York Region Transit route 31 'Aurora North'

	31 Aurora North
Number of Branches		1
Types of buses used		ElDorado National E-Z Rider II BRT/MAX
Division		North (Newmarket)
Related routes		33, 96, 98, 434, Viva Blue, & On-Request Aurora-Oak Ridges

31 Aurora North was a local bus route operated by York Region Transit in Aurora, Ontario, Canada.

Route Details

Route 31 served Yonge Street, Wellington Street, Aurora Heights Drive, Orchard Heights Boulevard, and Industrial Parkway.

This route served the Aurora Heights and Aurora Village communities. It also served the Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School, Aurora Shopping Centre, Aurora Family Leisure Complex, and Sir Maximillian Kolbe Catholic High School. One trip in the morning and one in the afternoon also served Aurora High School.

Route 31 connected to Viva Blue at Yonge/Henderson, Yonge/Golf Links, Yonge/Wellington, and Yonge/Orchard Heights. A portion of the route was shared with Viva Blue, between Yonge/Henderson and Yonge/Wellington, as well as between Yonge/Orchard Heights and Yonge/St. John's Sideroad.

Branches

This route had 1 main branch:

• 31 Clockwise (Weekday rush hours only)

History

Orion I #9002 on route 31.

Aurora Transit first operated a 'Aurora North' route. It was later taken over by Newmarket Transit, and the route was named A1 Western Produce.

• September 4, 2001 - A1 was taken over by York Region Transit during the merging in January 2001 and on this date, the route was renumbered and renamed to 31 Aurora North. It was more of a north-south route than today's east-west route, operating from Mulock Drive south on Yonge Street and Old Yonge Street, along Orchard Heights Boulevard and Aurora Heights Drive back to Yonge Street, and heading down Murray Drive to loop at Edward and Yonge Streets.

• September 4, 2005 - With the looming introduction of Viva Blue and route 33, YRT rerouted both Aurora routes to operate primarily along Wellington Street. This also replaced the Aurora GO Shuttles. Route 31 is extended east on Wellington Street to John West Way to serve the Berkshire and Spring Farm communities. Service on Yonge Street north of St. John's Sideroad is replaced with the new route 98 and service on McDonald and Murray Drives south of Wellington Street is replaced with a restructured route 32.

• January 28, 2007 - Northbound service between Aurora Heights Drive and Orchard Heights Boulevard is rerouted to operate via Bathurst Street instead of Whispering Pine Trail to reduce traffic on the road. Southbound service is unchanged.

• April 29, 2007 - The service diversion via Church Street and Victoria Avenue is removed and all service will operate direct on Wellington Street.

• January 27, 2008 - Route terminates in the east at Aurora GO Station. Service east of the station is replaced with the new 33A branch. This reduced the remaining portion of route 31 to a rush-hour only route.

• September 2011 - Service to and from the Aurora GO Station was modified to serve Mary Street.

• July 1, 2012 - Route 31 was merged with route 34 and began serving the newly opened bus loop at Aurora GO Station. It was renamed from "Aurora North" to "Aurora North-Industrial Parkway", but was reverted back on July 2, 2013.

• December 2012 - Route 31 was declared fully accessible.

• January 8, 2017 - As part of the 2017 Annual Service Plan, all conventional service on weekdays after 7pm is converted to Dial-a-Ride service with the expansion of the service area of Dial-a-Ride Aurora-Oak Ridges to include all stops served by route 31.

• April 5, 2020 - The route was temporarily suspended with all service provided by On-Request Aurora-Oak Ridges, operating during the weekdays from 7am to 10:45pm.

• September 3rd, 2023 - YRT announced that Route 31 will permanently not be returning to service since being suspended in April 2020, along with several other routes that were temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Alternate transit options include routes 33, 96, 98, 434, Viva Blue, & On-Request Aurora-Oak Ridges.

Vehicles

Route 31 was primarily a 30ft route, and used E-Z Rider II BRT/MAX.

Route Maps

• 

  Dial-a-Ride
  (April 2018 - April 2020)

• 

  2012 - April 2020

• 

  January 2008 - 2012

• 

  April 2007 - January 2008

• 

  2001 - September 2005

Summary

Major Stops

Major Stop	Branches	Notes
	31
Aurora GO Station	31
Industrial Pkwy. @ Yonge St.	31
Yonge St. @ Wellington St.	31
Aurora High School	31
Bathurst St. @ Orchard Heights Blvd.	31
Yonge St. @ St. John's Sdrd.	31
Aurora High School	31
Yonge St. @ Henderson Dr.	31

Historical Stops

Major Stop	Branches			Notes
	31	31	31
Savage Rd. @ Yonge St.	31
St. John's Sdrd. @ Yonge St.	31	31	31
Orchard Heights Blvd. @ Yonge St.	31	31	31
Yonge St. @ Church St.	31
Aurora High School	31	31	31
Wellington St. @ Yonge St.	31	31	31
Aurora GO Station		31	31
Hollidge Blvd. @ Bayview Ave.		31
Bayview Ave. @ St. John's Sdrd.		31
Yonge St. @ Henderson Dr.	31

Service Summary

Period	Branch	Weekdays					Saturday			Sunday
		AM Peak	Midday	PM Peak	Early Evening	Late Evening	Early AM	Day	Evening	Early AM	Day	Evening
2023	31	Service Suspended - On-Request Service
2022	31
2021	31
2020	31
2019	31		DAR		DAR	N/A	DAR	DAR	DAR	N/A	N/A	N/A
2018	31		DAR		DAR	N/A	DAR	DAR	DAR	N/A	N/A	N/A
2017	31
2016	31	25-35	N/A	33-39	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2015	31	25-35	N/A	33-39	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2014	31	25-33	N/A	33-39	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2013	31	25-33	N/A	33-37	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2012	31	25-33	N/A	33-37	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2011	31	20-40	N/A	37-72	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2010	31	20-40	N/A	37-72	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2009	31
2008	31
2007	31	20-30	60	10-25	30	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A
2006	31	25-35	60	20-31	30	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A
2005	31	25-30	60	20-31	30	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A
2004	31	75	60	70-95	N/A	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A
2003	31	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A
2002	31	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A
2001	31	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A	60	60	60	N/A	N/A	N/A