CREW AND PASSENGERS BESIDE NO.14 - 1892
At the beginning of the last decade of the 19th century in Victoria, a transit company, spearheaded by David Williams Higgins, editor of the Victoria 'Colonist' newspaper, was preparing to launch its electric street railway. The National Electric Tramway and Light Company purchased four small cars and laid almost nine kilometers of track through the center of the city.
On February 22, 1890, the Victoria system
was ready to go. Lieutenant-Governor Hugh Nelson and Premier John Robson
joined a crowd of civic dignitaries to inaugurate public transit in British
Columbia. "In the evening the cars were brilliantly
illuminated," the 'Colonist' reported, "and filled with passengers,
dashed through the streets in busy, metropolitan style, the admiration of all
lovers of enterprise, convenience and progress." It was only the
third electric streetcar system in Canada.
CREW AND PASSENGERS BESIDE NO.14 - 1892
Vancouver was not far behind. Four months after the Victoria celebration, on June 26th, Car 14 left the car house onto the track and went away down Main Street, to the delight of hundreds of onlookers who crowded the sidewalks to witness the historic event. The other cars came rumbling out of the barn, and everyone got free rides for the rest of the afternoon. Two days later, the entire Vancouver system, all 9.6 kilometers of it, opened for service.
New Westminster was next. This however, was to be a much more ambitious plan. In October 1891, the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company opened North America's first Interurban electric railway, carrying passengers through the unsettled wilds of Burnaby between New Westminster and downtown Vancouver. Victoria would welcome the opening of their Interurban in June of 1913. The line ran 40 kilometers down the length of the peninsula from Deep Bay (now Deep Cove) to downtown Victoria. The Saanich line, however, never generated enough passengers or freight to support itself, and closed in 1924.
No sooner had the three transit companies inaugurated service and begun expanding their lines, than British Columbia plunged into an economic recession. The street railways, deep in debt for track and equipment, could barely cover daily operating expenses. Shortly, all three declared bankruptcy. Taken over and reorganized by Frank S. Barnard, a Victoria businessman and member of parliament, and Robert Horne-Payne, a young English Financier, they emerged in 1896 as one company, the Consolidated Railway Company.
Less than a month after the merger,
disaster struck the new company. On the afternoon of May 26, 1896, an
overcrowded streetcar crashed through the Point Ellice Bridge in Victoria,
killing 55 people, many of them small children. The worst streetcar
accident in Canadian history, it destroyed the Consolidated company. Even
though the city was blamed for the accident, financial backers withdrew their
support, plunging the operation into bankruptcy.
A FEW DAYS AFTER
THE ACCIDENT THE BATTERED STREETCAR IS REMOVED FROM THE WATER.
IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE RUINED POINT ELLICE BRIDGE.
Undeterred, the Consolidated's main
organizers, Barnard and Horne-Payne, set about raising more capital, chiefly in
England. On April 15, 1897, they incorporated the British Columbia
Electric Railway Company (BCER) to take over the three street railways.
This new company, based for many years in London, England, ran the transit
systems for the next 64 years.
1906 - TURNING LEFT OFF FORT STREET, HEADING NORTH ON GOVERNMENT
BCER Began a period of expansion that lasted up to the beginning of World War I. The system grew so rapidly, that BC Electric began manufacturing its own streetcars in New Westminster. By 1914 the company fleet consisted of 647 pieces of rolling stock at work on Vancouver Island and on the Lower Mainland.
The streetcar system continued to expand
following the war. Fares rose a penny to 6 cents, the first increase the
the system's history. In 1921, Victoria initiated the use of cars with
only one operator, instead of the traditional conductor and motorman.
THE PEMBROKE STREET CAR BARN - 1925 VICTORIA
During the 1920's, ownership passed more and more into the hands of Canadian shareholders. Finally in May 1928, a group of eastern Canadian investors took over the helm of the company. They formed a new holding company, the B.C. Power Corporation, but B.C. Electric retained its name.
Ironically, the depression of the 1930's at first worked to the advantage of the streetcar company. People with less money to spend on their automobiles switched to public transit. By autumn of 1932, however, even the price of a streetcar ticket was a luxury and hard times caught up with the company. As ridership fell off, service had to be cut, and a number of conductors and motormen lost their jobs temporarily. But the economic clouds began to lift somewhat during 1934, and ridership again began to increase.
