Ghizlane Zherzkhane | Contributor
Featured image: New route changes help some students, hinder others. | Basma Elbahnasawy
With the opening of the new subway line extension on December 17, York students finally have access to a subway station right in the heart of Keele Campus. These new stations better connect the York community with the City of Toronto, making commutes to the downtown and west regions of the city easier and more efficient.
Bus routes will be changed to accommodate the addition of new subway stations.
The former 196 York University Rocket bus route has now been replaced by the subway extension. Other routes have been readjusted based on the new subway extension, including the 199 Finch route, 35 Jane, 195 Jane Rocket, 41 Keele, 60 Steeles West, and 106 bus routes.
According to Stuart Green of TTC Media, TTC buses, rather than going to York Commons—as they previously had been—will now go around the Commons to Pioneer Village Station. The VIVA and GO buses will still be going to York Commons.
The new Finch West Station will hold the 199 Finch and express 41 Keele buses. The rest of the buses, including the 41 Keele and 106 buses, will be transferred to Pioneer Village Station. A portion of the former 41B Keele Street route, which traveled north of Finch Avenue West and along Petrolia Road and Canarctic Drive, are to be replaced by the 107 route.
Passengers on the 41 Keele, including the 41 Keele express, will need a transfer if they do not have a bus pass, as the bus will not go into Finch West station, but will drop people off at a bus stop outside of it, according to Green.
“We are grateful for the tremendous efforts of all who helped to make the subway extension a reality, including our government and community partners.
“Enhanced public transportation is essential to ensuring that our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have ready access to our campuses. It increases our connectedness with communities and partners across the Greater Toronto Area,” said President and Vice Chancellor of York, Rhonda Lenton.
The construction of the subway extension was funded by the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, and York Region, with a budget of $3.2 billion.
Although this subway extension may be an advantage to the York community and commuters from downtown Toronto, it comes as a disadvantage for some commuters from the city’s east region.
“I come from the east end of the city, and I’d normally take a Finch or Sheppard bus route. The subway line doesn’t benefit me, and so far it’s added 10 to 20 minutes to my commute,” says third-year undergraduate Business Administration student, Sara-Alexis Lee.
“When I’d take the 199A Finch route, the bus would take me directly to school, but now I have to get off the bus and go down to take the train for one stop.”
Other commuters have posed similar complaints. Whereas the changes related to the relocation of TTC bus stops from York Commons to nearby stations have simplified the route for some, it has also complicated the commute of others—more specifically, those who live in the north-east area of Toronto.
Student commuters from the north-east region of the city have suggested initiating a petition to simplify the route changes for them.
Further, a lack of notice of route changes has led to some confusion for commuters, particularly regarding the 36 Finch buses that would normally take people to Finch Station on Yonge and Finch, which are stopping at Finch West Station. Passengers are being told to transfer to another 36 route if they want to keep travelling on Finch past Keele.
All of this was done without adequate warning, and caught many passengers by surprise. According to the TTC, the 36 Finch West bus should take passengers from Humberwood Loop to Finch Station.
