Markham Transit was a public transit system for the town of

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

, Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1973 and operated by Travelways and Miller Transit Limited after 1984 on behalf of the then Town of Markham. The service was merged into

York Region Transit York Region Transit (YRT) is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road. YRT operates 65 full-time, rush hour and limited routes, 35 school services, and six Viva bus ...

in 2001 with Miller Transit continuing to operate most Markham routes.

History

Prior to 1973 public transit system were a patchwork of routes by various operators. In the early 1800s stagecoaches or omnibuses ran along

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...

to hotels in Richmond Hill to York (Toronto) beginning from the 1820s. Markham Village also had stagecoaches but from 1871 to 1980 it had passenger rail services by various operators (

Toronto and Nipissing Railway The Toronto and Nipissing Railway (T&N) was the first public narrow-gauge railway in North America. It chartered in 1868 to build from Toronto to Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada, via York, Ontario, and Victoria counties. At Nipissing it would ...

Midland Railway of Canada The Midland Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway which ran from Port Hope, Ontario to Midland on Georgian Bay. The line was originally intended to run to Peterborough, but the competing Cobourg and Peterborough Railway was comple ...

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

and

VIA Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

) before

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

began commuter rail service in 1982 as the Stouffville line. In Thornhill privately owned

Metropolitan Street Railway The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which a ...

or Metropolitan line ran streetcars on Yonge Street serving Markham on the eastside from 1897 to 1930. Publicly owned (via TTC)

North Yonge Railways The North Yonge Railways was a radial railway line operated by the Toronto Transportation Commission from 1930 to 1948 between Glen Echo (Toronto) and Richmond Hill. The line was created by reopening the southern portion of the TTC's Lake Simcoe ...

provided radial electric railway service on Yonge Street from 1930 to 1948. From 1948 to 1977

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

(

Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was the public transit operator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1921. It operated buses, streetcars and the island ferries. The system was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1954. H ...

before 1954) ran North Yonge (later as 59 North Yonge) bus route on Yonge. From 1977 to 2001,

58 Bayview and Yonge C bus routes provided local suburban bus service, with the Yonge B providing express service.

Routes

Regular service

* 1 North Trunk – ran along Highway 7 * 2A – ran along 14th Avenue * 2 South Trunk – ran along Yonge Street, Doncaster Avenue, Henderson Avenue, John Street, Esna Park Drive, Denison Street, Elson Street, Middlefield Road (did not have stops from Finch Station to Steeles Avenue) * 3 Thornhill Local (Merged with

Vaughan Transit Vaughan Transit was the transit provider in the town of Vaughan, Ontario, Vaughan, in southwest York Region, Ontario, Canada. The service operated from 1973 until 2001, when it was merged into York Region Transit. Route Vaughan Transit routes te ...

route 8 to form existing YRT route 3 in 2002) * 4 Unionville/Markham Local (now YRT route 40 & 41) * 5 Buttonville North (merged with route 4 in 1998) * 7 16th Avenue (1998–1999, merged with

Richmond Hill Transit Richmond Hill Transit was created in 1960 to provide public transit service in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. It was initially operated by Trailways of Canada Limited, then Travelways starting in 1976 and Laidlaw in the 1980s. Services merged w ...

Route 5 (now YRT route 16) * 8 Kennedy (since 1998) * 9 Markham Road (1998–2002, merged with TTC route 102)

Express / rush hour

* 6 Brimley (rush hour service from Steeles Avenue East to 14th Avenue was cancelled circa 1997; this service was provided by TTC route 128A in the early 1990s) * Unionville Express * Markham Express * Sunday and Holiday Express – ran along Yonge Street, John Street, Leslie Street and Highway 7

Contracted routes

There were a number or north–south routes operated for Markham Transit by other operators: * Yonge B (express) and C (local) (

) * 58 Bayview (GO Transit) * 17A Birchmount (

) * 129A McCowan North (TTC) * 43C Kennedy (TTC) * 25D Don Mills (TTC) * 68B Warden (TTC) * 24C Victoria Park (TTC) * Unionville (GO Transit Shuttle) The TTC's 53 Steeles East was never operated on behalf of Markham Transit and did not require additional fares when buses ran fully within Markham to loop on-street at its eastern terminus. (53B/E used Middlefield Road, Elson Street and Markham Road from 1994 to 1999; after 1999 the route turned at McCowan Road north of Steeles, along Elson Street to Markham Road.)

Park 'n' ride

This service allowed patrons to park at select locations and board buses without paying for parking. Park 'N Ride Locations included: * Markham Village Community Centre * Knob Hill Farms - northeast corner of Woodbine and Highway 7 * Former Fortinos store (now Denison Square Mall) – Denison Street and Kennedy Road * Denison Square –

Markham Road Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

( Highway 48) and Denison Street * Thornhill Community Centre * First Markham Place

Additional services

Mobility Bus Service Markham Transit provided specialized services for the disabled and was similar to the TTC's WheelTrans. Separate wheelchair accessible vehicles were operated for this service. It also included ''Taxi Scrip'', service for unplanned trips using contracted taxi operators. Request Stop program Similar services offered by the TTC for female patrons at night. This excluded routes from contractors (namely TTC and GO Transit), whom dictated their own Request Stop program. Faster to Finch Offered express connection between Markham Transit and GO Transit and 407 ETR to Finch Station. Transcab Introduced in the 1990s when Markham Transit did not operate night services. The hours of operations was after 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. By the late 1990s, Markham Transit offered evening and Sunday service; this has been continued under YRT. Transcab was replaced by minibus shuttles in 1997.

