York Region Transit route 1 'Highway 7'

1 Highway 7 is a base route operated by YRT in Richmond Hill and Markham, ON.

Basic
Route 1 mainly serves Highway 7 between Bayview Ave. and Donald Cousens Pkwy., and High Tech Rd. between Bayview Ave. and Yonge St.

This route has 1 branch:
 * 1 Richmond Hill Centre Terminal - Copper Creek Drive via Markham-Stouffville Hospital

This route serves the Bayview Glen, Unionville, Markham, Cornell, and Box Grove communities. It also serves Beaver Creek Business Park, Richmond Hill Municipal Office, Seneca College Markham Campus, Unionville High School, Flato Markham Theatre, Markham Civic Centre, Main St. Unionville, Bill Crothers Secondary School, Markville Mall, Main St. Markham, Markham Village Library, Markham District High School, and Box Grove Smart!Centres.

Route 1 shares much of its length with Viva Purple, and also Viva Pink and Viva Green during peak periods. It connects to Viva Blue at Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.

History
Route 1 was first operated by Markham Transit as it's North Trunk route. Buses ran to Finch Station, alternating between Yonge and Bayview. This was because service along these streets were provided by GO Transit at the time, and residents wanted a regular-fare service. Service looped in the east end along Main St. Markham, Robinson St., Joseph St., Maple St., Church St. and 9th Line. When Markham-Stouffville Hospital opened, service was extended the short distance into the hospital. The routing along Church Street remained, however.

When Markham Transit was amalgamated into YRT in 2001, it remained in mostly the same form, but with the route name changed to 1 Highway 7. In 2003, YRT took over operations of the Bayview and Yonge 'C' GO buses, replacing them with routes 91 and 99 respectively. This reduced the need for route 1's service on these roads, although it remained to provide extra service south of Highway 7.

Viva was introduced in September 2005 along the Highway 7 corridor, with additional extensions opening in October and January 2006. Although replaced by Viva Blue down Yonge St., route 1 still ran via both Yonge and Bayview into Finch Station, with the Yonge branch diverting into the newly-opened Richmond Hill Centre Terminal. April 2006 brought around a major restructuring to route 1, with the Yonge and Bayview legs being eliminated and all service terminating at Richmond Hill Centre.

A pedestrian bridge from Richmond Hill Centre to Langstaff GO Station was opened in April 2008, eliminating diversions into the GO station to meet trains. Also in April 2008, rush hour service was removed from Church St., providing two-way service along Highway 7. Off-peak service was temporarily removed in July 2012 due to construction on Main St. Markham, although the 2013 Annual Service Plan made this a permanent fix.

Route 1 was declared fully accessible in December 2012.

With the successful lobbying from the Cornell Rate Payers Association to minimize transit routes serving the hospital vicinity, route 1 was extended east to serve the Box Grove Smart!Centres on June 30, 2013.

Vehicles
Route 1 is primarily a 40ft route, and uses New Flyer D40LF/D40LFR and New Flyer XD40.

Major Stops

 * Richmond Hill Centre Terminal: Western terminus. Serves Bay 5. Connections to Viva Blue, Viva Pink, Viva Purple, and routes 83, 86, 87, 91B, 99, 760.
 * Leslie St.: Connections to Viva Pink, Viva Purple, and routes 90/90B, 244, 300.
 * Woodbine Ave.: Connections to Viva Pink, Viva Purple, and routes 24D/24B/224D, 300.
 * Warden Ave.: Connection to routes 40, 68B, 302.
 * Kennedy Rd.: Connections to Viva Green, Viva Purple, and routes 8, 304.
 * McCowan Rd.: Connections to Viva Green, Viva Purple, and routes 40, 41, 42, 45, 129A, 301, 304.
 * Main St. Markham: Connections to Viva Purple and routes 102D, 522.
 * Markham-Stouffville Hospital: Connections to Viva Purple and routes 9, 16, 18, 25, 201, 303, 522.
 * Box Grove Walmart: Eastern terminus. Connection to route 2, 14.