York University Busway

The York University Busway is the collective name for a series of bus lanes and bus only roadways leading from Downsview station to York University, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is used by the Toronto Transit Commission's 196 York University Rocket and York Region Transit's Viva Orange bus rapid transit routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The busway was constructed to address over-crowding and reliability issues on the route 196 York U Rocket.

The busway increased the average speed of route 196 by 41% from 23.3km/h to 32.8km/h,^[1] making it the third fastest TTC route at rush hour, after the Scarborough RT and route 192 Airport Rocket. It is now faster than any of the subway lines.^[2] Due to the savings in time from using the busway, service frequency on route 196 was increased from every 2 minutes 15 seconds to every 2 minutes while reducing the number of buses operating on the route from 20 to 16.^[1]

Overview

Going north from Downsview station to York University, the segments are as follows:

• Allen Road / Dufferin Street - Painted bus lanes on arterial road: 2.7km
• York University Busway - Dedicated bus only road within Finch Hydro Corridor: 2.1km
• Murray Ross Parkway - Mixed traffic: 0.1km
• "busway" - Dedicated bus only road within York University: 1.0km
• York Boulevard - Mixed traffic: 0.2km
• York University Commons - Bus only road and bus terminal: 0.6km

Total Length: ~6.5 km

The busways consist of a single lane in each direction with barriers along the side. The busway within the hydro corridor has Ontario Tall Wall barriers and the busway within York University has guardrails. Where busways intersect with minor streets, traffic signals are equipped with transit signal priority allowing buses to pass through without stopping. To facilitate left turns from the curbside bus lanes on Dufferin Street to the hydro corridor busway, there is a jughandle controlled by traffic signals.

The busway in the Finch hydro corridor is officially named "York University Busway", but the busway within the York University campus is unnamed. In TTC route descriptions, the busway within York University is referred to as "busway" (i.e. Buses turn north on busway...) and the busway in the Finch hydro corridor referred to as "busway on hydro corridor."^[3]

The stops are as follows, from north to south:

History

Hydro Corridor Busway under construction in August 2009

The busway was proposed in 2004 to increase speed and reliability on Route 196. Groundbreaking occurred on July 25, 2008, with completion planned for the fall 2009 school term.

During construction, it was discovered that a gas pipeline was closer to the surface than had been thought, so the busway in the hydro corridor had to be redesigned to accommodate it.^[4] This caused it to be delayed, and the only part that was open for the fall 2009 school term was the busway within York University, which started operation on September 6, 2009.^[5] Consequently, route 196 buses continued to use Keele and Sheppard avenues. The busway was officially opened on November 20 ,2009^[6] and route 196 was rerouted immediately. Other TTC routes using the busway were rerouted a week later.

The final cost of the busway was $37.8 million, of which $18.4 million was contributed by the City of Toronto, and $9.6 million was contributed each from the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario.^[7]

In early 2010, the "busway on hydro corridor" was given the official name "York University Busway".^[8]

On May 1, 2011, Viva Orange began using the York University Busway.^[9]

On March 28, 2016, TTC route 199 Finch Rocket was extended westward to York University from its previous terminus at Finch Station as the 199B Finch Rocket. It travels along the York University Busway from Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue to York University. ^[10]

Routes

Viva Orange operating on the Hydro Corridor Busway

• TTC route 196 York University Rocket uses the entire York University Busway.
• TTC route 199 Finch Rocket uses the York University busway from Dufferin Street at Finch Avenue to York University in the westbound direction, and from York University to Alness Street in the eastbound direction. ^[11]
• TTC route 117 Alness uses the busway on hydro corridor from Alness Street to Dufferin Street, as well as the bus lanes on Dufferin Street and Allen Road for their entire length to Downsview Station.^[12]
• TTC route 105 Dufferin North uses the bus lanes on Dufferin Street and Allen Road for their entire length to Downsview Station.^[13]
• TTC route 104 Faywood uses the bus lanes on Dufferin Street from Finch Avenue to Kennard Avenue.^[14]
• TTC route 41E Keele Express uses the busway within York University.^[15]
• YRT route Viva Orange uses the entire York University Busway. It was rerouted to use the busway on May 1, 2011,^[16] more than a year after the original target date of March 1, 2010.^[17] Since a portion of the Hydro Corridor busway is on Imperial Oil property, York Region Transit needed Imperial Oil's permission to amend the existing agreement with the City of Toronto to allow Viva vehicles to travel on the busway. Delays in this process prevented Viva Orange from using the busway earlier. The late start to use the busway was also due to the need to relocate VivaNow machines from Keele-Finch to Murray Ross, and from Downsview station to Dufferin-Finch.^[18]

Other transit agencies are welcome to use the busway:

• GO Transit is permitted to drive out of service buses on it to save time driving back to its Steeprock depot.^[19]
• The York University Shuttle that goes between York University's main campus and Glendon College is welcome to use the busway.^[19]
• Brampton Transit is welcome to use the busway for their Queen Street Züm route if it is extended beyond its current terminus at York University.^[19]

Criticism

The busway has been criticized as a waste of money because routes 196 York University Rocket and Viva Orange will cease service when the Spadina subway extension opens in 2017. When the busway was announced, the subway extension project was an unfunded proposal. It allows buses to operate at comparable frequency and speed to the subway extension, and to bypass traffic caused by subway construction.^[9] The Dufferin Street-Allen Road portion will continue to be used after the subway extension opens. The TTC had intended to close the busway after the Spadina subway extension subway extension to Vaughan opens, but on November 14, 2016, the TTC decided not to close the busway. Instead, the 199B Finch Rocket will continue to use the busway. ^{[20] [21]}

References

Toronto Transit Commission
Bus	Blue Night Network Fleet Routes Wheel-Trans York University Busway
Subway	Yonge–University  Bloor–Danforth  Scarborough  Sheppard  Eglinton Rolling stock Stations Signals
Streetcars	501 Queen 502 Downtowner 503 Kingston Rd 504 King 505 Dundas 506 Carlton 509 Harbourfront 510 Spadina 511 Bathurst 512 St. Clair 514 Cherry Rolling stock Loops
History	Incidents Queen subway line Eglinton West line Network 2011 Gray Coach 1995 Russell Hill subway accident 2006 strike 2008 strike 508 Lake Shore 521 Exhibition East 522 Exhibition West Transit City
Predecessors	Williams Omnibus Bus Line (1849-1862) Toronto Street Railway (1861–1891) Toronto Railway Company (1891–1921) Toronto and York Radial Railway (1898–1922) Metropolitan Street Railway (1885-1897) Toronto Civic Railways (1912–1921) Hydro Electric Railways (1922-1927) Toronto Transportation Commission (1921-1953)
Facilities	Bus garages Davisville Yard Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility Greenwood Yard Hillcrest Complex Leslie Barns McCowan Yard Roncesvalles Carhouse Russell Carhouse Toronto Coach Terminal Vincent Yard William McBrien Building Wilson Yard
Proposed	Finch West LRT Jane LRT Relief Line Sheppard East LRT Waterfront West LRT
Miscellaneous	Accessibility Fares Metrolinx The Big Move Personnel Font Trackage Transit Enforcement Unit
Italics indicate a project under construction

Coordinates: 43°46′06″N 79°29′02″W / 43.7684°N 79.484°W / 43.7684; -79.484