Founded 1985 Service area Niagara Parkway Routes 1 | Defunct 2012 Service type bus service | |
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Locale Niagara Falls, ON, Canada | ||
The Niagara Parks Commission People Mover was a bus service in the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The service was operated by the Niagara Parks Commission to link the various tourist sights and attractions along the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls and the gorge downstream of it.
Contents
The People Mover buses replaced the Victoria Park Viewmobile, which had begun service in 1971 in an effort to ease traffic congestion in Queen Victoria Park. The Viewmobiles were two red towing trailers attached to a tractor truck, and served the boundaries of the park, as well as the adjacent Dufferin Islands. The Viewmobiles were retired from service when the new system launched in time for the 1985 tourist season. In 2012, The Niagara Parks Commission partnered with Niagara Falls Transit and the City of Niagara Falls, bringing new, fully accessible vehicles in service and a new identity as the WEGO transportation system.
The buses were unusual in that they operated as two-unit buses, comprising a motor unit towing a separate trailer. It should not be confused with the city transit bus service, operated by Niagara Falls Transit, although that also had provided shuttle bus service to the falls area from various parts of the city.
Service
The 32 km (20 mi) system operated along the Niagara Parkway from Table Rock Point by the Horseshoe Falls, downstream to the Floral Clock in the north. The stops along the route served attractions including:
At Table Rock Point, the People Mover connected with a free shuttle bus to and from the Rapidsview parking lot, with its hotels and casinos.
The service operated every 20 minutes from April to October each year. A single all-day ticket, issued as a sticker, allowed passengers to hop on and off the buses along the route. Fares for 2011 ended as follows:
Fleet
The service was operated by a fleet exclusively manufactured by Orion Bus Industries for the Parks Commission. The fleet consisted of twelve two-unit buses, each a motor unit towing a separate trailer. There was also a single motor unit with no trailer unit. The buses were powered by propane and were in service since the mid-1980s. The fleet comprised: