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Owen Sound Transit


yrt304

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what a "good investment" to get them at about $1500 a piece lol..........just wondering why 503 has much less mileage (about 110000km) among all the 5 units which has about 600000km on? is that bus always active in the garage only?

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what a "good investment" to get them at about $1500 a piece lol..........just wondering why 503 has much less mileage (about 110000km) among all the 5 units which has about 600000km on? is that bus always active in the garage only?

Given that it is listed as having similar hours of service as the other 2005 units I would take a guess the mileage on that one is inaccurate. Perhaps it had a replacement engine/transmission a few years ago and what's being reported is the engine readings, or it's just a inaccurate recording.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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  • 2 years later...

Thought I'd leave this here. The city of Owen Sound has applied for a $1.45 million grant from the province to establish a daily bus service to Guelph. They hope to find out if they are successful by April 30th. Currently, the only regular intercity bus service to Owen Sound is a Greyhound route from Toronto that runs via Barrie. 

I'm not sure who would operate this service, but I think its relevant to transit in Owen Sound. This route would almost certainly run along Highway 6, so it would also pass through Durham, Mount Forest, and Fergus. 

http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2018/03/06/owen-sound-proposes-daily-bus-service-to-guelph

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13 hours ago, WMATAC40LF said:

Thought I'd leave this here. The city of Owen Sound has applied for a $1.45 million grant from the province to establish a daily bus service to Guelph. They hope to find out if they are successful by April 30th. Currently, the only regular intercity bus service to Owen Sound is a Greyhound route from Toronto that runs via Barrie. 

I'm not sure who would operate this service, but I think its relevant to transit in Owen Sound. This route would almost certainly run along Highway 6, so it would also pass through Durham, Mount Forest, and Fergus. 

http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2018/03/06/owen-sound-proposes-daily-bus-service-to-guelph

Greyhound use to have the Guelph to Owen Sound line. Then Aboutown took over it and ruined it. Honestly GO Transit should be taking over all these routes. There is money to be made for the old lines.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

Thought I'd share this... The City of Owen Sound has hired Voyago to provide two daily bus roundtrips between Owen Sound and Guelph (with seven stops in between). According to the article below, the buses will seat 20-22 passengers (so they are probably cutaways). The service will start this coming January, and run until March 31st, 2023 per the contract.

https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/owen-sound-hires-voyago-to-provide-daily-bus-service-to-guelph 

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/30/2019 at 9:06 PM, WMATAC40LF said:

Thought I'd share this... The City of Owen Sound has hired Voyago to provide two daily bus roundtrips between Owen Sound and Guelph (with seven stops in between). According to the article below, the buses will seat 20-22 passengers (so they are probably cutaways). The service will start this coming January, and run until March 31st, 2023 per the contract.

https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/owen-sound-hires-voyago-to-provide-daily-bus-service-to-guelph 

And it seems Kasper has undercut them by mysteriously announcing the same route and cheaper fare. Claiming they came up with the route two years ago which we all know is probably not true and will oppose any other licence grants. So that meams he will be opposing Voyago's license. Pretty sneaky if you ask me.

https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/second-operator-plans-guelph-to-owen-sound-transportation-service/amp

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16 hours ago, TTC 9701 said:

And it seems Kasper has undercut them by mysteriously announcing the same route and cheaper fare. Claiming they came up with the route two years ago which we all know is probably not true and will oppose any other licence grants. So that meams he will be opposing Voyago's license. Pretty sneaky if you ask me.

https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/second-operator-plans-guelph-to-owen-sound-transportation-service/amp

Yeah, I saw that on Facebook, and I thought it was rather sneaky as well. I foresee this being a long, drawn out legal/bureaucratic battle that'll delay service even more.

Mini "bus war" like Britain had in the 90s?

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1 hour ago, MCI102A3 said:

Yeah, I saw that on Facebook, and I thought it was rather sneaky as well. I foresee this being a long, drawn out legal/bureaucratic battle that'll delay service even more.

Mini "bus war" like Britain had in the 90s?

I have heard of that company being aggressive to other companies. The fact that they boasted about not needing government funding really caught Owen Sound's attention.

