York Region Transit route 77 'Highway 7'

77 Highway 7 is a base route operated by YRT in Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, and Toronto, ON.

Basic
Route 77 serves Highway 7 between The Gore Rd. and Centre St., and Centre St. between Highway 7 and Yonge St. On Sundays, it serves Centre St. between Highway 7 and New Westminster Dr. and Clark Ave. between New Westminster Dr. and Yonge St. Route 77A serves Highway 7 between The Gore Rd. and Interchange Way.

This route has 3 branches:
 * 77 Highway 50 - Finch Terminal via Centre (Monday to Saturday)
 * 77 Highway 50 - Finch Terminal via Clark (Sundays/Holidays)
 * 77A Highway 50 - Finch Terminal via Highway 407 (Weekday rush hours only)

This route serves the Woodbridge, Concord, and Thornhill communities. It also serves the Vaughan Enterprise Zone, Woodbridge Memorial Arena, Woodbridge College, Colossus Centre, Vaughan Corporate Centre, Promenade Terminal, Thornhill Village, Thornhill Secondary School, and Centerpoint Mall. On Sundays it also serves St. Elizabeth Catholic High School, Bathurst Clark Library, and Garnet A. Williams Arena.

Routes 77 and 77A share much of its length with Viva Orange, and also Viva Purple, Viva Blue, and Viva Pink during peak periods.

History
Route 77 was first operated in conjunction with Vaughan Transit and Brampton Transit along the current route. It was known as 77 Highway 7. It had 3 branches: 77 (via Centre, same as current 77), 77A (via Clark, same as current 77 Sunday routing) and 77E, an express branch. Operation began in April 1990.

In 2001, Vaughan Transit was acquired by YRT, and the name was changed to 77 Highway 7-Centre, so to not cause confusion between route 1 Highway 7, formerly operated by Markham Transit, and also to promote the service along Centre St. as well. Service was still operated jointly between Brampton and York Region Transits. On Sundays, buses are rerouted along New Westminster Dr. to serve Clark Ave. east to Yonge St. since route 5 does not operate on Sundays. Also, Brampton Transit provided all service during Sundays, even though most of the route is in York Region territory.

In September and October 2005, Viva was introduced along portions of Highway 7 and Centre Sts., slightly reducing ridership along those portions of the route. Since there was still a gap between Jane and Keele as well as Viva Orange and Viva Purple serving different locations, service was not as affected as much as Highway 7 east of Yonge St. were, and ridership is still very high with riders complaining of overcrowding even during weekends.

Because of the long time buses take to make a trip, drivers often issued 3 hour transfers instead of 2 hour transfers, the standard for both YRT and Brampton.

In September 2008, a new branch was introduced: route 77A. It was an entirely Brampton Transit-operated route that provides direct service between Brampton and York University. It used Highway 407 between Highway 427 and Weston Rd., and uses Queen/Highway 7 between Bramalea City Centre and Highway 427, and between Weston Rd. and Keele St. (using Keele to access the university).

With the introduction of Brampton Transit's Züm, route 77 was restructured on September 5, 2010. Brampton Transit buses no longer operate along the Highway 7 portion of York Region, with this responsibility remaining solely with York Region Transit. YRT buses only operate along Highway 7 to The Gore Rd., where it loops back to Highway 7 via Zenway Blvd. Route 77A was taken over by Züm route 501A.

Route 77 was declared fully accessible in February 2012.

Route 77 was renamed from "Highway 7-Centre" to "Highway 7" on June 30, 2013, although some destination signs have showed that for a long time.

Route 77A was resurrected on July 14, 2014, however instead of its initial purpose, the route now acts as a peak period bypass to/from Yonge St. for passengers destined or starting west of Jane St., traveling between Highway 407 between Yonge St. and Jane St.

Vehicles
Routes 77 and 77A are primarily 40ft routes, and use New Flyer D40LF/D40LFR. Occasionally Van Hool A330 or New Flyer XD40 may provide service.

Major Stops

 * Highway 50: Western terminus.
 * Vaughan Valley Blvd.
 * Martin Grove Rd.: Connections to Viva Orange and route 7.
 * Islington Ave.: Connections to Viva Orange and route 13.
 * Weston Rd.: Connections to Viva Orange and routes 10, 165A/165D/165F.
 * Jane St.: Served by route 77. Connections to routes 20, 35D.
 * Keele St.: Served by route 77. Connections to Viva Purple and routes 22A, 107B/107C/107D.
 * Promenade Terminal: Served by route 77. Serves Bay 1 eastbound and Bay 8 westbound. Connections to Viva Purple and routes 3, 23, 88/88A, 160.
 * Clark/New Wesminster: Served by route 77 via Clark. Connection to route 3.
 * Yonge St.: Route 77 via Centre serves stop on Centre, route 77A serves stop on Yonge. Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A, Viva Pink, and routes 3, 99, 760.
 * Yonge/Steeles: Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A, Viva Pink, and routes 2, 5, 23, 88/88A, 91/91A, 99, 760.
 * Finch GO Bus Terminal: Eastern terminus. Serves Bay 10. Connections to Viva Blue/Blue A, Viva Pink, and routes 2, 5, 23, 88/88A, 91/91A, 98E, 99, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 760.