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Red Deer Transit
Transit service was provided in Red Deer as early as 1946. Until
1957, several private firms provided service and there is not much
information available about them. A one-bus operation, Red Deer Bus
Lines, ran from 1956 until Sorensen Bus Lines took it over in 1957.
Beginning on September 1, 1957, Sorensen Bus Lines ran the city
transit service and received a subsidy from the City of Red Deer to
operate. It began as a one-bus operation and ran under the name City
Bus Lines Ltd. This arrangement continued until transit service was
taken over by the City on September 1, 1966. At the time of the city
takeover, the service was running 11 buses. These buses were sold to
the City; however only 9 entered service with the newly formed Red
Deer Transit System.
 The bus that effectively became the first R.D.T.S. bus was a
gasoline powered 1948 Brill C36. This bus had been purchased used
from Calgary Transit by Sorensen Bus Lines in 1963 and was Sorensen
number 173. It became R.D.T.S. 501 and then renumbered in 1968 as
71-01 which was the bus numbering format used by the City until the
mid-1980s. It ran in its old Calgary colours and was retired in
1969.
 The fleet of buses in the early days of Red Deer Transit was a mix
of gasoline and diesel powered buses that consisted mostly of
General Motors "Old Look" style buses of 31 and 35 passenger
capacities. There were a few school bus style buses as well and a
1950 Prevost Transit bus that was purchased second hand from Diamond
Bus Lines (Edmonton) by the City of Red Deer in 1966. This Prevost
was bus number 502, later 71-02 and was retired in 1972. A Prevost
Transit bus was rare in Western Canada.
Many of these early buses ran until 1981 until they were replaced by
Red Deer's last order of General Motors "New Look" buses that were
purchased in 1980. The New Look buses in Red Deer were acquired
beginning in 1970 with a pair of T6H-5305s, numbered 71-18 and
71-19. Red Deer eventually had 27 GMC New Look buses in the fleet
and these were the backbone of the system for years.
 Red Deer had the distinction of having the very first Canadian built
T6H-5307N (serial number C001), bus 71-20 that arrived in August of
1972. It is unfortunate that bus 71-20 was not retained for
historical preservation after retirement in December 1990.
Thirteen New Look buses were completely rebuilt in the early 2000s
during a time of tight budgets. These rebuilt New Look joined a
group of eleven MCI Classics purchased new in 1989 and 1990. The
last of the rebuilt GMC buses will retire later this year, and the
Classics will begin to disappear over the next while as replacement
New Flyer low floor buses arrive. Five New looks that were retired
in 2009 went on to provide service for Regina Transit. They will
likely see service there for at least a few more years.
A system expansion in 2004 resulted in the need to bolster the fleet
by 3 buses to meet the new route demand. Due to the length of time
it takes to acquire new buses, the search was on for some used
buses. Two 1988 New Flyer D40 buses were found in Quebec and shipped
to Red Deer. One of the retired GMC buses, 71-43 was brought out of
retirement for another 3 years of service. 71-43 was the last of the
"original" New Looks to run in revenue service.
Since 1994, all new bus purchases have been New Flyer Low Floor
buses, all D40LF and D40LFR models. All LFR buses are
air-conditioned. In 2011, Red Deer Transit's fleet will be 100%
accessible.
On August 26, 2007, the Citizen's Action Bus service was brought in
to the Department. Operated since January 1979 by the Red Deer
Action Group with funding from the City it was decided that for long
term sustainability having the service provided directly by the City
was required. The drivers and supervisor became City employees at
this time, and 15 vehicles were transferred to City ownership.
The Transit Garage at 5438-47 Street was built in the 1960s. This
facility was expanded several times and in 1999 a major renovation
to the administration area was done at which time an extra storage
room for supplies was constructed inside the bus garage in Lane 1.
In 2009, Red Deer Transit, along with 5 other City Departments from
the old "west yards" area in Cronquist Business Park, were relocated
to a brand new facility in the Riverside Industrial area at 7721-40
Avenue. This move allowed the entire Transit Department to be housed
in one building. For several years, the Transit Manager had been
working from the Community Services Division in City Hall and with
the City taking over the Action Bus operation, room was needed to
house this service. Action Bus Dispatch and the supervisor of this
area, along with the Transit Manager relocated to the old Atco Gas
building, directly across the street from the Transit Garage on 47
Street. The Action Bus vehicle fleet was also stored at this
location.
The city centre transfer location was an on-street arrangement that
shifted locations over the years. The intersection of Ross Street
and Gaetz Avenue was used in the early days, and then the buses
moved over to City Hall park where they used three sides of the
park. Buses stopped facing westbound on 49 Street, northbound on 49
Avenue, and eastbound on Ross Street. This meant walking distances
of over a block depending on which bus customers were changing
between. When a reconfiguration of downtown streets was implemented,
the buses had to move to 49 Street, which became one-way carrying
eastbound traffic, and 48 Avenue south of 49 Street, which remained
as a two-way road. Ross Street also became a one-way street carrying
westbound traffic.
 For many years, the City had been discussing building an off-street
transfer facility. During the financial constraints of the 1990s,
the project was delayed many times. When the project was finally
given the green light by City Council, construction began in the
summer of 2001. The 15-bus facility opened on August 19, 2002.
Research and compilation by Steve Parkin
Early RDT photos by Peter Cox used with permission.
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