ShopDineTour Toronto

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ShopDineTour Toronto, registered as Urban Inc., is a tour company based in Toronto, Ontario. They are a subsidiary brand of The Bus and Boat Company.

History

They began as Shop Toronto in May 2002, where owners Timothy Finlason and Troy Lamsee offered tours of Toronto focusing on Toronto’s many shopping districts with a fifteen passenger replica trolley bus. Over the course of their first season, they quickly developed important relationships with local hotels and downtown retailers.

By the end of the 2002 season, it was noticed that there was a demand for double decker bus tours. In late 2002, two antique double decker buses were purchased. For the 2003 tourism season, Shop Toronto acquired an additional fifteen passenger trolley replica bus and expanded the tour to incorporate both shops and restaurants, with an important focus on Toronto history. In 2008, a former GO Transit MCI motorcoach was acquired for inclement weather.

Beginning in May 2009, ShopDineTour Toronto operates the free Vaughan Mills Shopping Shuttle. A specially wrapped ex-GO Transit MCI motorcoach was used. The other MCI ws used as a backup. In 2010, ShopDineTour Toronto began running a free shuttle from Toronto to Main Street Unionville. Two Prevost H3-40 motorcoaches were acquired for the service.

ShopDineTour Toronto became an affiliate of The Bus and Boat Company, the operator of the City Sightseeing Toronto and the Gray Line Toronto franchises. The Bus and Boat Company acquired the Gray Line assets from PMCL in late 2011. While the Gray Line buses were rebranded for both City Sightseeing and Gray Line, ShopDineTour buses initially retained their own branding; however, starting in 2014, the ShopDineTour Toronto branding began to be gradually phased out in favour of the City Sightseeing Toronto branding.

All-time roster

Fleet number Thumbnail Year Manufacturer Model Engine Transmission License plate Notes
None Blue Bird TC/2000
  • At least two units.
  • Used for Harbourfront condominium shuttle.
None 1968 Bristol/ECW Lodekka/bus body
  • Ex-United Auto/Northern.[1]
  • Acquired by ShopDineTour Toronto in 2002.
DDD69-1 1973 Daimler Fleetline 686 3BF

(prev. BM2 737)

DDL66-2 July 1966 Leyland Atlantean BL6 593
DDL70-3 1977 Leyland/Roe Atlantean BN4 528
DDB-4 1980 Bristol/ECW VRTSL3 Gardner 6LXB BM8 627
BB-5 Blue Bird All American trolley replica BM2 745
MCI-6 1990 TMC 102-A3 Detroit Diesel 6V92TA Allison HT-740 BM9 364
MCI-2-7 1991 MCI 102-A2 Detroit Diesel 6V92TA ZF 5HP600 BM8 750
TF-8 Ford

?

?

Replica Trolley

TF2-9 2003 Ford

?

E-Series

Replica Trolley

DDB69-10 1976 Bristol/ECW VRTSL3 Gardner 6LXB BM9 375
None Ford/Girardin minibus
  • Ex-?; acquired in spring 2010.
(two units) Prevost H3-40 Detroit Diesel
6V92TA
Allison HT-740 BM9 384
BM9 385
  • Ex-?; acquired around May 2010.
  • One wrapped and used for Unionville Shuttle (BM9 385) and other all white (BM9 384, previously wrapped for the Toronto International Film Festival in Sep-2011).
None Prevost H3-40 333 3BF

Contacts

  • Address: 341 Eastern Avenue, Suite 2, Toronto, ON
  • email: info@shopdinetourtoronto.com
  • Fax: 416-463-7441
  • Phone: 416-463-7467

References

  1. LIST OF PRESERVED BUSES, nebpt.co.uk, retrieved on 2009-08-01
  2. Illustrated Histories For Yorkshire Traction Company Limited, bcv.robsly.com, retrieved on 2009-08-01

External links