
between Kentville and Kingsport via Centreville, Sheffield Mills, and Canning
(21.9 km/13.6 mi., 40-60 min.). The morning train arrived in Kentville
at 8:30AM and the afternoon train departed at 4PM (1949 schedule), providing daily commuter transportation primarily to student attending school in Kentville.
Supplementary bus service was added 01 May 1947 but discontinued circa 1949
(Coleman 2013).
Trains discontinued in favour of buses 1961.
- Cameron, John R., “Cornwallis Valley Railway and North Mountain Railway,” The Railways of Nova Scotia, 1999.
- Coleman, Ed, “Gone and Almost Forgotten the CVR Bus,” kingscountynews.ca, 2015.
- Smith, Ivan, “Cornwallis Valley Railway,” The Railways of Nova Scotia, 1999.
Liverpool Bus Co., Ltd. (late 1920's - 1930's?)
Public Utilities Board list of valid 1930 certificates for scheduled bus service includes LBCo operating Liverpool - Milton and Liverpool - Brooklyn (Gillis p. 142). Company does not appear on the 1927 or 1946 lists.
Hartford T. Long (1940's?)
1946 P.U.B. certificate for local routes Brooklyn - Liverpool - Milton and Liverpool - Western Head [7 km] (as well as intercity routes) (Gillis p. 150). Does not appear on the 1954 list of P.U.B. certificates.
Liverpool & Milton Tramway Company, Limited (01 February 1897 - circa 1907)
Chartered in 1896 (NS). This 4½ mi. (7 km) line from Liverpool,
to Rapid Falls, Nova Scotia operated a steam dummy railway in
the streets of Liverpool. Passengers were carried but the line's principal
business was freight for a pulp mill at Rapid Falls. The L&MTCo was
sold to Mackenzie and Mann's
Halifax and South Western Railway Company steam road in 1907.
The H&SWRy passed into Dominion hands, becoming a
component of
Canadian National Railways in 1919.
Most of the L&MTCo line was abandoned in 1936. (Martin, Stephens, Dorman, photo: PANS)
Interurban Electric Railway
Egerton Tramway Company, Limited (10 October 1904 - 23 April 1909)
Incorporated 27 March 1902 (NS).
Often erroneously enumerated as
"Edgerton Tramways". Formal opening ceremonies held
14 October 1904 (RFC). (Due lists start of operation as 11 October 1904).
Acquired the local electricity utility, the
New Glasgow Electric Company, Limited (incorporated 1887 (NS)) 16 March 1909.
Resulting enterprise renamed PCECo 1909.
(photo: Allison Nelson/pictoupostcards.com).
Pictou County Electric Company (23 April 1909 - 07 May 1924)
Company acquired by the PCPB 1924.
Pictou County Power Board (07 May 1924 - 07 May 1931)
Bus service was introduced on the Pictou system in 1926 (CR&MW 1931, 1932).
(Due reports end of electric railway service in May 1930). PCPB continued to operate as an electricity utility
until acquired by the Nova Scotia Power Commission 1963.
Bus System
Pictou County Bus Services Limited (May 1931? - 1980?)
Bus services began in 1926, under the auspices of the
Pictou County Power Board.
Company purchased 1987 by SMT (Eastern) Limited chiefly for its Nova Scotia charter licence (Gillis).
(photo: William A. Luke).
Irving Bus Line (circa 1940's - circa 1960's?)
Ellard Burns Irving received a Public Utilities Board operating certificate in 1946 for scheduled bus service Pictou - New Glasgow [18 km] and Pictou - PEI Ferry at Caribou (Gillis p. 148).
1954 certificate added third route Pictou Landing Wharf - New Glasgow (Gillis p. 154).
A 1966 timetable uses the name
Irving's Bus & Taxi Service.
(Scrafton et al. 1970, Dawes et al. 1972 lists
Irving's Transfer).
