Mississauga Transit



Mississauga Transit, which is Ontario's third largest municipal transit agency, provides transit service to the city of Mississauga, Ontario, which is Canada's sixth largest city. The agency operates as part of the city's Transportation and Works Department, and is funded by both the city and province. Connections are made at or near borders with the TTC, Brampton Transit, York Region Transit and Oakville Transit, as well as with GO Transit at several locations within Mississauga.

Fares
Mississauga Transit collects exact cash fares in its GFI CENTSaBILL fareboxes. Drivers do not make change, and the farebox shows the driver exactly how much money has been put in. Presto readers are installed on an experimental basis exclusively on the E-Z Riders, and are only activated on routes 60, 62, 63 and 64.

Fares effective February 25, 2008

Other fares include the $0.60 GO fare, where riders must show a valid 2 or 10 ride or monthly GO ticket, the $23.00 Mississauga Transit sticker for GO monthly passes, and the $6.50 per person or $20.00 per family (1 adult, 3 children or 2 adults, 2 children) route 288 Wonderland Express fare. City Centre Shuttle fare is $1.00, without transfer privileges. Pre-school children, CNIB patrons (with CNIB card) and disabled persons' attendants ride free.

Transfers
All cash and ticket paying passengers receive a transfer on the first bus they board. It is valid on any bus on any route (except route 288) for two hours from the start of the driver's trip on the route. Passengers on the City Centre Shuttle who opt for the $1.00 fare do not receive a transfer.

All buses are equipped with Angletime transfer cutters, that cut transfers in a straight line, across an hour then a fifteen minute interval. The earliest time a transfer can expire is 6:00AM, while the latest transfer that can be cut is for 2:45XM. Drivers receive books of 50 transfers on a pressed cardboard backing. On the back is an information slip used for passenger fare disputes. Transfers show the date in several places, and the week number in the background. All transfers from a given day are exactly the same.

Mississauga Transit accepts transfers from both Oakville Transit and Brampton Transit where they connect. Transfers are accepted from those transit agencies where the routes meet.

History
Fares from February 26, 2007-February 24, 2008

Also in that time period: New transfers began to be used on December 1, 2007, with the week number in red and the day number repeated in large orange type throughout the length of the transfer.
 * GO Fare: $0.55
 * GO Sticker: $22.00
 * Wonderland Single/Family $6.00/$19.00

Before November 5, 2007, the GTA weekly pass was $43.00.

Directors of Transit
The Director of Transit leads senior managers in operations, maintenance, service development and business development, and reports to the Commissioner of Transportation and Works, who is currently Martin Powell.

Geoff Marinoff
After the retirement of Bill Cunningham in 2007, Marinoff joined Transit from his previous post as Manager of Subway Operations for the TTC. Trained in engineering, he appreciates no-nonsense efficiency, sprouted by his Canadian Forces days. Geoff (pronounced joff) prides himself on the fact that he uses the transit system at least once a week for his commute, and appears to be a fan of the ElDorado E-Z Rider.

Bill Cunningham
After taking over from the retired Ed Dowling in 1997, Cunningham was the Director of Transit until 2007, when he retired. He is now at Brampton Transit.

Ed Dowling
Director from 1974 to 1997, Dowling's father ran Streetsville Coach Lines. By the age of 30, he was the sole employee of Ed Dowling School Bus Lines. Later on, he sold that business and went to work for Charterways Transportation. In March of 1973, he became the manager of the Town of Chinguacousy's transit system, Brampton Transit, then was hired by the Town of Mississauga as a consultant in its transportation study. After the City of Mississauga's incorporation in January of 1974, Dowling was hired and became the Director of Transit. Many regard him as the "Father of Mississauga Transit."

Supervisors
Supervisors are responsible for time checking, passenger disputes and detour creation. They respond, at the demand of Transit Control, to buses with problems on the road. Most supervisors are former operators who have chosen to take on the job, however some are hired from the outside. Operators can try out the supervisor position for six months, at the end of which they must decide if they want to continue as a supervisor, or move back to their operator position. Supervisors may not move back to being operators.

