York Region Transit route 86 'Newkirk-Red Maple'

86 Newkirk-Red Maple is a local route operated by YRT in Richmond Hill, ON.

Basic
Route 86 mainly serves Newkirk Rd. and Red Maple Rd.

This route has 1 main branch:
 * 86 Shadow Falls - Richmond Hill Centre Terminal (Monday to Saturday)

This route serves the northern Richmond Hill, Beverly Acres, and Bayview Glen communities. It also serves Richmond Hill High School, Bernard Terminal, and Hillcrest Mall. Two trips in the morning and two trips in the afternoon also serve Jean Vanier Catholic High School. Some trips also serve Richmond Hill GO Station.

Route 86 connects to Viva Blue at Bernard Terminal, Yonge/16th/Carrville, and Richmond Hill Centre Terminal, where it also connects to Viva Pink and Viva Purple.

History
The origins to route 86 come from Richmond Hill Transit's route 6, and parts of routes 2 and 4. When YRT took over operations, it renumbered it to route 86 and dramatically changed the route. It became 2 branches, routes 86A and 86B, with B only operating during rush hours. Route 86A ran from Bathurst (looping at Castle Rock Dr. and Shaw Blvd.) and headed east on Weldrick to Bayview, up to Redstone, and looped via a large loop along Redstone, Leslie and Farmstead. 86B started at Bayview/Major Mackenzie, and followed the route to Weldrick and Walmer, heading north on Walmer, along May, Yonge, and Palmer to Richmond Hill GO Station. It is assumed the name of this route at this time was just 86 Weldrick, since buses did not operate along Newkirk, the service being handled by 82 Newkirk buses.

In 2004, a general rerouting in the Richmond Hill area simplified service on many routes. Route 86 replaced 82's routing along Newkirk, looping through Bernard Terminal, and continued further north along route 84's former looping, route 84 having been realigned to run along Yonge only. Route 86B's diversion to Richmond Hill GO Station was removed, since route 86 now directly connected off of Newkirk. Route 86A's former looping was turned into route 243 Redstone GO Shuttle, operating during peak periods only. Service along Redstone was provided by the new 83A Trench and a portion of Farmstead was serviced by 82's extension to Elgin Mills C.C. Rush hour buses were extended further north to Jefferson Forest, with buses running in both directions along Bernard and Devonsleigh. Service was being operated 6 days a week at this time.

In September 2005, with the introduction of Viva and route 84 being removed from Bernard Terminal, service was extended full-time via 84's routing in the Inspiration community and looping along Jefferson Forest.

July 1st, 2012 saw route restructuring. Route 86 was realigned to run as a north-south route, while removing the routing west of Yonge St, Tower Hill, and Rolling Hill Drs. in the Inspiration community. The route was aligned to run along Red Maple Rd. to Richmond Hill Centre.

Route 86 was declared fully accessible in December 2012.

Vehicles
Route 86 sees a mix of 30ft service provided by E-Z Rider II/BRT/MAX and 40ft service provided by New Flyer D40LF/D40LFR, New Flyer XD40, or occasionally Orion V.

Major Stops

 * Shadow Falls/Wolf Trail: Northern terminus.
 * Yorkland/Devonsleigh: Connections to routes 81, 83.
 * Bernard Terminal: Serves Bay 3. Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A and routes 81, 83, 98/98E, 99.
 * Bayview/Crosby: Served by four trips weekdays. Connections to routes 83A, 91/91A/91B/91E, 241.
 * Richmond Hill GO Station: Served during GO Train meets. Serves Bay 5. Connections to routes 82, 240, 241, 242, 243.
 * Major Mackenzie Dr.: Connections to routes 4/4A, 25, 589/590
 * Yonge/16th: Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A and routes 16, 85/85C.
 * High Tech Rd.: Connections to route 1.
 * Richmond Hill Centre Terminal: Serves Bay 7. Southern terminus. Connections to Viva Blue, Viva Pink, Viva Purple ad routes 1, 83, 87, 91B, 99, 760.