MiWay

MiWay

Slogan	my destination. my route. mi way.
Founded	1969
Headquarters	3484 Semenyk Court
Locale	Mississauga, Ontario
Service area	Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Toronto, (Vaughan seasonally)
Service type	Public Transit
Routes	59 local 7 express 3 limited-stop 14 regular school 13 summer school 1 TTC-contracted
Stops	3673[1]
Hubs	28 (8 outside the city)
Depots	2
Fleet	458 buses
Daily ridership	119,152 (2014)
Annual ridership	36.6 million ( 2.2%)(2014)[1] (52.2 million boardings)
Fuel type	Diesel, Hybrid electric
Operator	City of Mississauga
Chief executive	Geoff Marinoff
Website	www.miway.ca

Former Mississauga Transit logo

Like most other city owned vehicles, transit buses are also identified by a version of the corporate logo

MiWay (stylized miWAY) is a public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The city's Transportation and Works department is in charge of its operation.

The current MiWay service consists of two types of bus routes, MiLocal (local buses that make frequent stops) and MiExpress (express buses between major destinations), and includes the Mississauga Transitway, a dedicated east to west bus-only roadway used by several MiExpress and MiLocal routes.

MiWay's routes connect with GO Transit commuter rail and intercity buses. The system also connects with Brampton Transit to the north, Oakville Transit to the west, York Region Transit to the northeast, and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to the east, including the Islington and Kipling subway stations on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. MiWay is a member of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.

In 2013, MiWay's annual ridership was 35.8 million passengers, with more than 50.9 million boardings.^[1]

History

Public transit in Mississauga was first operated by Charterways Limited as Mississauga Transit Systems with four buses in 1969 and was acquired by the city's newly formed Mississauga Transit in 1974, incorporating the former towns of Mississauga, Port Credit and Streetsville. Services began on November 1, 1973.

It later acquired routes formerly operated by others, such as;

• TTC's 74 Port Credit bus, in February 1976, that had operated on Lakeshore Road from Long Branch since 1935. This succeeded a former interurban railway, dating back to 1892 as the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company.
• Gray Coach Lines, and later GO Transit, also served intercity routes on Dundas Street, and Hurontario Street, both being provincial highways before the construction of present freeways such as Highways 401, 403, 410, and 427.
• Malton is still served by TTC's 52 Lawrence West bus, which has replaced 58 Malton. Local services in Malton were provided since 1969, and expanded after 1973.

Mississauga Transit was renamed MiWay on October 4, 2010. New MiWay-branded hybrid buses entered service, with orange MiLocal buses on local routes and blue MiExpress buses on express routes. Advertisements were placed on buses and shelters in September 2010 to introduce users to the new branding. Older buses using the old logo would continue to be used until they are decommissioned. Service levels did not change with the rebranding.^[2]

The reason for the company's new name is twofold: "Mi" could be interpreted as standing for Mississauga, and it is also a homophone of "My", suggesting possession.

On December 1, 2011, the last high-floor bus retired, making the transit fleet 100% low-floor and fully accessible. As of October 22, 2012, bus stop pads have been put at all stops that MiWay serves. This allowed all routes, hence the entire system, to become fully accessible.^[3]

Facilities

Major

Transitway

Other terminals and junctions

MiWay 0933 is seen on route 65 pulling into City Centre Transit Terminal.

MiWay service booth and platforms at Islington Subway Station

• †: May to October 31 only
• ‡: September to April only

GO Transit stations

A Mississauga Flyer D800 bus (type now retired) meeting a TTC bus at Long Branch Loop in 1987.

Services

Routes

All routes are wheelchair-accessible ().

TTC-contracted routes

Toronto Transit Commission routes within Mississauga require an exact fare, a MiWay ticket, transfer, or a pass. A TTC ticket or token with cash supplement, depending on the category that the passenger falls on to, can also be used for fares. All TTC passes (day, weekly and monthly), except the GTA weekly pass, are not valid for travel in the Mississauga Fare Zone. Transfer privileges apply to and from MiWay routes. Only one route, 52B/52D Lawrence West, is operated by the TTC on behalf of the City of Mississauga.