Fleet

Many of Markham Transit's vehicles were second-hand, but more recent buses were new purchases. They were maintained by the contractor. Current YRT status (2005): * 1977, 1979, 1981

General Motors Diesel Division Buses General Motors Diesel Division (GMDD) was a marketing and customer service unit of General Motors founded in 1938. It sought customers for GM's diesel engines, which had undergone major development during the 1930s. It was most active in associa ...

T6H-4523N (#2001–#2006, #2014) – Retired in 2009. * 1979–1984 Ontario Bus Industries

Orion I The Orion I was a line of rigid high-floor transit buses made in 30-, 35-, and 40-foot lengths by Ontario Bus & Truck (renamed to Ontario Bus Industries (OBI) in 1977) between 1976 and 1993 for the Canadian and United States mass transportation ...

01.501 (#2007–#2013, #2015–#2020) – Retired. * 1985–1988 Ontario Bus Industries Orion I 01.508 (#2021–#2025, #2027–#2030, #2033–#2036) – Retired. * 1966

T6H-5303 (#2025) – Ex-Toronto Transit Commission #3758, retired * 1966

T6H-5303 (#2026) – Ex-Toronto Transit Commission #3746, retired * 1971

T6H-4523N (#2031) – Loaned Brampton Transit #9724, acquired in 1988 * 1974

T6H-4523N (#2032) – Loaned Brampton Transit #9741, acquired in 1988 * 1967

TDH-5303 (#2037) – Ex-Toronto Transit Commission #7113, acquired in 1989, retired * 1963

TDH-4519 (#2038) – Ex-London Transit Commission #81-3, acquired in 1989, retired * 1969

T6H-5305 (#2039) – Ex-Toronto Transit Commission #7371, acquired in 1989, retired * 1969

T6H-5305 (#2040) – Ex-Toronto Transit Commission #7338, acquired in 1989, retired * 1969

T6H-5305 (#2041–2042) – Ex-Toronto Transit Commission #7372–7373, acquired in 1989, retired * 1970

T8H-5305A (#2043) – Ex-GO Transit #1015, acquired in 1989, retired * 1989

Motor Coach Industries Motor Coach Industries (MCI) is a North American multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in production of motorcoaches. Best known for coaches produced for intercity transit and commuter buses, MCI produces coaches for a variety of appli ...

TC-40102N

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

(#2044–#2047) – Retired in 2009. * 1990

TC-40102A Classic (#2048–#2052) – Retired in 2009. *

OBI #REDIRECT Obi {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous title ...

Orion V The Orion V was a line of rigid high-floor transit buses available in 32', 35', and 40' lengths manufactured by Ontario Bus Industries (renamed Orion Bus Industries in 1995) between 1989 and 2009. The conventionally powered buses, either with lon ...

05.501 * 1998

OBI #REDIRECT Obi {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous title ...

Orion VI The Orion VI was a low-floor bus, low-floor transit bus available in 40' lengths manufactured by Ontario Bus Industries (renamed Orion Bus Industries in 1995) between 1995 and 2003. The Orion VI was intended to provide an alternative to the exis ...

06.501 (#2061–#2067) – Retired in 2011. * Champion Bus Incorporated Solo – sold to BusAdvertising (DPI Transit Media) of Ajax ON (#2055–#2060) – All retired * 1991

New Flyer Industries New Flyer is a Canadian multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in the production of transit buses. New Flyer is owned by the NFI Group, a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Cana ...

D40S (#2068–#2072) – Ex-

, all retired *

T6H-XXXX – NG demonstrator from FIBA Canning, Scarborough

Past fleet

* GMC Flexette (#505) Denotes

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

vehicles. Under Travelways the paint scheme used an olive/gold large arrow pointing to the front on a white background. A triple "m" logo on the front and sides. The word "Markham Transit" in black was found on both sides in front of the arrow. With Miller the fleet replaced the colour scheme with reddish-brown and yellowish-gold on a white background with the town's word mark "Markham" on the sides near the rear.

Facilities

Markham Transit buses were stored at Miller Transit yard on Miller Avenue (Woodbine Avenue near present Highway 407). The buses were stored in an outside area on the east side of Woodbine.

Loops

* Middlefield Road and Denison Street – shared with the TTC * McCowan Road and Steeles Avenue - owned by and shared with the TTC) * Thornhill Town Centre * Brimley Road north of Steeles Avenue East - owned by and shared with the TTC)

References

* ''Markham Transit 1990 Rider's Guide'' * ''Markham Transit Fall 1994 Rider's Guide'' * ''Markham Transit Fall 1999 Rider's Guide'' * ''Markham Transit 2000 Rider's Guide''
Transit History...Markham
{{s-end Transport in Markham, Ontario History of Markham, Ontario Transit agencies in Ontario York Region Transit