Kingston Transit route 701/702

	701/702
Service type		Express
Number of Branches		2
Types of Buses Used		XD40 LFS
Related Routes		2, 11

Routes 701 and 702 are express routes operated by Kingston Transit in the city of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. They make up part of the Kingston Express bus network.

Route Details

This route is a northeast-southwest route that connects the northwestern and north-central regions of Kingston to Downtown Kingston. Running mainly on Gardiners Road, Bath Road, and Division Street, this route serves Cataraqui Centre, RioCan Centre, Gardiners Centre, Frontenac Mall, Kingston Centre, Queen's University, Downtown, the Kingston Public Works offices, and King's Crossing. Buses are signed as 701 going west, and as 702 going east.

This route is widely regarded as a 'shopping shuttle' due to it serving all major shopping centres in Kingston.

As this route is an express route, buses only make a limited number of stops along the route (relative to overlapping local service).

Branches

This route has two branches.

• 701 (Cataraqui Centre-Kingston Centre-Downtown-King's Crossing)
• 702 (King's Crossing-Downtown-Kingston Centre-Cataraqui Centre)

History

As per the City of Kingston Transit Redevelopment Plan, Phase 2 would see the implementation of two new express routes. The initial report showed routes 701 and 702 (then known as Express Route 3) as a northwest-southeast route running along Bath Road and Gardiners Road, serving the Cataraqui Woods community, Kingston Centre, and Downtown. This plan was later revised; the planned route into Cataraqui Woods was omitted entirely, and the Division Street Corridor, once part of Express Route 2 (later routes 601/602), was added to Express Route 3's route.

To prepare for the implementation of Express Route 3, route 9 was implemented between Cataraqui Centre and Downtown as a precursor. It followed the current routing of route 11, with diversions into Riocan Centre. With the implementation of routes 701 and 702 in May 2015, route 11 was re-aligned to service areas previously served by route 9, which was promptly discontinued.

Sunday hours of operation for routes 701/702 were extended to the equivalent of Saturday service in September 2017.

Route 701/702 is expected to be expanded in 2021. The route would be restructured into a two-way loop route serving John Counter Boulevard, the Kingston VIA Rail station, and Taylor-Kidd Boulevard, in addition to its current routing along Gardiner's Road, Bath Road, and Division Street.

Vehicles

Regular 701 and 702 trips primarily use New Flyer XD40 and Nova LFS buses painted in the Kingston Express scheme.

References

• Transit Redevelopment Plan, 2011

v·d·e
Current Routes
Local	1 2 3 4 6 7 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 20
Express	501 502 601 602 701 702 801 802
Former Routes
Local	1A 4A 6R 8 9 12A 19 20 21 22 A B C
Properties
Terminals	Bus Terminal - Cataraqui Centre - Downtown - Gardiners Centre - Kingston Centre - Train Station
Miscellaneous	Bus fleet