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Several years ago, ridership on the Mississauga Transitway plunged, dropping nearly 91 per cent on the $528 million bus rapid transit route.

This decline is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic – a common theme across many transit routes around the world.

The Mississauga Transitway, however, has also been the subject of criticism in the past for its overall design and location, adding intrigue to the question: has ridership on the route recovered in the years since the massive decline?

INsauga.com reached out to the City of Mississauga for an update and it appears that while the numbers have improved, the city has not yet fully recovered.

If you use or pass by the Transitway, it is common that it does not appear busy.

The service was completed in 2017allowing riders to travel from Winston Churchill Boulevard in the west to Renforth Station in the east.

In this first full year of service, the system was able to reach its goal of five million riders, Geoff Marinoff told INsauga.com while serving as transit director for the City of Mississauga.

“The Mississauga Transitway continues to be an important part of the MiWay network, moving people quickly and efficiently across Mississauga’s east-west corridor,” City of Mississauga spokesperson Irene McCutcheon said recently.

In 2019, ridership on the Mississauga Transitway exceeded six million.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a year later, only 574,956 trips were recorded.

McCutcheon said since then the numbers have improved. But attendance has still not reached 2019 levels.

“Lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have had a direct impact on ridership across the network, particularly on office-serving routes, and resulted in service reductions, but since 2022 we have dramatically increased service,” McCutcheon said.

In 2023, there were more than 4.45 million passenger boardings on routes that use the Transitway, about 27% fewer than in 2019, McCutcheon said.

She said this was due to reduced service levels, particularly on express routes.

Ridership down so far in 2024 compared to 2023

“In 2024, MiWay has made several adjustments, including increasing capacity and frequency to meet growing demand for service,” McCutcheon said.

She said this year there has been “additional passenger activity” on routes that run along the Transitway.

However, it appears ridership numbers have so far declined in 2024 compared to 2023.

Figures provided by the City show that from January to the end of September of this year, ridership was just under three million people on the Transitway. During the same period in 2023, there were more than 3.3 million.

And in 2019, before the pandemic, attendance stood at more than 4.5 million during the same period, more than 52% more than in 2024.

Despite this, the City views the growth of recent years positively.

“The City is pleased with the overall growth in ridership,” McCutcheon said.

Have design and location concerns been addressed?

Marinoff previously suggested to INsauga.com in 2022 that Mississauga was a new city and building public transit would take time. He admitted that some Transitway stations suffer from a “last mile problem,” meaning that every transit trip begins and ends with a walk, sometimes a long one.

He suggested that development needs to move toward more mixed-use communities so people need cars less.

INsauga.com asked the City if any changes have been made since then to address these concerns.

“We are developing the next MiWay Transit Service Master Plan, which plays a critical role in identifying improvements to improve access to Transitway stations,” McCutcheon said.

“MiWay is working to further integrate the Transitway into the overall transit network by anchoring and connecting local and express routes to stations. »

She said that includes helping riders make connections to and from the Transitway at major stations like Renforth – MiWay’s 10th busiest – and the City Center Transit terminal – the transit agency’s busiest in common.

This will increase ridership by providing inter-regional connections such as to Toronto and faster travel options across the city, McCutcheon said.

“We look forward to the future addition of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, which will undoubtedly result in an increase in Transitway routes,” she added.

Metrolinx officials also noted that once the Hazel McCallion Line LRT is completed, it will also connect users to the Transitway.

And when electric bikes and scooters hit Mississauga streets earlier this year, the city touted the micro-mobility system. as a way to help residents connect to the route.

As for development around the Transitway, it doesn’t appear that mixed-use communities are in the works.

The district mainly saw offices in the Airport business center area which is on the eastern edge of the cityjust south of Highway 401, McCutcheon said.

The City does not have specific objectives for ridership on the Transitway.

But McCutcheon said numbers are expected to increase across the entire MiWay network and officials “will continue to increase services along the Transitway as ridership demand increases.”

During this time, several Transitway stations have been closed since September 23 due to a construction project and are expected to reopen on November 1st.

— With files from Karen Longwell

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