During the Second World War, the transit system coped with more passengers than ever before. With the rationing of gasoline and rubber tires, more and more people had to give up their automobiles, and turn to public transit. In the last year of the war, BCER vehicles carried 144,376,744 passengers, a new record.
With the system so busy, there was little time for maintenance. By war's end the company was faced with an aging street railway that needed extensive renovation. In many ways, streetcars were out of place in busy, post-war cities with their tracks and the growing inconvenience to other vehicles that shared the road with them. As a result, the company reluctantly turned to the bus.
Buses had been initially used as early as 1923 in Vancouver to supplement the streetcar system, especially in outlying areas where the company wanted to avoid the expense of laying track and stringing wire. Motor buses completely replaced streetcars in New Westminster by the end of 1938, and in North Vancouver in 1947.
Because early gas buses were not very powerful, BCER decided to utilize the electric trolley bus, a newcomer to the industry. Trolleys took advantage of the existing overhead wires, and they were fast and smooth.
Victoria was the first city in B.C. to give them a trial run with a bus borrowed from Seattle in November, 1945. Though the experiment went well, BCER decided not to order trolleys for Victoria, and instead converted entirely motor buses in 1948. In Vancouver, however, the trolleys came and stayed. The company introduced the new buses in December, 1945 for trials, and regular service began on August 16, 1948. The last streetcar clanked into retirement on April 24, 1955. After a conversion of $20 million, Vancouver had the largest trolley bus fleet in Canada.
OUTSIDE VICTORIA DEPOT OFFICE - 1945
NEW 36 PASSENGER BRILLS IN FRONT OF THE EMPRESS HOTEL IN VICTORIA - JUNE 1946
A few years after the last streetcar disappeared from Vancouver streets, transit in B.C. went through a major reorganization. On August 1, 1961, Premier W.A.C. Bennett announced that his government was expropriating the B.C. Electric Company as part of its plans for developing hydroelectric power in the province. The following year, B.C. Electric merged with the B.C. Power Commission to form a Crown corporation, the B.C. Hydro and Power Authority. Responsibility for public transit now lay with the provincial government.
NEW GENERAL MOTORS COACH - 1969
In 1973, the provincial government created the Bureau of Transit Services, an agency within the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The Bureau took over the planning and funding of transit, and embarked on a major, province-wide expansion of services. In Vancouver between 1973 and 1975, the area served by public transit doubled. Another major initiative was the SeaBus which began service in June 1977.
In 1978, responsibility for public transit outside Victoria and Vancouver was transferred to a new Crown corporation called the Urban Transit Authority. B.C. Hydro continued to operate transit in Victoria and Vancouver until April 1, 1980 when a new operator, the Metro Transit Operating Company took over. Local governments now contributed to the costs of transit in their communities, and took a role in planning. And since 1980, the needs of disabled passengers have received special attention from transit planners. Victoria began using the New Flyer Low Floor buses like the one pictured below in 1991-92.
THE NEW FLYER LOW FLOOR BUS IS WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE.
In August 1982, the Urban Transit Authority changed its name to BC Transit, and adopted the new red, white and blue color scheme for its vehicles. The Metro Transit Operating Company continued to operate for two more years until it merged with BC Transit in 1985, completing the consolidation of transit services under one Crown corporation.
In 1990 British Columbia celebrated 100 years of public transit. Below is the centennial logo that was displayed on all transit vehicles as part of the celebrations.
In the 1990's, BC Transit operated and maintained transit service in the metropolitan regions of Victoria and Vancouver (except West Vancouver). In other communities throughout the province, BC Transit provides the vehicles, along with planning, marketing, financial and administrative services. The operation of the buses is contracted to private operators, with the exception of three communities - Nanaimo, Powell River and Nelson where transit historically has been operated by the municipality.
In Victoria and Vancouver, where transit systems serve several municipalities, two regional transit commissions were created. It was the responsibility of each commission to decide on matters within its own regional transit system, including fares, routes, levels of service and raising the local share of costs through taxation. Locally elected representatives from the municipalities of each region sit on the commission. The chairman of each regional commission is a member of the BC Transit board.
