New rapid transit route planned for this busy road in Mississauga

A plan to build a rapid transit system along Derry Road in Mississauga’s north end will be further discussed among city councillors and senior staff next week.

In pushing for the busy east-west route to be tagged as the next priority corridor in the city for higher-order transit, either bus rapid transit or light-rail transit, Mississauga’s transportation and works commissioner Sam Rogers will present a report at Wednesday’s general committee meeting showing Derry Road is in dire need of a dedicated BRT or LRT route.

“Derry Road connects residential areas of northwest Mississauga with employment areas around the airport in northeast Mississauga,” Rogers says in his report, which recommends Derry Road be endorsed as the next priority corridor for an east-west higher-order transit route in the city.

He added a staff study highlighted transit corridors in the city that serve essential businesses/services and essential workers, and “Derry Road was identified as one of those transit corridors.”

(Source: City of Mississauga)

A rapid transit route on Derry Road would start at Winston Churchill Boulevard in the west and connect to the Hazel McCallion Line LRT system on Hurontario Street and Malton GO station in addition to potential connections to Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga as well as Eglinton Crosstown West and Finch West LRTs.

Further, the report notes, Derry Road is the third-busiest public transit corridor in Mississauga, behind Hurontario Street and Dundas Street. It serves some 101,000 boardings each week.

Beyond that, it was the most overcrowded transit corridor in the MiWay network in 2024, more so than both Hurontario Street and Dundas Street.

“There is more demand (on Derry Road) than the capacity we currently provide even with the use of larger articulated buses,” Rogers said in the report.

The report goes on to state that while Derry Road is being proposed as next in line for rapid transit, “it is acknowledged that the City of Mississauga has other transit priorities as identified in the 2025 federal and provincial pre-budget submissions.”

Major transit projects for which Mississauga is trying to line up provincial and federal funding this year include:

• extension of the Dundas BRT (bus rapid transit)
• delivering two-way all-day GO service on the Milton Line
• a new MiWay transit facility to support transit expansion
• a new deal for Mississauga that includes operating funding for the Hazel McCallion LRT

Rogers said because Derry Road is still under Region of Peel jurisdiction, Mississauga staff will work with the region on planning and design for a future rapid transit system.

If given the go-ahead by city councillors, staff will begin studying the Derry Road proposal further in the coming months.

Other east-west routes in Mississauga being considered for rapid transit are Eglinton Avenue (Winston Churchill Boulevard to Renforth Station) and Burnhamthorpe Road (Erindale GO station to Toronto border).

Map shows higher-order transit routes already existing and planned for in the city. (Map: City of Mississauga)