Purchase of one new 40’ bus to be utilized by Welland Transit to deliver Niagara Region’s Inter-municipal Transit service.

completed

There are currently 8 Niagara Region Inter-Municipal Transit (IMT) buses; St. Catharines has 3, Niagara Falls has 3, and Welland has 2. Welland Transit has identified a need to have a third bus in order to efficiently service the existing Welland-St. Catharines (70/75) and Welland-Niagara Falls (60/65) routes. The new additional bus could also be used on the Port Colborne - Welland Link Route. Currently, if one of the two IMT buses maintained by Welland Transit is out of service, Welland utilizes a local Welland Transit bus on an IMT Route. This can cause confusion for passengers due to the change in branding of the vehicle and unfamiliarity with the system. In addition, not all Welland buses have bike racks nor can they collect accurate ridership statistics due to a difference in fare box technology on the buses. Additionally, stress is added to the local Welland fleet by reducing the number of buses available for their local routes. The two Welland buses are accumulating more mileage than the IMT buses owned by the St. Catharines Transit Commission and the City of Niagara Falls due to the lack of a third bus. This has resulted in major maintenance and repairs sooner and more frequently than the other buses. Welland Transit has conservatively estimated that each bus has been off the road for 45 days on average annually, for a total annual need of 90 days of coverage via a third bus. The addition of the third bus to Welland’s IMT fleet will alleviate maintenance challenges and risks for service disruptions, provide for optimization in their fleet management practices related to IMT, improve the ridership statistics captured related to IMT service, and improve the overall customer experience. Project modification request extended to June 30, 2018 as more time is required to finish the project due to farebox installation. This farebox is supplied through the Niagara Falls Transit procurement and is in installation queue. The bus currently has a temporary farebox.