History

1913

Transit service in Saskatoon began January 1st 1913. It was originally known as the Saskatoon Municipal Railway. Approximately 5200 people used the streetcars that day.

The first streetcar left the barn at Avenue C and 25th Street, heading for the Mayfair terminal. The routes were:

  • No. 1, Mayfair – University
  • No. 2, Pleasant Hill to the Exhibition Grounds
  • No. 3, 7th Avenue to 2nd Avenue and 19th Street
  • No. 4, Avenue H

Fares ranged from:

  • 5 cents for adults
  • 3 cents for children
  • 6 adult tickets for 25 cents
  • 8 children’s tickets for 25 cents

Late in 1913 the city purchased six more “double-truck, double-end” streetcars. These proved to be too heavy for the Traffic Bridge, and therefore could only be used on the West side of the river.

In the first year the Saskatoon Municipal Railway carried 3,401,000 passengers; generated gross revenue of $ 158,500; and travelled 640,000 miles, all in a city of approximately 12,000 people.

1914

​Started service to the village of Sutherland

1919

The City traded the too heavy double-truck street cars to the City of Calgary for seven single-truck, singled-end cars.

Wages paid to motormen and conductors with the Saskatoon Municipal Railway in January, 1919:

  • For those with six months service- 40 cents/hr
  • one year service- 42 cents/hr
  • two years service- 46 cents/hr
  • two ½ years service- 50 cents/hr

1922

Streetcar fare jumped from 5 cents per ticket, to 10 cents per ticket or 4 tickets for 25 cents.

On March 3, 1922 streetcar #4 Exhibition missed the turn heading down “Long Hill” toward the Traffic Bridge, and it rolled down the river bank. The operator reported the brakes would not hold. Thankfully there were no fatalities.

1931

First gas bus goes into operation (from Westmount to Armouries, 19th Street to 3rd Avenue)

1942

“Skip Stops” were initiated as a part of the War Effort. The streetcar skipped every other stop as a means to increase efficiency, and reduce energy consumption. Of course, this also meant many passengers had to walk farther to get to their transit stop

1946

Six 36-passenger Brill trolley buses were purchased as a start to modernizing the Transit system in Saskatoon.

1948

  • New Bus Garage completed a final cost of $85,000.00
  • First electric trolley bus introduced, marked the beginning of the end for the streetcars

1949

The Saskatoon Municipal Railway renamed the Saskatoon Transit System

1951

The last streetcar completed its final run. Electric trolley buses serviced the transit system

1959

12 diesel 36 passenger buses were purchased from Canadian Car Company

1962

Four General Motors 50-passenger diesel buses were purchased at a cost of roughly $32,500.00 each

1969

Transit System had 29 trolley coaches and 48 diesel buses

1974

Trolley bus made its final run, standard diesel engine buses now were the norm

1984

23rd Street Transit terminal opened

2002

Saskatoon Transit started operating two experimental “Bio-buses” fuelled by a canola-diesel blend

2013

Saskatoon Transit celebrates 100 years of service

2015

Saskatoon Transit became a mobile art gallery! Riders could view their community in a new way as submissions from local photographers were featured inside buses as part of the Toon’s On Transit Exhibition. Partnered with PAVED Arts, a non-profit, community-based organization, and named after the popular Toon’s Kitchen restaurant that once stood where PAVED Arts has its gallery, Toon’s On Transit focused on exhibiting locally produced art work.

In partnership with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, as part of an ongoing effort to increase accessibility and improve customer experiences, Saskatoon Transit announced Automatic Announcements on City buses. This automated service provided a verbal announcement and visual cue of an upcoming bus stop, ensuring that riders do not miss their destination. Additional accessibility features on all new buses include:

  • A front kneeling system which lowers the bus to curb height for devices such as baby strollers;
  • An extendable flip-up ramp to ease boarding of wheelchairs and walkers;
  • Extra-wide entrance areas which make it easier to move on and off  the bus;
  • A mobility area with flip-up seats and floor anchors to secure mobility devices;
  • A light and colour scheme designed to assist visually impaired riders; and
  • Digital signage which displays stop locations and stop requests to ensure hearing impaired riders are aware of important destinations.

2016

Saskatoon Transit launched a real time transit tracking through the third party developers, including Transit App and Google Transit. This provided improved GPS information for bus locations on individual routes throughout Saskatoon. Real time transit tracking allowed for better trip planning, less wait times and fewer missed connections.

2017

Saskatoon Transit launched its Class Trip Program - ClassPass. This program offers free transit service to teachers, students and chaperones traveling throughout the school year until June. The ClassPass programs runs between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Monday to Friday on any regular transit route. Free transit service not only is the cost of transportation eliminated but helps to educate students about the benefits of using puble transit. Teachers are encouraged to book their class trip two weeks in advance through our online form.

Saskatoon Transit launched the Jingle Bell Express, a pilot holiday route that took shoppers to various malls and shopping destinations throughout Saskatoon. The Jingle Bell Express was designed to limit commute time between malls, eliminate the hassle of parking and allow shoppers to visit multiple shopping destinations as efficiently as possible.