York University station

York University is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. It is located on the main Keele Campus of York University, near Ian Macdonald and York Boulevards. The station opened on December 17, 2017.

This article is about the subway station. For the GO train station of the same name, see York University GO Station.

York University
Location120 Ian Macdonald Boulevard
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°46′27″N 79°29′59″W
PlatformsCentre platform
Tracks2
Connections
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Disabled accessYes
ArchitectFoster + Partners
Architectural styleHigh-tech architecture
History
OpenedDecember 17, 2017 (2017-12-17)[1]
Passengers
2018[2]34,130
Rank21 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Vaughan
 Yonge–University
toward Finch

History
York University station entrance building prior to the station's opening in November 2017

The official groundbreaking ceremony for the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension was held on November 27, 2009;[3] however, tunnelling operations did not commence until June 2011.[4] The project was initially expected to be completed by the spring of 2015 (which would have been in time for that summer's Pan Am Games) but was pushed later to the autumn of 2016,[5] it was announced on September 5, 2017, that the station would open officially on December 17, 2017.[6]

The first stage of construction for the station began in May 2011. On October 11, 2011, one of the geostructural drilling rigs on site collapsed and killed Kyle Knox, an operator working for a contractor on the project, Anchor Shoring. The incident injured five other workers.[7]

More than 1,400 Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) buses served the campus every weekday at the York University Bus Loop, in addition to hundreds more from other services including GO Transit, York Region Transit / Viva (YRT), Brampton Transit's Züm, and Greyhound. The arrival of the subway resulted in a reduced number of buses entering campus as the 196 York University Rocket bus route was eliminated and other routes such as the 195 Jane Rocket (now 935 Jane Express) and 199B Finch Rocket (now 939B Finch Express) were altered to service Pioneer Village station and Finch West station instead, leaving only the 41 Keele and 106 Sentinel routes servicing the university's grounds directly.[8] Züm buses still service the campus directly.

This station, along with the five other Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) stations, was one of the first to be opened without collector booths. It was also among the first eight stations to discontinue sales of legacy TTC fare media (tokens and tickets). Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load funds onto them.[9] On May 3, 2019, this station became one of the first ten stations to sell Presto tickets via Presto vending machines.[10]

Description
Artwork Piston Effect produces a lighting display when a train passes.

The station lies at the east end the Harry W. Arthurs Common on the west side of Ian MacDonald Boulevard.[11] The university's main buildings lie to the west; Seneca College's York campus is found to the south, and the Aviva Centre to the west. The station was built underground, lying on a northwest–southeast axis. The line approaches from Finch West station along Keele Street, then bends towards the northwest to meet the station.

Concourse level and faregates

Engineering Consultants Arup and Architecture firm Foster+Partners designed the station, which has a boomerang shape with entrances at the north and south ends of the structure. The north entrance contains stairs and escalators down to the concourse level and then more stairs to the fare gates. Besides stairs, the south entrance provides a barrier-free route consisting of an elevator to the concourse level plus a ramp to the fare gates.[11] Natural light flows through the concourse down to the platform level.[12] The station has a metal cool roof to reflect heat from sun rays.[13] Jason Bruges Studio provided the station artwork titled "Piston Effect" consisting of a series of glass panels on the west walls at concourse and above the northbound trainway. Behind the panels are liquid crystal displays (LCDs) that detect the passage of a train and then produce a lighting display in various tones of black and white.[14][15]

The fare-paid area features a Gateway Newstands kiosk.[16]

Surface connections

Toronto Transit Commission

Direct bus connections to the subway have been moved to Pioneer Village station and Finch West station to reduce bus congestion on campus, and there is no attached bus terminal at the station. Transfers are required to connect to surface routes on-street:

Route Name Additional Information
41 Keele Northbound to Pioneer Village station and southbound to Keele station
335 Jane Blue Night service, southbound to Jane station
341 Keele Blue Night service, southbound to Keele station
353 Steeles Blue Night service, eastbound to Staines Road

Regional transit
The York University Vivastation, which has since been removed after YRT moved its bus connections to Pioneer Village station on September 2, 2018
The Züm stop (service temporarily suspended) on Ian Macdonald Boulevard

In 2018, all YRT bus services were moved to Pioneer Village station; in 2019, GO Transit relocated its services to Highway 407 station,[17] leaving Brampton Transit's route 501 Züm Queen as the sole non-TTC service serving the campus. The main branch of the route was cut back to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station in September 2018, leaving only the express A/C branches to serve the campus. However, these branches are temporarily suspended until further notice amid the service reductions caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic,[18] and there are currently no regional services operating to the campus.