Route		Direction and Termini				Accessible	Operates	Extra Fare Required
52B	Lawrence West	WB	To Westwood Mall	EB	To Lawrence Subway Station via Lawrence West Subway Station		Monday through Friday	West of Pearson Airport
52D			To Victory Crescent / McNaughton Avenue				Weekends only

Bus rapid transit

In 2007 Mississauga received federal funding for a bus rapid transit (BRT) line, the Mississauga Transitway. This line will be built alongside Highway 403, which passes through the City Centre. It will connect to Toronto and Pearson Airport at its terminus point, Renforth Drive.

Light rail transit

The Cities of Mississauga and Brampton propose a light rail transit (LRT) route on Hurontario Street between Port Credit and Downtown Brampton.^[5] This route would link Port Credit, Mississauga City Centre, and Downtown Brampton in response to increasing congestion and anticipated high growth in the corridor.^[6]

The LRT will connect to three GO Transit rail lines (Georgetown line at Brampton GO Station, Milton line at Cooksville GO Station, and Lakeshore West line at Port Credit GO Station), and seven rapid transit lines (Lakeshore Rapid Transit, Dundas Rapid Transit, Highway 407 Transitway, Züm Steeles, Züm Queen, Züm Main, and Mississauga BRT).

Accessibility

MiWay operates low floor, wheelchair accessible buses. The last high-floor bus was retired December 1, 2011. A separate transit service for the disabled, called Transhelp, is operated by the Peel Regional Municipality.

Schedules

Mississauga Transit's paper "Ride Schedules" were discontinued in 2004. From 2005 onward all timetables were only available from the system's website.

MiWay provides up-to-date bus schedules via their CityLink telephone service. In November 2005 MiWay inaugurated a schedule finder on their website, called Click 'n Ride,^[7] with information specific to each bus stop.

Fares

The cash fare is $3.50 (exact change) for all passengers.^[8] Transit passes are eligible for tax credits by the federal government. Presto cards are being used in the entire MiWay system since May 30, 2011.^[9]

Traditional fare media:

Presto card fares:

TTC-contracted routes:

Other fares:

Presto programs

In 2007, MiWay was the first test site for the new Presto card, before being adopted across the entire MiWay system in May 2011.^[10] Since launching the Presto card in Mississauga, MiWay has issued more than 9,000 cards and they are currently being used for more 2.4 million trips within the system.^[3] MiWay offers two programs exclusively for Presto cardholders:

• GO Bus co-fare:^[11] Presto cardholders only have to pay 75 cents when connecting to/from GO Transit buses. The card can also be used to connect to/from GO Trains at a discounted fare. On the other hand, non-cardholders have to pay the regular MiWay fare when connecting to/from GO buses. However, they are still eligible to pay the discounted fare when connecting to/from a GO Train.
• Loyalty program:^[12] When Presto cardholders paid 12 regular MiWay fares in a calendar week, they would be able to ride for free for the rest of the week. GO Transit co-fares and fares paid on other systems will not be counted towards this program. The weekly ride count resets to zero Mondays.

Smart Commute Discount Transit Program

MiWay is also offering discounted adult transit passes to employees of the members of Smart Commute Mississauga^[13] and Smart Commute Pearson Airport Area.^[14] Transit passes are automatically paid by deductions on payrolls.

Fleet

Mississauga Transit has an active bus fleet of 443 units: 340 regular 40-foot buses, 67 60-foot articulated buses, and 36 32-foot minibuses. MiWay operates only fully wheelchair-accessible buses (); however, some routes are still not designated as accessible due to the lack of bus stop pads for safe loading and unloading of disabled passengers.

Media related to MiWay buses at Wikimedia Commons

Mississauga Transit Enforcement Officers patrol in white Dodge Chargers bearing a single black stripe and wording Transit Enforcement in black.

Staff

MiWay drivers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1572.^[15]

Mississauga Transit Enforcement officers are part of the City of Mississauga Corporate Security team and not Special Constables.

References

• Mississauga - An Illustrated History, Roger E. Riendeau Windsor Publications Limited 1985.
• Mississauga Transit - 25 Years With You On Board 1974-1999, David Onodera, Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation 1999.

--contains roster of buses used to 1999.

• Aging bus fleet to be replaced, GTA: Mississauga, Toronto Star, August 24, 2006, R5

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MiWay.

• Official website
• Peter McLaughlin's Mississauga Bus Drawings
• Drawings and photos of Mississauga Transit buses
• Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1572

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