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1 hour ago, TTC 9701 said:

I have heard of that company being aggressive to other companies. The fact that they boasted about not needing government funding really caught Owen Sound's attention.

Yeah, they expanded into Manitoba some years ago and took over the famous Selkirk-Winnipeg commuter line, then I believe abandoned it a year later.

Idk what the locals thought about it, but the optics of a bus with Ontario license plates running a local commuter route in Manitoba didn't look good in my eyes.

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  • 2 years later...

Transit Service Contract Extension – First Student ULC

  • The operating contract with First Student has been extended again to August 31, 2022 to allow a RFP for a new transit operations and maintenance contract to be conducted. The new contract will come into effect September 1, 2022.
  • First Student is responsible for providing the ARBOC buses used for service (7 2014 and 1 2019) under the existing contract. Due to the contract extensions and the 2014 ARBOC buses being at the end of their life, First Student will replace them with new school buses wrapped in the blue Owen Sound Transit scheme until the existing contract ends on August 31, 2022. Using a fleet of leased Vicinity buses for this time period was also considered however the hourly rate charged to the city would have been higher than using school buses.
  • The existing transit service is based on 4 routes operating at 30 minutes frequency. As a trial and to help contain costs, service will be reduced to 60 minutes frequency on all 4 routes using 2 buses during June, July and August 2021.
  • The hourly cost for providing service has increased from $63.38 per hour in 2015 to $80.92 per hour at the beginning of 2022, with the additional increase to $95.28 to accommodate the replacement of the ARBOC buses for the last few months of the contract. Staff anticipate new rates for the new contract in September will exceed $100 per hour, which is causing budget overages that will need to be considered.

NRFP-22-011 Transit Service Delivery- Operations and Maintenance

  • New five year operations and maintenance contract starting September 1, 2022 with option for two one year renewals.
  • Contractor to supply all vehicles initially with with possibility of city supplied vehicles in future years.

Within the RFP, pricing is requested for the following service models. Contractors can bid on some or all proposed options.

  • Option 1a (20,400 annual hours): Based on a new design 4 route system. 5 fixed route buses and 1 mobility bus in service. Red route operates every 20 minutes with 2 buses connecting the major destinations in town. Blue, Brown and Green routes provide additional coverage operating every 40 minutes. Service operates 6:30a-6:30p Monday-Friday and 9:00a-4:30p Saturdays.
  • Option 1b (16,900 annual hours): Status Quo option using existing service levels. Based on existing 4 route system with minor route changes. 4 fixed route buses and 1 mobility bus in service. All routes operate every 30 minutes. Service operates 6:30a-6:30p Monday-Friday and 9:00a-4:30p Saturdays.
  • Option 1c (10,200 annual hours): Reduced weekday and Saturday service. Based on existing 4 route system with minor route changes. 2 fixed route buses and 1 mobility bus in service. All routes operate every 60 minutes, with 2 buses interlining. Service operates 6:30a-6:30p Monday-Friday and 9:00a-4:30p Saturdays.
  • Option 1d (12,800 service hours): Reduced weekday and Saturday service, but with extended evening service. Based on existing 4 route system with minor route changes. 2 fixed route buses and 1 mobility bus in service. All routes operate every 60 minutes, with 2 buses interlining. Service operates 6:30a-9:30p Monday-Friday and 9:00a-6:30p Saturdays.
  • Option 2 - Fully on demand service: contractors can propose options for a fully on demand service model based on specific criteria. For weekdays, trips would be booked a minimum of 30 minutes in advance, trips must be completed within 30 minutes and the maximum deviation from scheduled pick up times is 5 minutes (10 minutes on Saturdays).

Given the increased costs Owen Sound is facing for transit services and council concerned about the impact on property taxes I think option 1a is dead considering it would require almost 4000 hours more than option 1b "status quo". I would not be surprised to see Owen Sound go fully on demand service especially if the pricing comes in much cheaper than the fixed route options.

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1 hour ago, MiExpress said:

Given the increased costs Owen Sound is facing for transit services and council concerned about the impact on property taxes I think option 1a is dead considering it would require almost 4000 hours more than option 1b "status quo". I would not be surprised to see Owen Sound go fully on demand service especially if the pricing comes in much cheaper than the fixed route options.

