University of Toronto Mississauga express bus will soon be back on the road

Mississauga | Ontario | COVID | Education | Latest News | Transit |

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Published January 25, 2022 at 3:16 pm

A busy public transit bus route that serves university students in Mississauga will soon be back in service after a temporary shutdown.

MiWay officials say they’ll restore service on Route 110 University Express starting on Feb. 7 as in-person learning and work activities resume at the University of Toronto Mississauga’s (UTM) Mississauga Rd. campus.

That route and Route 101 Dundas Express were temporarily suspended earlier this year in response to schools delaying in-person learning, which reduced customer demand, and bus driver shortages due to COVID-19 self-isolation requirements.

The temporary shutdown of service prompted a number of UTM students to sign an online petition calling for the reinstatement of shelved routes 110 and 101, which both serve the post-secondary campus.

While Route 110 will soon be back online, Route 101 will remain on the sidelines for now, transit officials say.

MiWay, Mississauga’s public transit bus provider, continues to implement temporary service changes in response to COVID-19-related staff shortages (symptomatic and isolations) to free up resources for re-allocation and deliver more reliable service where it is needed most, officials say.

“We continue to use the resources that we have to deliver an essential service each and every day,” said Mississauga’s Transit Director Geoff Marinoff. “We’re pleased to restore this service as in-person learning and work activities increase at the UTM campus on Feb. 7. Once our staffing levels stabilize, MiWay plans to restore more services.”

At this time, MiWay officials say Route 101/101A Dundas Express remains suspended. Customers can access Route 1C Dundas-Collegeway as an alternate service that travels to and from UTM.

MiWay is also re-allocating available 60-foot articulated buses to Route 1C to increase passenger capacity and prevent potential instances of overcrowding.

Before a route is suspended, MiWay staff says it carefully considers various scenarios to lessen the impact service reductions have on customers, including:

  • monitoring ridership levels on each route to ensure MiWay is adapting to changes in demand, while balancing daily service delivery challenges as it relates to current staffing shortages
  • allocating longer buses (60-foot articulated) on routes where ridership is higher to reduce potential overcrowding
  • ensuring alternate routes are available so customers can access other service options
  • updating customers about service changes in advance so customers can plan ahead

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