York Region Transit route 9 '9th Line'

9 9th Line is a local route operated by YRT in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON.

Basic
Route 9 mainly serves Box Grove By-Pass/9th Line between Copper Creek Dr. and Millard St., Main St. between Highway 48 and 10th Line, and Hoover Park Dr. between 10th Line and Highway 48.

This route has 1 main branch:
 * 9 Copper Creek - Stouffville (Weekdays)

This route serves the Box Grove, Cornell, and Stouffville communities. It also serves Markham-Stouffville Hospital, Parkview Village, Stouffville GO Station, Lebovic Leisure Centre, Stouffville District Secondary School, Stouffville Smart!Centres, and Town of Whitchurch Stouffville Municipal Offices.

Route 9 connects to Viva Purple at Church St., however a slight walk is needed from the bus stop to reach the station at Markham-Stouffville Hospital.

History
Local YRT service began serving Stouffville in September 2004, with route 9 Stouffville. Buses operated from Markham-Stouffville Hospital north on 9th Line to Main St., east to 10th Line, north to Hemlock Dr., west on Hemlock and Millard St. to 9th Line, south to Main St., and either west on Main St. to Ringwood Dr. (where buses turned around and performed the loop again) or south on 9th Line to the hospital. Rush hour buses expanded the loop via Main St., Stouffer St., Lori Ave. and 10th Line. This original arrangement was unsuccessful; in January 2005 the route was reorganized to have two-way service on Main Street, with only rush hour buses using Millard.

Again, the routing was modified in September 2005. Service was reorganized and divided into two branches. Route 9 provided service along Main Street from Eastern Gate to Ringwood Dr., while route 9A provided service from Markham-Stouffville Hospital along 9th Line and Main St. to Eastern Gate. Rush hour service on route 9A had an expanded loop via Stouffer, Lori, 10th, Hemlock, Millard and 9th. AM route 9A buses returned east on Main Street to serve Stouffville GO Station, turned around at Park Drive then headed south to the hospital. Route 9 buses later were extended south on Highway 48 to serve the new Smart!Centres.

Development around Stouffville occured rapidly in the late 2000s, and to serve new growth service was reorganized in September 2007. Local service through town was replaced by new route 15 Stouffville Local, which operated partially on Hoover Park Drive. Route 9 provided service from the hospital to Parkview Village. 215 Stouffville GO Shuttle followed the same rush hour looping as the previous route 9A. Route 9 buses interlined with route 215 buses during peak periods, and route 15 during midday service at Parkview Village. June 2008 saw a change in operations, where route 9 was extended north to Millard Street during rush hours, and no longer interlined with route 15 during rush hours as well.

With route 9 becoming much more popular than route 15, midday service was reorganized in September 2011 so buses did one trip on route 9 then one trip on route 15. This same arrangement was applied to rush hour service in April 2012, interlining the routes again. Service to Millard Street was given back to route 15 at this time, although buses still went directly from Parkview Village to Millard; similar to the old arrangement. July 2012 saw route 15 officially merged back into route 9, providing one integrated route for Stouffville again. This was just branding however, as the schedule was the same as the one introduced in April 2012.

Route 9 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 9 was extended south to serve the Box Grove Plaza (NOT Box Grove Smart!Centres) on July 2, 2013. The school special diversion to Markham District High School was also discontinued, and was replaced by additional route 411 trips.

Vehicles
Route 9 is primarily a 30ft route, and uses E-Z Rider II/BRT/MAX. Occasionally New Flyer D40LF/D40LFR or New Flyer XD40 may be on a rush hour only run.

Major Stops

 * Box Grove Plaza: Southern terminus. Connection to route 14.
 * Church St.: Stop for Markham-Stouffville Hospital. Connections to Viva Purple and routes 1, 16, 18, 25, 201, 303, 522.
 * Parkview Village
 * Elm/Glad Park: Northern terminus.
 * Stouffville GO Station
 * Lebovic Leisure Centre
 * Main/Eastern Gate: Eastern terminus.
 * Hoover Park/10th Line
 * Walmart: Western terminus.