MiWay
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Area served | Mississauga, ON |
Founded | 1969 |
Fleet size | 392 (MiLocal) 105 (MiExpress) |
Number of routes | 79 |
Ridership | 41.2 million (2019) |
Union | ATU Local 1572 |
MiWay provides transit service to the city of Mississauga, Ontario, which is Canada's sixth largest city. It is Ontario's third largest transit agency and operates as part of the city's Transportation and Works Department. Connections are made with GO Transit, TTC, Brampton Transit, and York Region Transit at several locations within Mississauga.
The Mississauga Transitway, a 18km Bus Rapid Transit system with 12 stations, opened in November 2014 and is a major east-west transit corridor spanning the city of Mississauga.
History
Mississauga Transit first began operation in 1969. The southern transit service covering much of Mississauga was contracted to Charterways Transportation, while service in the northern area (Malton) was contracted to Georgetown Transportation Company. While the two systems were branded under Mississauga Transit, they were independent operations that did not connect with each other The Town of Mississauga assumed operation of the municipal transit service in November 1973, bringing together the two systems and expanding the route network. In October 2010, Mississauga Transit was rebranded as MiWay.
Key Milestones
- 1969 - Mississauga Transit is established.
- 1973 - The Town of Mississauga assumes operation of the municipal transit service in November.
- 1974 - Mississauga Transit expands from 8 to 14 routes.
- 1977 - Central Parkway Garage is opened.
- 1982 - Mississauga Transit acquires 12 GM TA60-102N as part of a provincial demonstration project and becomes one of the first transit systems in Canada to operate articulated buses.
- 1987 - Mississauga Transit participates in a project for CNG buses, with a 1978 Orion I converted to run on CNG; Electronic Fareboxes are installed in all buses.
- 1989 - Mississauga Transit takes delivery of the first Orion V buses, and becomes the first transit system in Canada to operate buses with air conditioning.
- 1992 - Malton Garage is opened, featuring outdoor storage with buses plugged into a outdoor heating system.
- 1995 - Central Parkway Garage is expanded to include outdoor storage.
- 1997 - Mississauga Transit introduces the first low floor articulated buses; The City Centre Transit Terminal is opened.
- 2007 - Route 110 University Express is launched, becoming the first 'Pre Rapid Transit' (PRT) route, which would later expand to 9 routes.
- 2009 - Central Parkway Annex Garage is opened, as well as a new body shop for transit buses.
- 2010 - Mississauga Transit is rebranded MiWay with routes branded as MiLocal and MiExpress; First hybrid buses introduced.
- 2011 - By the end of the year, the entire MiWay fleet consists of low floor, fully accessible buses.
- 2014 - The first phase of the Mississauga Transitway is opened in November, between City Centre and Dixie Stations.
- 2017 - The Mississauga Transitway is fully complete with the opening of Renforth Station.
- 2019 - 24 hour weekday service is launched on routes 1, 3. 7, and 19
Directors of Transit
The Director of Transit leads senior managers in operations, maintenance, business systems and business development, and reports to the Commissioner of Transportation and Works, who is currently Geoff Wright.
The following people have served as Director of Transit:
- Edward Dowling (1974-1997)
- William Cunningham (1997-2007)
- Geoff Marinioff (2007-present)
Fares
MiWay collects cash fares in its GFI Genfare CENTSaBILL fareboxes. Operators do not make change, and the farebox shows the driver exactly how much money has been put in. Presto readers are installed on all buses.
In order to encourage Presto usage, paper fare media has been discontinued. Paper weekly and monthly passes were discontinued between 2013 and April 2016, while paper tickets were discontinued effective May 1, 2019.
MiWay currently organizes fare categories based on age, similar to many other transit systems across the Greater Toronto Area. Children under 6 years of age ride free, as do CNIB cardholders and support persons. The City of Mississauga also provides a 'Youth Freedom Pass' which allows youths 12-14 years of age to ride MiWay free of charge during the summer months.
A GO Transit co-fare of 85 cents applies to PRESTO card holders transferring between MiWay and GO Transit services.
Fares effective January 6, 2020
Fare Type | Cash Fare | PRESTO | PRESTO Monthly Pass |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Child (Age 6-12) | $4.00 | $1.75 | Not Available | |
Youth (Age 13-19) | $4.00 | $2.35 | Not Available | |
Adult (Age 20-64) | $4.00 | $3.10 | $135.00 | |
Senior (Age 65+) | $4.00 $1.00* |
$2.10 | $65.00 |
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Transfers
All cash and ticket paying passengers receive a transfer on the first bus they board. It is valid on any bus on any route for two hours from the start of the operator's trip on the route, and are set for expiry in 20 minute intervals.
Transfers show the date in several places, and the week number in the background. Beginning in 2013, a different design was placed on transfers each day to prevent fraud. Examples of these designs include a vertical line through the middle, a diagonal line all the way down, diagonal stripes from right to left and left to right or the MiWay logo.
MiWay accepts transfers from other GTA transit agencies, such as Oakville Transit, Brampton Transit and York Region Transit as long as they are not expired. However, TTC transfers are not accepted.
Bus routes
MiWay currently operates 79 bus routes throughout the City of Mississauga. Local routes are numbered 1-99, Express routes in the 100 series, and school routes in the 300 series.
In the past, Mississauga Transit routes were organized following a different structure. For example, routes 11, 21, 31, 41, and 51 at one point all ran from Islington Station, travelling west on Dundas Street and branching off at various points along the street, allowing one seat trips to be made to the subway from most of the city. Express routes were all numbered in the 80 series, while Catholic and public school specials were numbered in the 70 and 90 series, respectively. Routes in the 50 series were historically rush-hour only routes, serving industrial areas on weekdays.
For a listing of all current and historical MiWay routes, view the MiWay routes page. All current routes are also listed in the template at the bottom of the page.
Fleet
Active
On Order
Fleet Numbers | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | Engine | Transmission | Destination sign | Seating | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(11) | 2020 | New Flyer | XDE60 | Cummins L9 330 hp |
BAE HybriDrive HDS 300 |
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Retired
- Note: early units under operation by Charterways had "Mississauga Transit" and "Operated for the Town of Mississauga by Charterways Co. Limited" lettering on the sides.
Non-service
MiWay operates a number of vehicles for non-service purposes. These vehicles include driver change off (relief) cars, supervisor vehicles, and service trucks. For more iformation, view Mississauga Transit non-service fleet.