Transit Enforcement Officers
The Transit Enforcement team was launched in September 2007 after an increasing number of operator assaults, and growing paranoia over terrorist activity. Previously, security guards patrolled only the CCTT, however the Officers, who have access to several vehicles to travel around the city, patrol other terminals and ride buses undercover. The officers are part of the city's Corporate Security department.

Passenger Facilities
The following are transit facilities served by Mississauga Transit:
 * City Centre Transit Terminal
 * Clarkson GO Station
 * TTC Islington Station, MT rents out bus bays 4-7 for $321,000 per year
 * Long Branch GO Station
 * Meadowvale GO Station
 * Meadowvale Town Centre Terminal
 * Port Credit GO Station
 * Sheridan Centre
 * Shoppers' World Brampton Terminal
 * South Common Centre Terminal
 * Trillium Health Centre
 * Westwood Mall Terminal

Non-Passenger Facilities
Mississauga Transit has Two Garages:
 * Central Parkway Garage, 975 Central Parkway West
 * Malton Garage, 6780 Professional Court

Routes
The following are Mississauga Transit bus routes. The colour behind each route number is the colour used for each route's line on the system map. Routes not shown on the map (288+) are highlighted with regular Mississauga Transit orange.

Passenger
Mississauga Transit currently operates a fleet of approximately 400 buses, consisting of Orion Vs, VIs and VIIs, D40LFs, D40LFRs, D60LFs and D60LFRs from New Flyer, as well as ElDorado E-Z Rider II MAXs. The newest additions to the fleet are the 2008 D40LFRs from New Flyer. All buses are capable of kneeling and all low floor buses are wheelchair accessible, with a hydraulic front door ramp and two wheelchair tie-down positions. Every bus is equipped with air conditioning and passenger operated push bar (1989-2006) or touch bar (2007-present) rear door control. Mississauga Transit is one of the few Canadian transit agencies that plans to purchase and retire buses on a twelve year cycle, unlike the normal 18. Canadian transit agencies receive funding to replace buses every 18 years, however the City of Mississauga has found it more economically feasible to retire buses earlier as opposed to conducting 12 year heavy rebuilds. This practice has helped to keep the fleet's average age down, lower than almost all Canadian transit agencies.

In late October 2007, biodiesel stickers were applied to the rear of buses. Interestingly, the stickers were applied over wraps on wrapped buses. At the same time, the fuel supplier began providing biodiesel for the fleet.

Future Fleet
Buses for 2008-2009 have been tendered for in a single, two year group. The following will be replaced in that period: Expansion buses will arrive as follows: For the supply and delivery of 68 40' diesel buses, the following bids were placed:
 * 1991 Orion Vs (Retiring)
 * 1992 Orion Vs (Retiring)
 * 1993 Orion Vs (Retiring)
 * 0112 (Replacement after fire)
 * 8 40' Growth buses for 2008
 * 7 40' buses for 2008 Growth Strategy
 * 8 40' Growth buses for 2009
 * 7 40' buses for 2009 Growth Strategy

The April 2008 edition of Inside Transit states that 69 D40LFRs will be delivered between June and October of 2008. It is inferred that the 69th bus is from insurance money received due to the fire of 9112 in November 2007. A document posted at the June 2008 Transit Body Shop open house, however, noted that 84 40' buses would be arriving.

A tender for 24 30' buses in 2008-2009 was issued in January 2008, and City View Bus Sales, the Canadian distributor of Eldorado National E-Z Rider II MAXs was the only bidder. The April 2008 edition of Inside Transit forecasts the delivery of 12 E-Z Riders in December 2008, with the next 12 delivered in September 2009. They will allow for the development of a network of community and feeder routes, as well as fuel savings on routes with lower ridership.

A Metrolinx document from November 2007 states that 22 hybrid buses will arrive at Mississauga Transit in 2008-2009. Based on the reported cost (approximately $24,000,000), and the cost of a single New Flyer DE60LFR (just over $1,000,000), it is expected they will be the buses ordered.

Non-Passenger
See: Mississauga Transit non-service fleet