Union Station Bus Terminal

The Union Station Bus Terminal is part of GO Transit's facilities at Union Station in downtown Toronto, which is the hub for GO Transit's commuter rail service. The bus terminal opened in 2003 to replace the on-street facility in front of the railway station, relieving the traffic congestion on Front Street, and to accommodate GO buses moved from the Toronto Coach Terminal.

Union Station Bus Terminal
Location141 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°38′44″N 79°22′40″W
Owned byMetrolinx
Platforms7 bus bays
Bus operators GO Transit
Can-ar Coach Service
Connections Union Station
Union
Construction
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Station codeGO Transit: USBT
Fare zone02
History
Opened2003

The bus terminal is located on the east side of Bay Street, directly across the street from the railway terminal. An enclosed walkway above the street connects the bus terminal to the railway station concourse. There is also direct stairway access from the bus terminal to railway platforms 4 through 13 via the Bay East Teamway under the railway tracks.

The site of the Union Station Bus Terminal was once occupied by a small passenger depot and more recently former CP Express & Transport building. Most of the old structure was demolished with a dock door retained and limestone fascia stored.[1] The bus terminal sees an average of 13,600 daily weekday riders.[2]

The bus terminal will move to a new location in 2020, located underneath the south tower of CIBC Square, a new office development south of the railway corridor. When the existing bus terminal is vacated, the north tower of CIBC Square will then be built on the site.[3]

Bus routes

One bus route, the Hamilton Express, serves this terminal in both directions throughout the day. Other routes are connected to the rail corridors, with no inbound bus service during the weekday AM peak hours or outbound bus services during the PM peak hours, when the relevant train services operate. Due to height restrictions on the approaches to the terminal, all buses plying these routes are single-decker buses or special low-height double-decker buses.[4]

View of bus platforms
Platform assignments
41 - Unloading
42 - Hamilton Express via QEW (route 16)[5]
43 - Milton GO line corridor stations, Lisgar, Erindale, Streetsville[6]
44 - Square One Bus Terminal
45 - Richmond Hill GO line corridor stations[7]
46 - Barrie GO line corridor stations/Newmarket Bus Terminal[8]
47 - Stouffville GO line corridor stations/Uxbridge[9] and Georgetown/Brampton

Connections

The bus terminal adjoins with Union Railway Station, served by trains from GO Transit, Via Rail and Amtrak to regional, national and international destinations.

The bus terminal also adjoins Union Subway Station, served by Toronto Transit Commission Line 1 Yonge–University subway and 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina streetcar routes. TTC bus routes 72 Pape and 121 Fort York-Esplanade also serve the bus terminal, using curbside stops on the streets nearby.[10]

Future relocation

In 2014, Metrolinx announced plans to move the current terminal to the south tower of the then proposed Bay Park Centre, located to the south of the current location on the opposite side of the rail corridor.[11] However, the complex did not secure a lead tenant (CIBC) until 2017, at which point the move date was changed to 2020.[12]

The new bus terminal will be housed in the south tower of CIBC Square, an complex of office towers and elevated park over the rail corridor.[3] The new terminal will have twice the capacity - 14 bus bays - and will be able to accommodate GO's fleet of double-decker buses. The terminal will also be connected directly to Union Station and Scotiabank Arena via a pedestrian skybridge over Bay Street.[13] The relocation of intercity bus service, such as Greyhound and Coach Canada, from the Toronto Coach Terminal to the new station is under negotiation.[14]

By mid 2020, the new bus terminal was complete, and being tested for public use.[15] The new bus terminal is scheduled to be opened in 2020. When the existing bus terminal is vacated, the north tower of CIBC Square will be built on the site.[3]

References
  1. CP Express Building Demolition - Union Station Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Metrolinx (2019-02-21). "New bus terminal for Toronto – and GO customers – rises to new heights". Metrolinx News. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  3. "Union Station Bus Terminal | Construction Projects | GO Transit". www.gotransit.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  4. "New Low-Height Buses". GOTransit.com. GO Transit. n.d. Retrieved 7 January 2017. Low-height double-decker buses will ease crowding on some of our busier trips and will be able to serve four terminals that can only currently be served by single-level buses due to height restrictions — Hamilton, Yorkdale, York Mills and Union Station.
  5. Hamilton QEW GO Bus Schedule Archived January 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Milton GO Train & Bus Schedule Archived September 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. Richmond Hill GO Train & Bus Schedule Archived December 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Barrie GO Train & Bus Schedule Archived December 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Stouffville GO Train & Bus Schedule Archived January 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "TTC Union Station". www.ttc.ca. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  11. "Union Station gets new GO bus terminal as part of office tower development". CBC News. September 30, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  12. Wright, Lisa (April 12, 2017). "CIBC to move head offices to new Bay Park Centre". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  13. "Metrolinx's new pedestrian bridge will span 40 metres over Bay Street". CBC News. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  14. "Toronto Coach Terminal Inc. (TCTI) – 610 Bay Street and 130 Elizabeth Street, Toronto – Lease Disposition" (PDF). City of Toronto. 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  15. metrolinx (2020-06-10). "First GO buses enter Union Station Bus Terminal as part of testing – See the images here". Metrolinx News. Retrieved 2020-06-11.

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