Irving's logo 1966
|
Data Source:
|
Timetable 1966 |
Pictou County Regional Transit Authority (1980? - 31 March 1996)
New Glasgow, Trenton, Westville.
Buses lettered
Pictou County Transit (see photo).
Service ceased as a result of provincial funding changes. (City of Winnipeg map coll., CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992, photo: Kevin Nicol)
| Service area population | 34,000 (1991) |
Vehicle fleet | 8 buses (1995) |
Employees | 17 (1991) |
Data source: | CUTA 1991/2
CTHF/SSG 1998 (1995 data) |
Modes
| Interurban electric railway | 10 October 1904 - 07 May 1931 |
Motor bus | 1926 - 31 March 1996 |
Note
According to its Winter 1956/57 time table,
Canadian National Railways operated a daily except Sunday train between
New Glasgow and Pictou (15.9 mi./25.4 km, 50-60 min.).
After calling at Stellarton, Westville, and flagstops Alma, Sylvester, Loch Broom, Brown Point, Norway, and West End, commuters arrived at
Pictou at 8:30am. The reverse journey departed at 5:10pm. This meets a basic definition of a commuter train (weekdaily, rush-hour scheduling and run time under about 90 minutes).
The single train round trip was supplemented by three daily bus trips from
New Glasgow to Pictou and four in the reverse direction.
By the 1960 time table the afternoon train had been moved to a 3:50pm departure, too early for work commuting.
None of these service appear in the 1966/67 CN time tables.
Strait Area Transit (22 September 2008 - 25 March 2013, 02 September 2014 - present)
Operations of the
Strait Area Transit Cooperative Ltd. supported in part by the
Strait-Highlands Regional Development Agency. Scheduled bus service
in Richmond County and southern Inverness County on Cape Breton and Mulgrave
on the mainland. website 2010).
Regular route service between Mulgrave and Port Hawkesbury abandoned 15 August 2012.
All operations suspended 25 March 2013 - 28 April 2013 for financial reasons.
All scheduled route services ended 25 March 2013. From 28 April 2013 agency operated only its demand-responsive door-to-door service requiring 48-hours advance booking.
Scheduled route service was recommenced 02 September 2014.
Route servicing Waycobah, Wagmatcook and Baddeck in Victoria County instituted 31 August 2015 and discontinued in June 2016.
SAT logo 2010
|
Data Source:
|
website 2010 |
Hub Coach Lines Limited (1940's)
Received a 1946 Public Utilities Board certificate to operated scheduled bus service Debert - Truro, and Truro - Valley via College Road, Fast Court Rd, the Main Highway, and Cross Roads (Gillis p148). Does not appear on the 1938 or 1954 lists.
Colchester Transportation Co-op Ltd. (2000? - circa 2002?)
Operates five times daily bus service between Bible Hill and Truro Heights, as
well as dial-a-ride service, a once weekly run between Truro and Bass River,
and on-call service to Stewiacke and Tatamagouche. On 19 July 2001 CTC
applied to end the scheduled Bible Hill - Truro Heights service on account of
low ridership and the exhaustion of a start-up subsidy.
"The co-op operates the only scheduled bus run in the Truro area."
(http://canada.com/cgi-bin/local.asp?f=/novascotia/truro/stories/20010710/010710trurostory1.html canada.com article by Cathy von Kintzel, 2001).
Copyright ©1989-2017 David A. Wyatt. All Rights Reserved.
Return to All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems
The author is always interested in comments, corrections and further information. Please email to: dawwpg@shaw.ca
This page last modified: Monday, 11-Sep-2017 22:44:36 CDT
![Kings Transit [Kentville] 3 Orion.01 (Bernard Drouillard 1988 Jun 21, Peter Cox coll.)](pics/kentville-KT3orion01-bdrouillard1988jun21.jpg "Kings Transit [Kentville] 3 Orion.01 (Bernard Drouillard 1988 Jun 21, Peter Cox coll.)")
Kings Transit Authority (01 May 1981 - present)