There is an inactive proposal to eliminate the double (YRT plus TTC) fare for passengers arriving at the York University campus from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, Highway 407, or Pioneer Village stations in (or bordering) York Region who transferred from connecting YRT buses. A memorandum of understanding between the TTC and YRT stated: "Upon commencement of revenue services operations of the [TYSSE], York Region agrees not to operate or permit the operation of public transit services directly onto the York University campus." However, this assumed the elimination of the double fare for those riding a YRT bus to the stations in York Region and continuing by subway to the campus. The plan was to use a third party technology system to reimburse one of the two fares, though such a solution has not yet been implemented.[19][12] However, despite the continuing lack of fare integration, YRT stopped serving the campus after September 1, 2018, forcing passengers to walk from the Pioneer Village Terminal or pay a TTC fare to take the subway one stop to reach it.[20]

On January 7, 2019, GO Transit also ended service to the station, with buses connecting to the more distant Highway 407 station.[21] Between January 2018 and March 2020, there was a $1.50 fare discount for GO Transit riders paying with Presto, transferring to or from the subway (a TTC system-wide policy with GO).[22][23][24]

See also

References
  1. "After delays, cost overruns, and tragedy, a subway to Vaughan is complete". December 16, 2017.
  2. "Subway ridership, 2018" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved February 5, 2019. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
  3. "Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension breaks ground". Railway Gazette. November 30, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  4. "Tunnel boring for Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension begins". Toronto Transit Commission. June 17, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  5. "Schedule Status Update" (PDF). Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension Project. Toronto Transit Commission. October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  6. A. Byford, CEO (March 26, 2015). "Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension – Schedule and Budget Change" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved April 1, 2015. The TYSSE project is currently 70 per cent complete. However, it has been determined that the publicly stated opening date of the end of 2016 and the approved budget are not achievable. This report recommends that a comprehensive project "reset" involving a new third-party project manager be undertaken to deliver the project by December 31st, 2017
  7. Scallan, Niamh; Aulakh, Raveena (October 11, 2011). "Workers were trapped in their machines in deadly accident at TTC site". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  8. "TTC Bus Route Changes". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  9. "New Customer Service Agents at TTC stations". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  10. "TTC extends sales of Presto Tickets to 10 stations". Toronto Transit Commission. May 6, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  11. "Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension Project – York University Station – Approval of Conceptual Design" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. September 24, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  12. Byford, Andy (November 17, 2017). "30 days to go: York University Station". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  13. "TTC Green Initiatives". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  14. "York University Station". Toronto Transit Commission. pp. Public Art. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  15. "Park-like York University Station in the heart of campus". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. July 7, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  16. transittoronto (December 19, 2017), News: Opening Day for the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, retrieved December 20, 2017
  17. "York University Service". GO Transit. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  19. "Line 1 Extension – Operations and Maintenance Agreement" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  20. "York University Service Update". York Region Transit. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  21. Rocca, Ryan (January 3, 2019). "GO Transit buses no longer servicing York University's Keele campus". Global News. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  22. Janus, Andrea (October 6, 2017). "Cheaper fare coming for transit users who ride both TTC and GO". CBC News. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  23. https://www.prestocard.ca/en/about/discounted-double-fare
  24. Westoll, Nick (January 21, 2020). "Discount fare program for riders transferring between TTC, GO Transit and UP Express set to end". Global News. Corus Entertainment. Retrieved March 25, 2020.

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