Kingston, Ontario

Principal System

Kingston Street Railway Company (09 May 1877 - 1893)
Incorporated 1875/76 (Ont.) Name changed to KP&CStRyCo 1893.

Kingston, Portsmouth and Cataraqui Street Railway Company (1893 - 1895)
Name changed to KP&CERyCo 1895.

Kingston, Portsmouth and Cataraqui Electric Railway Company (1895 - 04 March 1930)
Railway operations ceased as a result of a carbarn fire.

Robert Orwell (05 March 1930 - "several months.")
Temporary service organized to replace the fire-destroyed street railway.

Kingston City Coach Company (1930 - July 1962)
Subsidiary of Colonial Coach Lines, and therefore a part of the Provincial Transport Company group.

company logo

Data source:

photo detail

Kingston Transit (July 1962 - present)
(CUTA 1976-77). (Dawes et al. 1972, TC76 cite Kingston Public Transit System. 1990 system map is titled Kingston Area Transit and includes the Township of Kingston services and routes in Pittsburgh Township and Ernestown Township.) (CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992) (Photos: Richard Hooles 2001, Peter Cox, David A. Wyatt).

Kingston Transit 6228 (GM old look) (Peter Cox 1967)

Kingston Transit 0833 (New Flyer D40LF) (David A. Wyatt 2009 July 13)

system logo	Service area population	66,000 (1991)
	Vehicle fleet	33 buses (2000)
	Employees	89 (1991)
	Ridership	3,348,503 (2009)
	Data sources:	CUTA 1991/2 CTHF/SSG 2000 website 2002 (logo) CTF [Aug. 2010] (ridership)

Note

Since at least 1904 ferry service has operated between Kingston and Marysville on Wolfe Island. The ferry was operated by Wolfe Island Township [the municipality] from 1904 to 1964 and since 1964 by the Ontario Ministry of Transport. The 2015 schedule was 19 trips/day. (website 2015).

Township of Kingston System

Kingston Township Transit (1975 - 1998)
Merged with Kingston system 1998 (CTHF/SSG 2000, First Capital Transit Society 2010). Operated under contract by Travelways Maple Leaf (TNC85). (Sotnyk 1981, CUTA 1988, CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992 “non-member”, photo: Bernard Drouillard [Peter Cox coll.]).

Service area population	36,000 (1991)
Vehicle fleet	9 buses (1996)
Employees	20 (1991)
Data source:	CUTA 1991/2 CTHF/SSG 1998 (1996 data)

Modes

Animal railway	09 May 1877* - 1893
Electric railway	26 September 1893** - 04 March 1930
Motor bus	05 March 1930? - present

* Formal opening ceremonies held 24 May 1877 (RFC).
** Formal opening ceremonies held 23 September 1893 (RFC).

References

Dillon, George, and William Thomson, Kingston Portsmouth & Cataraqui Electric Railway: History of the Limestone City's Streetcar System, The Kingston Division of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Kingston (Ontario), 1994.
First Capital Transit Society, a world wide web site at the URL: http://www.angelfire.com/f-c-t-s/main.html 2010.

The author is always interested in comments, corrections and further information. Please email to:

dawwpg@shaw.ca

This page last modified: Monday, 06-Jun-2016 17:53:46 CDT