Transport in Winnipeg

=Early Transport=

For thousands of years the Aboriginals of the region used various networks of rivers across what is now known as the province of Manitoba. The Forks became an early meeting place for the purpose of trade. Situated at the confluence of the Red and the Assiniboine in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It would prove to be the most important location for European and First Nations trade in Manitoba. The common method of transportation on these waterways during this time were often birch bark canoes generally used by the Aboriginals while European traders would tend to use York boats.

Roads and Expressways

Winnipeg is unique among North American cities its size in that it does not have freeways within the urban area. Beginning in 1958, the primarily suburban Metropolitan council proposed a system of freeways, including one that would have bisected the downtown area. The plan culminated in the monumental Winnipeg Area Transportation Study (WATS) [cite book
title = Winnipeg Area Transportation Study: Volume 3 - Projections and Recommendations
publisher = Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg, Streets and Transit Division
date = September, 1968
pages = 233 p. ill.
url = http://uwto.org/documents/transit_1968wats.html ] of 1968. The extensive freeway plan faced stiff community opposition and was deemed over-ambitious. It was not implemented as a concerted undertaking, but construction of major traffic corridors follows the study to this day, including expressways such as Route 165/Bishop Grandin Blvd., although most are in the form of urban arterial roads, and no freeways are likely to be constructed within the urban area anytime soon. However, a one mile stretch of freeway was built in the late 1950s, called the Disraeli Freeway (part of the Disraeli Bridge project), which is part of Route 42.

Budgetary constraints over the last three decades has resulted in an aging roadway system that is considered substandard compared to much of North America. Winnipeg is behind virtually all major metropolitan centres when it comes to adopted standards for road maintenance, grade separations, interchanges, road markings, traffic signals, construction zone traffic safety systems and general signage. Recently, this infrastructure deficit has reached crisis proportions prompting the city council to increase the infrastructure budget. The additional money is being spent to repair crumbling roads and eventually bring the system closer to standards that other North American jurisdictions utilize. Winnipeg has also embarked on an ambitious wayfinding program erecting new signage at strategic downtown locations. The intention is to make it easier for travellers, specifically tourists to locate services and attractions.

A modern four-lane highway (the Perimeter Highway, which is mostly an expressway around the city (also known as a ring road) with interchanges and at-grade intersections) bypasses the city entirely, allowing travellers on the Trans-Canada Highway to avoid the city and continue east or west uninterrupted.

Many Manitoba provincial highways enter Winnipeg, but the majority lose their highway designation and become Winnipeg Routes once they reach the Perimeter Highway. At present, only two provincial highways pass entirely through the Winnipeg area:
*Highway 1 and
*Highway 59 (which is a northern continuation of US 59) and is also designated as Route 20 (or Lagimodière Boulevard) in Winnipeg.

Several highways also converge on Winnipeg without passing entirely through the city. These include:
* Highway 2, which meets with Highway 3 at the southwest Perimeter,
* Highway 3, which becomes McGillivray Boulevard in Winnipeg,
* Highway 6, which is the main highway to northern Manitoba,
* Highway 7, which becomes Route 90 (known through various street names) in Winnipeg,
* Highway 8, which becomes Route 180 (known as McPhillips Street) in Winnipeg,
* Highway 9, which becomes Route 52 (known as Main Street) in Winnipeg, and
* Highway 15, which becomes Route 115 (known as Dugald Road) in Winnipeg, and
* Highway 75 (a northern continuation of I-29 and US 75), which becomes Route 42 (known as Pembina Highway) in Winnipeg. (This road is an exception to the rule that only two provincial highways penetrate the Perimeter Highway, as Highway 75 actually continues until the intersection with Bison Drive / Chancellor Matheson Road (which leads to the Fort Garry campus of the University of Manitoba.

