York Region Transit route 300 'Business Express'

300 Business Express is an express route operated by YRT in Toronto, Markham, and Richmond Hill, ON.

Basic
Route 300 serves Highway 7 between West Beaver Creek Rd. and Warden Ave.

This route has 1 main branch:
 * 300 Finch Terminal - Clegg Rd. (Weekday rush hours only, directional)

This route serves the employment communities along Highway 7 in eastern Richmond Hill and western Markham. It provides service to Markham in the morning and to Finch in the afternoon.

History
Route 300 started on April 2, 2001, and was not part of the old Markham Transit. It provided an express link along the newly-opened Highway 407 with commuters from Toronto to the Beaver Creek Business Park and the IBM and Mororola buildings along Warden Ave. Buses went to Warden in the AM, and to the subway in the PM, the opposite of the Markham Express and Unionville Express routes. A 'premium fare' was charged, usually $0.25 more than a regular fare (now $0.50 more).

YRT purchased 6 Orion V buses for exclusive use on the express series routes in 2003, to replace the ex-Markham D40S express buses. These buses (301-306) had a special 'Express' sticker on them, and have surburban-style seating. However, unlike the D40S buses, the 3xx buses also operated on other 'local' routes, causing some to question the 'Express' stickers on their sides. They have since been removed.

In 2005, buses were changed to operate in both directions, so commuters near Highway 7 could use the express service to access Finch Station. At the same time, Viva was also introduced, providing express service along Highway 7, with passengers being able to transfer to Viva Blue to Finch Station. In January 2006, Viva Pink was introduced, running along almost the same route as route 300 does, with only a regular fare required. This decreased ridership significantly, although due to the vivaNext construction ridership has picked up again on route 300 due to passengers seeing the value of paying extra for a shorter trip.

In 2006, buses were cut back from the Motorola building to the IBM bus loop on South Town Centre Blvd.

Route 300 was declared fully accessible in September 2010.

The IBM bus loop was closed on January 27, 2014 in order to accommodate vivaNext construction along South Town Centre Blvd., therefore route 300 was modified to serve Clegg Rd. and Warden Ave. However due to operational concerns, buses on the afternoon trip would usually turn north on Courtyard Lane and west on Highway 7, even though it is not shown on the route map as no stops would be missed.

Vehicles
Route 300 is primarily a 40ft route, and uses New Flyer D40LF/D40LFR, New Flyer XD40, or Orion V.