The Kitchener Public Utilities Commission (KPUC, or PUC) was the municipal

public utilities commission A public utilities commission is a quasi-governmental body that provides oversight and/or regulation of public utility, public utilities in a particular area (locality, municipality, or Administrative division, subnational division), especially in ...

for the city of

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

, Canada, as well as the surrounding area. Its former office in downtown Kitchener, constructed in 1931 in Beaux-Arts style, has been designated under the ''

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Canadian Province of Ontario, as being of cultural heritage ...

'' as both historically and architecturally significant, and is one of the Kitchener's few surviving historic public buildings.

Transit services

Transit service began with

horse car A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is a tram or streetcar pulled by a horse. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public transport, public rail transport, ...

s in 1887 as a private company whose owner was from New York City with day-to-day operations via

Thomas M. Burt Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

. The line was electrified for

streetcars A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

a few years later. The city did not renew the charter and the KPUC took over in 1927. The KPUC operated streetcars until 1946, as bus and trolley bus operations took over. The electric streetcars were scheduled to be retired on January 1, 1947. An ice storm on December 27, 1946 caused so much damage to the overhead that it was not repaired. Cross-town gasoline

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

started in the 1930s.

Trolley coach A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

operation began on January 1, 1947, and ended by March 26, 1973. Transit operations were passed on to the City of Kitchener in 1973 and was operated with all-new bus routes as Kitchener Transit. Utilities operations, for gas, water and sewer services within the City of Kitchener are now run by Kitchener Utilities, a subsidiary of the municipality. In 2015, during the construction of the new Ion Light Rail system, remnants of the local streetcar system were unearthed.

Roster

Buses

* 10 Yellow Coach model 733 bus * 2 CCF-Brill model C-36 gas bus * 2 Brills - ex-Wellesley Bus Lines * 1 Ford - ex-Wellesley Bus Lines* 1 Aerocoach - ex-Wellesley Bus Lines Roster as of December 31, 1972. City of Kitchener took over January 1, 1973. Trolley buses replaced March 26, 1973. Kitchener Transit launched with all new routes on July 3, 1973. * 101 - 117 (odd numbers only). Nine, 1946 Canadian Car & Foundry T-44 electric trolley buses. #103, first production T-44, 119 burned in fire and scrapped Dec. 28, 1970. * 121 - 129 (odd numbers only). Five, 1947 Canadian Car & Foundry T-44 electric trolley buses. * 131 One, 1948 Canadian Car & Foundry T-44 electric trolley buses. * 133 - 141 (odd numbers only). Five, 1951 CanCar ex-Ottawa Transportation Commission T-48 electric trolley buses. Purchased in 1959. * 572 - 577 Six, 1957 General Motors TGH-3102 gasoline buses. 571 retired pre-1973. * 591 - 595 Five, 1959 General Motors TGH-3102 gasoline buses. * 601 - 605 Five, 1960 General Motors TGH-3102 gasoline buses. * 606 One, 1960 ex. Oshawa Transportation Commission General Motors TGH-3102 gasoline bus. Purchased 1967 * 641 - 643 Three, 1964 General Motors TGH-3501 gasoline buses. * 651 - 654 Four, 1965 General Motors TGH-3501 gasoline buses. * 661 - 669 Nine, 1966 General Motors TGH-3501 gasoline buses. * 671 - 678 Eight, 1967 General Motors TDH-3501 diesel buses. * 680 - 689 Ten, 1968 General Motors TDH-3502 diesel buses. * 690 - 691 Two, 1969 GMDD T6H-5305 diesel buses. * 700 - 701 Two, 1971 GMDD T6H-5305 diesel buses. Ordered in 1970. Manufacturing started in 1970 and finished in 1971. First two T6H-5305 buses completed in 1971. * 720 - 721 Two, 1972 GMDD T6H-5307N diesel buses.

Streetcars

All time streetcar fleet: Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company * 8 open single truck horsecars 1888 * 8 closed single truck horsecars 1888 ** 3 converted as electric cars 1895; used until 1896 * 2 open cars from

Canadian General Electric GE Canada (or General Electric Canada) is the wholly-owned Canadian unit of General Electric, manufacturing various consumer and industrial electrical products all over Canada. GE Canada was preceded by the company Canadian General Electric (CGE ...

1896; retired 1922 * 2 closed cars from Canadian General Electric 1896; retired 1932 * 1 single truck double end car - ex-horsecar sold by new electric railway operator Buffalo Railway Company * 3 single truck open trailer cars * 2 double truck double end cars from

Ottawa Car Company The Ottawa Car Company was a builder of streetcars for the Canadian market and was founded in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1891 Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 423. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing. . as an outgrowth of the car ...