Public Transit

Winnipeg has had a public transit system since the 1880s, starting with horse-drawn streetcars. It had electric streetcars from 1891 until 1955, and electric trolley buses from 1938 until 1970. Winnipeg Transit now operates entirely with diesel buses. For decades, the city has explored the idea of a rapid transit link, either bus or rail, from downtown to the University of Manitoba's suburban campus. The most recent proposal [ [http://uwto.org/transit_plans.html Transit plans] ] calls for several enhanced bus routes, which would extend across the city. These routes would use bus-only lanes for most of their length, with separate busways being built around congested sections. In 2004 Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz effectively shelved these plans and transferred the money to community centres (though its use has yet to be seen). Winnipeg is home to many large transit bus manufacturers, including New Flyer Industries and Motor Coach Industries. New Flyer Industries supplies transit buses for many major North American cities including New York City and Vancouver.

Winnipeg Transit

The public transit needs of Winnipeg are primarily met through Winnipeg Transit's regularly scheduled bus service. [ [http://www.winnipegtransit.com/ Winnipeg Transit Homepage] ] Primary bus routes run from 5:30 a.m. until just before 2:00 a.m. Monday to Saturday, and until just after midnight on Sunday.

There are currently 68 fixed routes throughout the city. There are three types of routes:
* Main line routes provide service from suburban neighbourhoods to downtown, observing all bus stops, and normally operate seven days a week. Some routes operate as crosstown routes, which means buses operate from one suburban area to another, in most cases passing through the downtown area.
* Express routes operate mainly during rush hour from suburban neighbourhoods, observing a limited number of bus stops to downtown.
* Suburban feeders generally provide service in suburban areas where ridership demand is lower.

Airports

Winnipeg is currently served by the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (IATA: YWG, ICAO: CYWG) which is currently under redevelopment, with a new passenger terminal planned for completion by the end of 2009. [cite web|url=http://www.waa.ca/factsheet|title=Fact Sheet, Winnipeg Airports Authority|accessdate=2008-07-02] The existing terminal which was constructed in the early 1960s, will face either demolition or redevelopment as a museum, hotel, or other commercial facilities. The airport is operational 24 hours per day, handling about 3.5 million passengers annually, and is part of the national airports system of Canada. It is the only international airport between Toronto and Calgary capable of handling large freighter aircraft, and as such handles many arctic flights. From 1937 to 1949, the airport was the headquarters and site of the national maintenance base of Air Canada.

Railways

Winnipeg is served by VIA Rail, Canadian National Railway (CN), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Manitoba and the Central Manitoba Railway, (CEMR). It is the only city between Vancouver and Thunder Bay, Ontario with direct U.S. connections.

CN and CP operate large railyards, customer service operations and intermodal facilities inside Winnipeg.

There are approximately 5,000 people employed in Winnipeg in the rail transportation industry.

VIA Rail operates out of Union Station, a grand neoclassical structure near The Forks in downtown Winnipeg. The station was built by the Canadian Northern Railway & National Transcontinental/Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and was designed by the same architects responsible for Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

In addition to the major commercial railways, the City of Winnipeg owns and operates the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway, which runs parallel to the city aqueduct to Shoal Lake.

Bus terminal

The Winnipeg Bus Terminal is located in downtown Winnipeg across from the University of Winnipeg at Portage and Balmoral. The companies operating out of the terminal are:
* Beaver Bus Lines Ltd.
* Brandon Air Shuttle
* Grey Goose Bus
* Greyhound Bus Lines of Canada
* Jefferson Lines

Taxi Services

Winnipeg is served by several taxi companies, the two largest being Unicity and Duffy's. Other companies include Spring Taxi.

Unicity Taxi was formed by three smaller companies in the mid 1970s — Moore's, Grosvenor and Yellow Taxi.

plash Dash water services

The Splash Dash water taxi service was created a few years after The Forks opened, as a shuttle service between various downtown areas. In the early 2000s Hugo Dock was added.

The water taxi has had a difficult go at it since opening, due to the problem of high water during most years. It will take several weeks, sometimes till late June or early July for the waters of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers to recede enough to allow docking.

Expansion plans call for the Splash Dash to run as far westward to the Sherbrook-Maryland Bridge in 2007.

As of 2008, the current one-way fare is $3.00. An unlimited day-pass is $15.00.

References

External links

* [http://www.splashdash.ca/ Splash Dash website]