There has always been a battle with Transit there. A town counselor has been trying to remove transit service since he was in office. It will be interesting to see when these temporary buses start service.

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  • 1 month later...

Voyago will be the new operating contractor for Owen Sound Transit effective September 1, 2022 taking over from First Canada. The initial contract will be a 5 year term. Voyago will provide a fleet of new low floor buses as the existing equipment is owned by First. 
 

Service will be based on ‘option 1b’ fixed route service with mobility bus,  which is essentially the existing route design and service span with some minor route modifications. 
 

Option 1b (16,900 annual hours): Status Quo option using existing service levels. Based on existing 4 route system with minor route changes. 4 fixed route buses and 1 mobility bus in service. All routes operate every 30 minutes. Service operates 6:30a-6:30p Monday-Friday and 9:00a-4:30p Saturdays.

Voyago’s hourly rate is less than the current cost from First Student so the new contract will cost the city less than initially budgeted. Service will be evaluated with the possibility of introducing extended evening service with the resulting budgeted savings. The evening service could be fixed route  or a pilot on demand service. 

Other bids were received from First and Driveseat Owen Sound (likely a on demand option proposed) however pricing was much higher.

https://pub-owensound.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=31534

 


 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/24/2022 at 4:12 PM, MiExpress said:

Voyago will be the new operating contractor for Owen Sound Transit effective September 1, 2022 taking over from First Canada. The initial contract will be a 5 year term. Voyago will provide a fleet of new low floor buses as the existing equipment is owned by First. 
 

Service will be based on ‘option 1b’ fixed route service with mobility bus,  which is essentially the existing route design and service span with some minor route modifications. 
 

Option 1b (16,900 annual hours): Status Quo option using existing service levels. Based on existing 4 route system with minor route changes. 4 fixed route buses and 1 mobility bus in service. All routes operate every 30 minutes. Service operates 6:30a-6:30p Monday-Friday and 9:00a-4:30p Saturdays.

Voyago’s hourly rate is less than the current cost from First Student so the new contract will cost the city less than initially budgeted. Service will be evaluated with the possibility of introducing extended evening service with the resulting budgeted savings. The evening service could be fixed route  or a pilot on demand service. 

Other bids were received from First and Driveseat Owen Sound (likely a on demand option proposed) however pricing was much higher.

https://pub-owensound.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=31534

 


 

 

 

Seems they might scrap the hourly Summer service. Unsure if they are still going to use wrapped school buses.

https://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/2022/04/18/owen-sound-operations-committee-recommends-scrapping-summer-hourly-transit-pilot/

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  • 2 months later...

OP-22-032 Transit Service Delivery

Voyago will take over Owen Sound Transit operations on August 27. Included in the report linked was a update regarding the bus fleet to be used.

Quote

Fleet
As a result of manufacturing delays, Voyago will be providing an interim fleet
as they begin operations on August 27. The interim fleet will be four Girardin
G5 High Floor Lift Equipped Buses. These buses have a ten-seat capacity
with additional space for five wheelchairs. A different bus with a larger
capacity will be provided to address the increased passenger numbers for the
East Bayshore route. This bus has 18 seats, an additional six standing, and
room for two wheelchairs. The interim fleet will all be NEW stock.
Voyago’s communication with the manufacturer shows that the long-term
fleet is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2023 and will consist of five
Arboc Spirit of Freedom low floor ramp-equipped buses. These buses will also
be NEW stock. The capacity of these buses is 18 seats, an additional six
standing, and room for two wheelchairs.
Due to the manufacturing delay, the front-mounted bike carriers will be held
in storage and installed on the permanent fleet in time for the warmer
spring/summer season in 2023 rather than on the interim fleet. 

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  • 2 months later...

I paid a visit to Owen Sound on the first day of weekday service for the new provider. Not much hope for bus fans as their reactions are very mixed at the moment as a few are from the First contract. The fleet consists of 5 Blue Bird Microbird buses, which are used on any route plus mobility on demand. They also have a single Titan II, which is only used for the Bayshore route. These are only used until the new Arboc buses arrive next year.

2022-08-31_07-30-31.jpg

2022-08-31_07-29-53.jpg

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