About Parkbus
Parkbus started as a private initiative in 2009 by a group of outdoor enthusiasts, with the goal of making Ontario Parks accessible by bus. Getting in touch first with Mountain Equipment Coop who provided us with an opportunity to conduct market research in their Toronto store, we created a plan and presented it to Ontario Parks. We started small with a pilot project to connect Toronto and Algonquin Provincial Park on a few select weekends. After meeting with Algonquin's team and working out the details, we partnered with Hammond Transportation to make the service a reality in the summer 2010.
After a successful 2010 season, Parkbus became a project of Transportation Options (T.O.), a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering sustainable tourism and transportation in Ontario. Since 1992, T.O. has worked collaboratively to research, develop and promote new initiatives that are integrated, environmentally sound, healthy, service oriented and focused on improving the experience of users. Other projects of Transportation Options include award-winning Bike Train Initiative and the Welcome Cyclists Network.
In 2011 Parkbus expanded its cooperation with Ontario Parks, and received sponsorships and grants, including Tourism Development Fund grant from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. This critical support allowed us to expand Algonquin service and to start developing Toronto - Grundy Lake - Killarney and Ottawa to Algonquin routes. We also shifted our focus from the core bus service to destination development in targeted parks, to make them more accommodating to visitors without a car, following U.S. National Parks model.
The bus service for Algonquin route is provided by Hammond Transportation. Hammond (operating since 1946) is the largest and oldest operator in the Muskoka area.
In The News
Treehugger : "Every City Needs This: The Parkbus, Direct From City To Park" (read more)
Toronto Star : "Making it to Algonquin, without the automobile" (read more)
Toronto Sun : "Roll out to Ontario's great outdoors" (read more)
Paddling Instructor : "New direct bus service from Toronto..." (read more)
Green Living : "Green ride to Ontario Parks" (read more)
Other publications where Parkbus appeared in
Our Team
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Boris Issaev
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Alex Z. Berlyand
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Justin Lafontaine
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Alexandra Pokras
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Norman Goh
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