Grid routes

With this change, OT is introducing a grid system of six new transit routes running north-to-south and east-to-west, providing easier, faster and more direct ways to travel by transit throughout the town.

Buses serving stops along the new grid routes operate every 20 minutes during Monday-to-Friday rush hours and every 40 minutes during all other times of the week, including Sundays and holidays. (Buses serving stops along the new 1 Trafalgar route operate every 20 minute until 10 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.)

The new grid routes are:

• 1 Trafalgar — Buses operate north and south along Trafalgar Road between the newly expanded Uptown Core Terminal and the Oakville GO station. Along the way, buses also drop off and pick up passengers in the new terminal at Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.
• 2 Lakeshore — Buses operate east and west along Lakeshore Roads West and East between Bronte GO station and Ford and Kingsway Drives. Buses then continue along Upper Middle Roads East and West along Route 6.
• 3 Third Line — Buses operate north and south along Third Line Between Dundas Street and Hopedale Mall. Along the way, they drop off and pick up passengers at the Bronte GO Station.
• 4 Speers / Cornwall — Buses operate east and west along Speers Road, Cornwall Road and Royal Windsor Drive between Bronte and Clarkson GO stations. Along the way they drop off and pick up passengers at the Oakville GO Station.
• 5 Dundas Buses operate east and west along Dundas Streets West and East between from Palermo and the Uptown Core Terminal.
• 6 Upper Middle - Buses operate east and west along Upper Middle Roads West and East between Bronte GO station and Ford and Kingsway Drives. Buses then continue along Lakeshore Roads East and West along Route 2.

Local routes

Oakville Transit still operates many of its former routes, which it now terms “local routes”. It has canceled some of these and combined some, but basically most streets that currently have transit service continue to have transit service. Buses serving local routes may not operate seven days a week and may operate less frequently than currently, but many of them also operate later at night than they do currently.

Using buses operating along local routes, Oakville Transit is now introducing new transit service to Devon Road, Lakeshore Road West and Maple Grove Drive along a revised 11 Linbrook route, to Sixth Line along a revised 19 River Oaks route and to Postmaster Drive along a new 22 Upper Glen Abbey route.

Zone Express late-night service

Oakville Transit has replaced the current Zone Express service with buses operating along fixed route throughout the day, evening, weekends and holidays. Zone Express buses continue to operate late at night though, meeting passengers arriving on late GO trains arriving at Oakville GO Station at 12:25 and 1:25 a.m. seven days a week. The buses offer passengers drop-off service only, each bus serving one of four zones in the town. Passengers board the buses that serve the area of Oakville they wish to reach and tell the driver where they wish to travel. The driver then considers all the requests to create a unique route to take everyone where they want to go. (Trafalgar Road and the Queen Elizabeth Way divide the town into the four zones.)

Other steps

This is just the first step in improving transit service in Oakville. During the next few years, Oakville Transit plans to continually improve service, building on the changes it’s making now.

To support the new transit network design, Oakville Transit is also:

• installing new larger, more colourful and more visible bus stop signs;
• installing 40 new shelters to improve customer waiting areas;
• finishing the second phase of the Uptown Core Terminal for a total of nine bus bays; (Mississauga Transit buses will operate to the terminal in October.)
• opening new terminal at Sheridan College on Ceremonial Drive. This new terminal will provide bus bays for Oakville Transit and GO Transit and improves customer waiting areas with spacious and heated shelters.

More news

In other news, Oakville Transit again restricts students to using their Freedom Passes only after 4 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturdays, Sundays and holdays.

(Students could use the passes all day every day in July and August.)

And, buses operating along the 15 Bridge service resume their regular route along Queen Mary Drive and Shepherd Road, when the Shepherd Road bridge re-opens after construction on Tuesday, September 8.

The following posts provide details of the extensive service changes.

The information appears in four parts.

Part 1 describes how Oakville Transit is: introducing new grid routes and introducing new local routes.

Part 2 describes how Oakville Transit is: canceling current routes; and canceling former extra service to high schools.

Part 3 describes how Oakville Transit is: revising current routes, increasing the hours of service along current routes, decreasing the frequency of service along current routes, introducing new extra service to high schools; adjusting the schedules of current routes; and maintaining some current routes without changes.

Part 4 describes which buses serve which terminals.