In recent years, there has been continued growth and change. Most notably in Vancouver, was the transition to the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. Following a February 1998 agreement between the Province and the Greater Vancouver Regional District, responsibility for transit service in the Lower Mainland was successfully transferred to a new regional authority on April 1, 1999. 'Bus Priority' legislation was also passed in 1999. This new legislation requires motorists to yield to all transit buses leaving a stop in roadways of 60 kilometers per hour or less.
New innovations in equipment such as bike racks on buses to assist commuters were added, and tests of more environmentally friendly fuel systems such as the Ballard Fuel Cell-powered buses were carried out.
A big change seen on the streets of Victoria has been the addition of double-decker buses to regular transit service here in the Provincial capital. These Dennis Trident buses are a British bus, and are the first of their kind to be used in North America for this purpose.
THE DENNIS TRIDENT DOUBLE DECKER
Locally we are also starting to use the thirty-five foot Dennis Dart, which is a quieter and more economical bus to operate than the forty footers, while still offering access to people with disabilities, with its low floor configuration.
THIRTY-FIVE FOOT DENNIS DART
In September 2004 we introduced the Community Shuttle into local service. These are being used in rural areas where passenger loads are lighter, as well as for introducing some new routes. The response has been very favorable.
24 PASSENGER COMMUNITY SHUTTLE BUS
In the summer of 2005 we added a new type of conventional bus to our fleet. These were the diesel/electric Hybrid buses. BC Transit purchased six hybrid buses to evaluate environmental and economic benefits of operating hybrid electric buses in the Kelowna and the Victoria regions. This was a first in Canada!
This hybrid system uses dual electric motors for regenerative braking that slow the bus down and capture the energy into the battery system. This captured electrical energy is then used to assist in powering the bus using quiet electric motors and adding to the vehicle's efficient use of the diesel engine.
In stop and go applications, each year greenhouse gasses are reduced by over four times the weight of a regular bus. That's 60 metric tonnes.
BC Transit staff is projecting up to a 50 percent fuel reduction in stop and go applications, or 22,500 liters. An average bus uses 45,000 liters over a year, traveling 75,000 km.
The vehicle supplier is New Flyer, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
NEW FLYER HYBRID
Beginning July 23, 2007, Victoria Regional Transit conventional buses, community buses and handyDART vehicles will use a 20% biodiesel fuel blend that will result in environmental benefits.
Pure biodiesel is referred to as B100 - 100% biodiesel. Biodiesel is blended with regular diesel fuel (or petrodiesel) and is referred to by the percentage blend. For example, B5 is 5% biodiesel and 95% petrodiesel. Biodiesel has proven successful in various blend ratios for transit vehicles, the most common being B5 and B20.
Victoria Regional Transit uses eight million liters of fuel a year, and the biodiesel supply is still limited. As the biofuel industry matures and demand increases, there will be an increased supply of fuel.
BC Transit has also introduced the Nova Bus into service recently. Nova Bus is a Canadian built bus based in Quebec. The company is now owned by Prevost Car which is a division of Volvo Buses.
NOVA LFS
On March 10, 2009, BC Transit unveiled North America’s first hybrid double deck bus in Victoria.
The Enivro500H hybrid double deck bus, manufactured by Alexander Dennis, will be placed on various routes to test the vehicle’s performance and reliability, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and savings in fuel economy while in service mode.
"Given that BC Transit was the first to introduce the double decks to North America, it was the most logical choice to launch our hybrid version with them in Victoria." said Stephen Walsh, Vice President of Alexander Dennis.
ENVIRO 500H HYBRID DOUBLE DECKER
Article Written by:
Scott Ingbritson,
Transit Operator with
BC Transit,
Victoria B.C.
Sources:
"Transit in
British Columbia - The First Hundred Years"
by Brian Kelly and Daniel Francis - Harbour Publishing
"Transitions -
One Hundred Years of Transit in British Columbia"
Design: Roger Handling/Glassford Press Design Studios
Text: Daniel Francis
B.C. Archives - http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.htm
B.C. Transit - http://www.bctransit.com/
I wish to thank all BCT staff who assisted in gathering the information and photos used in this article.