York Region Transit route 83 'Trench'

83 Trench is a local route operated by YRT in Richmond Hill, ON.

Basic
Routes 83 and 83A combined mainly serves Mill St., Trench St., Redstone Rd., Crosby Ave., Bathurst St., Avenue Rd., and Pearson Ave. Route 83 also serves Regent St. and Canyon Hill Ave., while route 83A also serves Crosby Ave. and Redstone Rd.

This route has 2 main branches:
 * 83 Bernard Terminal - Richmond Hill Centre Terminal (Weekdays)
 * 83A Richmond Green - Hillcrest Mall (Weekday rush hours only)

These routes serve the Redstone, Beverley Acres, Central Richmond Hill, Mill Pond, and Richvale communities. It also serves Richmond Green Library, Jean Vanier Catholic High School, Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, York Central Hospital, Alexander Mackenzie High School, Richvale Community Centre, Richvale Library, and Langstaff Secondary School. One trip in the morning and one in the afternoon on route 83 also serve Richmond Hill High School. One trip in the morning and one in the afternoon on route 83 also serve St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School.

Route 83 connects to Viva Blue at Bernard Terminal and Richmond Hill Centre Terminal, where it also connects with Viva Pink during weekday rush hours and Viva Purple. Route 83A connects to Viva Blue at Yonge/Crosby.

History
Route 83 in general first started as Richmond Hill Transit route 3. It operated much the same route as the section south of Mill St. does now, looping north of Langstaff. Buses in the north end turn east on Mill and north on Yonge to Bernard Terminal.

When YRT took over operations from Richmond Hill Transit, it renumbered it to route 83 and made major changes over the next couple of years. Route 83 was extended south via Bathurst to Promenade Terminal. The portion to become route 83 was then known as the rush-hour route 80, while the section to become route 83A was part of route 86A's large loop, and a small section of route 81. A limited-service route operated along Regent St. to Elgin Mills, rejoining the route at Yonge St.

In 2004, major changes happened again. A general rerouting in the Richmond Hill area changed a number of routes, including route 83. Routes 80 and 81 were eliminated, route 82 was cut back, route 86 was reorganized and extended, and route 83 was left to cover service on most of the eliminated sections. Route 83 was rerouted west on Mill, north on Bathurst and east on Shaftsbury and Canyon Hill to Bernard Terminal. Route 83A was introduced, running on the current route from Promenade to Mill St., now turning east on Mill, Wright and Dunlop to Crosby, along it and Redstone to Elgin Mills, looping in Richmond Green Secondary School on Leslie St. Interestingly, the limited-service routing along Regent disappeared at this time, to be reinstated in Spring 2007. Some peak trips diverted into Langstaff GO Station near Highway 7 and Yonge St. 6 day a week service was operating on both branches.

September 2005 introduced Viva. With it, Richmond Hill Centre opened, so routes 83 and 83A were cut back to there, with the portions south of Langstaff/Highway 7 already being covered by routes 87 and 88. All-day service started operating into Richmond Green in Spring 2007, while some trips had been meeting bell times since 2005.

Route 83 was expanded on June 29, 2009 to serve the Via Romano community, via Teston Rd., Via Romano Blvd., and Queen Filomena Ave.

Routes 83 and 83A were restructured as part of the Summer 2012 service changes. Route 83 saw service removed from Via Romano Blvd., Queen Filomena Ave., Teston Rd., Shaftsbury Ave. and Bathurst St., and only servicing the Shaftsbury stretch during bell times for St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School. The branch was rerouted to run on Regent St. and Ellery Dr. Route 83A saw service removed south of Hillcrest Mall, Richmond Heights Plaza, on Pugsley Av., and Dunlop St. With it, the route only provides service as south to Hillcrest Mall, and only during rush hours. Select morning trips were diverted along Pugsley Av. and Dunlop St.

Routes 83 and 83A were declared fully accessible in December 2012.

Saturday service was eliminated on route 83 on July 6, 2013.

Vehicles
Routes 83 and 83A see 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

 * Richmond Hill High School: Served by two route 83 trips weekdays. Connections to routes 81, 82, 86.
 * Richmond Green Secondary School: Northern terminus for route 83A. Connections to routes 82, 90.
 * Bernard Terminal: Northern terminus for route 83. Serves on Bernard Ave. Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A and routes 81, 86, 98/98E, 99.
 * Elgin Mills/Leslie: Served by route 83A. Connections to routes 80, 82, 90.
 * Shaftsbury/Canyon Hill: Served by route 83. Connection to route 240.
 * Redstone/Elgin Mills: Served by route 83A. Connection to routes 80, 82.
 * Bathurst/Shaftsbury: Served by two route 83 trips weekdays. Connections to routes 80, 88/88A, 240.
 * Redstone/Crosby/Bayview: Served by route 83A. Connections to routes 86, 91/91A/91B/91E, 241.
 * Mill/Neighbourly Lane: Served by route 83. Connection to route 240.
 * Yonge/Crosby/Wright: Served by route 83A. Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A and routes 98, 99, 589/590.
 * Trench/Wood Lane/Mill/Ellery: Connection to route 240.
 * Trench/Major Mackenzie: Connections to routes 4/4A, 25, 589/590.
 * Hillcrest Mall: Southern terminus for route 83A. Connections to routes 242, 589/590.
 * Garden/Pearson: Served by route 83. Connection to route 87.
 * Richmond Hill Centre Terminal: Southern terminus for route 83. Serves Bay 6. Connections to Viva Blue, Viva Pink, Viva Purple, and routes 1, 86, 87, 91B, 760.