A truly great transit network gets people to their destinations quickly and offers convenient connections between lines that make it easy to travel between cities and across regional boundaries.

In this feature, we wanted to connect the dots a bit when it comes to the Yonge North Subway Extension.

The four-stop, eight-kilometre Yonge North Subway Extension will connect four cities – Toronto, Vaughan, Markham, and Richmond Hill – as it brings TTC Line 1 subway service north from the existing Finch Station to the Richmond Hill Centre area.

The time-saving benefits of those subway rides speak for themselves: travel times to downtown Toronto will be reduced by as much as 22 minutes and the time spent commuting in Toronto and York Region will be cut by a combined 835,000 minutes each day.

Along with local York Region Transit and TTC bus routes, these six major transit connections to the subway extension will open up new travel possibilities across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area:   

1) Richmond Hill GO trains

GO trains on the Richmond Hill line will connect to the Yonge North Subway Extension at Bridge Station, which will be linked to the existing Langstaff GO station. Getting from the subway to the GO train will be especially fast and easy because Bridge Station will be built at surface level, which means riders will save travel time by avoiding lengthy trips from underground tunnels. Connections to the Richmond Hill line will open up new travel possibilities to and from northern York Region, including the Oak Ridges area served by the brand new Bloomington GO station. Riders can also look forward to more frequent GO service on the line, which has been helping people in York Region and Toronto get around since 1978 – Metrolinx plans to ramp up service by 30 per cent through its GO Expansion program.

2) Highway 407 GO bus services

The Yonge North Subway Extension will make it easier than ever to travel across the region by offering convenient connections to Highway 407 GO bus services. For example, with a fast  transfer at Bridge Station to GO buses that travel along  407 East routes, it’ll be easier to get to Centennial College and the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus. Riders will also have the option of taking the GO bus west to Highway 407 Station, where 407 West GO bus connections will open up travel options to places like Mississauga, Oakville and Hamilton and beyond.

3) Future Highway 407 Transitway service

The proposed Highway 407 Transitway would make bus service along the Highway 407 corridor even faster by adding new, separated bus lanes alongside the existing highway. The transitway would create connections along local and regional bus routes in communities across the entire region, making travel easier from Burlington in the west to Pickering in the east – and all destinations in between. Connecting this future service to the Yonge North Subway Extension will be simple because the extension’s northern transit hub, Bridge Station, will be located along the Highway 407 corridor.

4) York Region Viva Highway 7 bus rapid transit

The Viva Purple and Orange lines are regional bus rapid transit services that travel mostly along Highway 7 and serve neighbourhoods in Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan.

East of Yonge Street, Viva Purple provides connections to jobs in Markham’s central business district and York University’s future Markham Centre campus. This line will connect to the Yonge North Subway Extension at Bridge Station. West of Yonge Street, Viva Orange brings communities in Vaughan closer to Line 1 subway service through a convenient connection to a future extension of the Viva line at Clark Station.

It’s worth noting that over the next two decades, more than 11,000 people and almost 6,000 jobs are expected to be located in Vaughan’s Bathurst-and-Centre and Promenade Centre areas alone.

5) York Region Viva Yonge Street bus rapid transit

Buses on the Viva Blue bus rapid transit line travel along Yonge Street to link the main transit terminal in Newmarket to the heart of the Richmond Hill Centre area. This line breezes past traffic congestion on Yonge by using dedicated bus lanes to provide fast, convenient service. Viva Blue will bring riders on the Yonge North Subway Extension closer to travel options in places like Aurora and Newmarket through a connection at the Bridge Station transit hub.

6) Future TTC Steeles Avenue rapid transit service

The proposed Steeles Avenue rapid transit line would serve neighbourhoods on the boundary of York Region and Toronto, from Jane Street in the west to McCowan Road in the east, connecting to Line 1 subway service through the Yonge North Subway Extension’s southern transit hub at Steeles Station.

You can find more information here about what Metrolinx is building to improve the transit network in your region.

To learn more about how the Yonge North Subway Extension will make the regional transit network stronger, and to sign up to get project updates delivered to your inbox visit Metrolinx.com/YongeSubwayExt.