Public transportation in Oshawa began with the incorporation of the Oshawa Railway and Navigation Company on June 23, 1887.
The system shortened its name to the Oshawa Railway Company on August 28, 1891. On March 1, 1910, control of the company
was transferred to the Grand Trunk Railway, which later was taken over by the Canadian National Railways. During this, the
Oshawa Railway Company service came under control of the Canadian National Electric Railways. Electric railway freight service
continued for a considerable time after passenger streetcar service was replaced by buses. On June 27, 1964 the lines were
converted from electric to diesel use. The remaining original tracks, in sections still operating along the centre of Ritson
Road North, Simcoe Street South and Bruce Street were abandoned in the spring of 1998, and finally removed that November.

Early bus service began on January 28, 1940. Canadian National Transport Limited provided the service, and it
operated until December 31, 1959. On January 1, 1960 operations were taken over by the Oshawa Public Utilities
Commission. This continued until 1996, when the municipality took over the operations of the service, and later adopting
the system name "Oshawa Transit Commission". On January 1, 2006, the Oshawa Transit Commission, along with the
Ajax-Pickering Transit Authority (which was the combined services of Ajax Transit and Pickering Transit), Whitby Transit
and Clarington Transit of Bowmanville, merged to become what is now Durham Region Transit.
This mylar side route sign was
designed for a GMC New Look. Its print
date is December 9, 1980. It  has 25
exposures (including the blanks). "10
Bond West" has replaced "3 King West"
and "9 Mary Nonquon" reading is now
included. Its sign tag is shown below.
This mylar side route sign was designed for one
of Oshawa's Orion I buses. It is dated July 29,
1985 and has 25 exposures (including the
blanks). Other than gap placement, the only
changes are the periods removed from the route
numbers, and exposure order of 6, 4, 9 and 5 and
others on the sign. Its sign tag is shown below.
This partial mylar front route sign
was designed for an Orion bus. It is
dated January 18, 1991, and has 16
exposures. Based off the layout of
the previous signs, the last six
exposures are missing from this
rollsign. Its sign tag is shown below.
Discovered in the "murky depths" of the Oshawa Transit garage, these two pre-route
number Oshawa Transit mylar front signs were recovered by OTC operator Richard
Oldfield. The sign on the left has a print date of May 26, 1964 and has 14 exposures,
while the one on the right is dated August 9, 1966 and has 15 exposures. The only
changes from the older one to the newer one is the addition of the "Oshawa Blvd."
exposure, and adding a period after the "RD" in the Stevenson & Rossland Rd"
exposure. Their respective sign tags are shown below.
G.M.DIESEL,LTD.
6935771
P.O. B-9284-C
5/26/64
G.M. DIESEL, LTD.
P.O. E-14714-C
8/9/66
PRODUCT OF TRANSIGN
PONTIAC MICHIGAN
This front mylar rollsign is dated July
29, 1968 and has 17 exposures.
Similar to the previous two, it was
only slightly updated, with the
addition of "Civic Auditorium" and
"Thornton Road". Its sign tags are
shown below.
G.M.DIESEL,LTD.
6942653     OSHAWA
P.O.E-58832-C
7/29/68
PRODUCT OF TRANSIGN
PONTIAC MICHIGAN
This mylar side route sign is off
of 1973 built GMC T6H-5307N
#95. It has no print date. It  has
24 exposures (including the
blanks). The "10 Bond West"
and "9 Mary" readings were
painted on later.
DIESEL DIV. OSHAWA
P.O.J-5545-CQ
NO.6956021
SGL.SIDE
12/9/80 TRANSIGN
This mylar side route sign was designed for one of
Oshawa's MCI Classic bus. It is dated November
4, 1989 and has 25 exposures. Unlike most
"modern" Oshawa rollsigns, this one uses all
capital letters for the exposures. The white gaps
are absent, but the order of the exposures
remained the same. Its sign tag is shown below.
LES AUTOBUS MCI-OSHAWA
P.O. D04758Q
10561454 SIDE M507
11/4/89 TRANSIGN
ONTARIO BUS-OSHAWA
P.O.48174
D5582-MA SGL.SIDE CURTAIN
7/29/85 TRANSIGN
BUS INDUSTRIES-OSHAWA
P.O.NO.123310
D3170-MA SGL.FRONT
1/18/91 TRANSIGN
Rollsigns from Oshawa, ON
P A G E   1   o f   2     (The Black & White Era)