Queen St Hwy 7 BRT
- Projects & Programs
- Queen Street – Highway 7 Bus Transit
- Queen Street - Highway 7 BRT Studies
Advancing the Queen-Highway 7 BRT studies
Metrolinx is continuing to advance plans for the Queen Street–Highway 7 BRT corridor.
The purpose of the project is to advance the planning, design and environmental assessment of a BRT corridor along a 24-kilometre stretch of Queen Street/Highway 7, between Mississauga Road in Brampton and Wigwoss Drive/Helen Street in Vaughan. This project will create important connections between transit hubs in Brampton and Vaughan.
Initial Business Case
An Initial Business Case (IBC) for the Queen Street – Highway 7 BRT Project was completed in 2020. The IBC is an important first step in any major infrastructure transit, as it is used to compare investment options and helps identified preferred design concepts for further refinement.
The IBC tested three BRT service options and three infrastructure scenarios for the project:
Service option scenarios
A. Single main BRT route
B. Two main BRT routes
C. Two main BRT routes + supporting priority bus routes.
Infrastructure scenarios
[Scenarios 1 and 2 are identified as “Preferred Options”.]
1. Centre median BRT operation. Conversion of one traffic lane in each direction on the entire corridor.
2. Centre media BRT operation. Addition of a transit lane each in direction on most of the corridor, except in downtown Brampton, which would see the conversion of one general purpose traffic lane in each direction.
3. Hybrid BRT operation. Addition of transit lane in each direction on most of the corridor, except in constrained areas where buses will operate in mixed traffic.
Initial Business Case findings
Strategic Case
BRT provides: Increased Transportation; Reduced emissions from auto travel; Connections to jobs and education
Economic Case
Project costs will be offset by economic benefits that BRT will have on: Travel time; Overall vehicle-kilometres; Roadway safety; Emissions
Financial Case
Scenario 1 has the least financial impact; Both Scenarios 1 and 3 have lower capital costs than Scenario 2
Deliverability and Operations Case
Scenario 1 has fewer physical constraints during construction process; Scenario 2 requires most substantial construction due to corridor widening
For more details about the business case to bring BRT to the Queen Street – Highway 7 corridor or the benefits it will bring to the region, read through the 2013 Queen Street Rapid Transit Benefits Case or the 2020 Queen Street – Highway 7 BRT Initial Business Case.
Current status
After developing, evaluating, and screening the long list corridor planning concepts through much of 2022, the project has moved into the short list evaluation phase. This phase is bookmarked by two rounds of public engagement and includes Conceptual Design, early environmental studies, and a 10% Preliminary Design.
Project phases timeline
Metrolinx’s goals in this phase of the project are to plan, design, and advance an enhanced transit corridor along Queen Street and Highway 7 that will support greater regional connectivity and mobility.
Advance the Preliminary Design, the Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP) of environmental review, and the Preliminary Design Business Case.
Resources
For more detailed, technical, and supplemental information about the Queen Street – Highway 7 Bus Rapid Transit Project, please refer to the following documents:
- Queen Street Rapid Transit Benefits Case (2013)
- York Region’s Transportation Master Plan (2016)
- Metrolinx 2041 Regional Transportation Plan (2018)
- Brampton City Council Request for Metrolinx to Prioritize Queen-Hwy 7 BRT (2019)
- Region of Peel’s Long Range Transportation Master Plan (2019)
- Queen Street – Highway 7 BRT Initial Business Case (2020)
- City of Brampton 2040 Vision (2020)
- Connecting the GGH: A Transportation Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe
