New Para Transpo vehicles continue to enter service

A selection of new vehicles pose for a group photo before starting their shifts.

It’s been a busy summer for Para Transpo team as more new vehicles for the Para Transpo fleet continue to arrive in Ottawa!

From an order of 82 vehicles for Para Transpo service, including 6 six-metre and 76 seven-metre minibuses, we’ve received 24 vehicles as of the time of writing.

When will these minibuses go into service?

Twenty of these minibuses are already out on the road completing Para Transpo trips and helping us to:

• Fulfil trips.
• Keep schedules running smoothly.
• Make sure your experience is as easy and convenient as possible.

The vehicle inspection process

When we receive a new vehicle from the manufacturer, it’s sent to our garage for a full engineering and mechanical inspection. This process takes 2-3 weeks while we look over every part to make sure they’re in excellent working order. At this time, we’ll also be looking at the internal components, and will install various pieces including a radio and fare card reader into the IT cabinet in the front of the cab.

Once the vehicle has been cleared for service, schedulers add it to the roster, and it starts being assigned to trips.

Vehicles of the past

The new minibuses have improved a lot from the first vehicles used for Para Transpo back in the 1970s.

Today all vehicles include:

• Extendable ramps
• Securing devices
• Slip-resistant floors
• Lighting

Take a look back at the different looks of Para Transpo over the past 50 years—we’ve come a long way!

The photos below were taken in summer 1990 and 1992 and show a range of different vehicle types used around that time.