1901 and 1908 * 1 single truck double end car - ex-Buffalo car and later work car (scraper) * 1 single truck double end car from J.G. Brill 1910 - converted as sweeper * 3 single end double truck cars - ex-

Montreal Park and Island Railway Prior to 1959, Montreal, Quebec, Canada had an extensive streetcar system. The streetcar network had its beginnings with the horsecar era of the Montreal City Passenger Railway in 1861. The initial line was along Rue Notre Dame (Notre Dame St) ...

(built by

Montreal Street Railway Prior to 1959, Montreal, Quebec, Canada had an extensive streetcar system. The streetcar network had its beginnings with the horsecar era of the Montreal City Passenger Railway in 1861. The initial line was along Rue Notre Dame (Notre Dame St) ...

) with 1 converted as flat car * 1 single truck double end closed trailer 1918 - ex-

Toronto Street Railway The Toronto Street Railway (TSR) was the operator of a horsecar, horse-drawn streetcar system from 1861 to 1891 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its successor, the Toronto Railway Company, inherited the horsecar system and electrified it between 1892 ...

horsecar from J.M. Jones' Sons Preston & Berlin Street Railway * 2 single end double truck cars from

Preston Car Company The Preston Car Company was a Canadian manufacturer of streetcars and other railway equipment, founded in 1908. It was formed by local investors including Frederick and George Adam Clare. The company was located in the town of Preston, Ontario ...

1912; scrapped 1947 * 3 single end double truck cars from G. C. Kuhlman Car Company 1919; scrapped 1941 and 1947 * 5

Peter Witt The Peter Witt streetcar was introduced by Cleveland Railway commissioner Peter Witt (1869–1948) who led the transit agency from 1911 to 1915 and designed a model of streetcar known by his name that was used in many North American cities, mos ...

cars 1922 - ex-

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

cars from

Cincinnati Car Company The Cincinnati Car Company or ''Cincinnati Car Corporation'' was a subsidiary of the Ohio Traction Company. It designed and constructed interurban cars, streetcars (trams) and (in smaller scale) buses. It was founded in 1902 in Cincinnati, Ohio. ...

; scrapped 1947 Bridgeport and Berlin Electric Street Railway * 1 double truck double end car from N & A.C. Lariviere 1902 Kitchener & Waterloo Street Railway * 2 single truck

Birney A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastruc ...

safety cars from

1923; scrapped 1947 * 1 single truck double end sweeper from J.G. Brill 1924 * 1 Birney car 1928 - ex-Peterborough Radial from Cincinnati Car 1920; sold 1946

Routes

Bus routes

Routes as of December 31, 1972: * Route 1 Queen South - Queen North & Frederick * Route 2 North Ward - Highland Road * Route 3 East & South Wards - Westmount * Route 4 Fairfield — Rosemount * Route 5 Waterloo Crosstown * Route 6 Bridgeport * Route 7 Mainline (Trolley Coach) * Route 8 Forest Hill * Route 9 Lakeshore * Route 10 Kingsdale * Route 11 Stanley Park * Route 12 Industrial Park * Route 13 University * Route 14 Columbia * Route 15 Amos Avenue * Route 16 Ottawa South

Streetcar routes

* King Street from Cedar Street (Bridgeport Road) in Waterloo to Scott Street in Berlin (Kitchener) * Victoria Street from King Street to

Weber Street Weber Street (, ) is a major roadway connecting the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It forms a component of Waterloo Regional Road 8, whose route designation continues along several other roads in south Kitchener and Cambrid ...

, Berlin

Facilities

* Horsecar barn and stable at Cedar Street (now Bridgeport Road) and King Street - built 1888 for Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company * Car barn at King Street and Albert Street 1905 - built to replace original barn from 1888 * Car barns at Preston Junction (King Street East and Rogers Road now in Cambridge) and Albert Street in Berlin (now Kitchener) 1904 - for Preston & Berlin Street Railway * Car barn at Kitchener Junction 1923 - replaces Preston & Berlin Street Railway barns in Kitchener * Bridgeport car barn (eastside of Bridgeport Road and King Street) 1923

References

External links

* {{url, http://www.trainweb.org/elso/kw_st_ry.htm, Kitchener & Waterloo Street Railway on Trainweb.org
A History of Kitchener Transit

Public Utilities Commission A public utilities commission is a quasi-governmental body that provides oversight and/or regulation of public utility, public utilities in a particular area (locality, municipality, or Administrative division, subnational division), especially in ...

Historic Transit agencies in Ontario Transport in Kitchener, Ontario Transport in Waterloo, Ontario

19th century in Kitchener History of rail transport in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Public transport in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Public utilities commissions of Canada