Toronto Coach Terminal

Toronto Coach Terminal
Toronto Coach Terminal
Station statistics
Address	610 Bay Street
Coordinates	43°39′22.3″N 79°23′03.0″W / 43.656194°N 79.38417°WCoordinates: 43°39′22.3″N 79°23′03.0″W / 43.656194°N 79.38417°W
Lines	Greyhound; Coach Canada; Ontario Northland; PMCL; Can-ar; Megabus
Connections	Dundas Subway Station
Platforms	7 bus bays (departure)
Parking	no
Bicycle facilities	no
Baggage check	yes
Other information
Opened	1931
Rebuilt	1984/1990
Accessible
Owned by	Toronto Transit Commission
Traffic
Passengers (per year)	1,000,000+

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The bus platforms at the rear of the main terminal, as seen from above. Departure platforms are housed in the structure in the middle, while the structure in the distant right houses the arrival platforms.

The Toronto Coach Terminal is the main bus station for inter-city services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 610 Bay Street, (just north of Dundas Street), in the downtown core of the city. The terminal is owned by Toronto Coach Terminal Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of the Toronto Transit Commission^[1]. Opened in 1931 as the Gray Coach Terminal, the Art-Deco style terminal was home base for Gray Coach, an interurban bus service then owned by the TTC. It replaced an earlier open air terminal, Gray Line Terminal.^[2]

[edit] Location

It is one block west of Dundas subway station, and connected to it underground via the PATH network. It is also about the same distance from St. Patrick subway station. The bus platforms are located on Edward Street, on the west side of the terminal building. A small side entrance on the west side off Elizabeth Street, is connected to the main concourse area on Bay Street by a corridor behind the bus platforms.

[edit] Renovations

The terminal is a two-storey historic building. In 1984, the building containing the bus bays was renovated by demolishing the internal walls, keeping the external walls intact—a process known as facadism.^[3] An annex, located to the west of the main terminal building on Elizabeth Street, houses buses using the terminal. A renovation of the main terminal building occurred in 1990 to create more seating for waiting passengers and an upstairs restaurant which has since been closed.

The annex was originally built to handle GO Transit bus arrivals and departures but with the relocation of GO buses to the new Union Station Bus Terminal on Front Street in 2003. The annex now handles arrivals for the remaining bus lines while departures leave from the main terminal, a set-up that is rather unique for bus terminals or other passenger transportation infrastructure. Nearby landmarks include the Toronto Eaton Centre, the Atrium on Bay, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square. It is also within walking distance of Chinatown.

[edit] Services

The terminal is now used by Coach Canada and Greyhound Canada.

From the Toronto Coach Terminal, Coach Canada operates casino shuttles from Toronto to Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. Under the Megabus Canada brand, Coach Canada operates double-decker buses to Montreal via Kingston with stops in Kirkland, QC, Cornwall, Brockville, and the Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal. Coach Canada also operates buses to Niagara Falls, with select buses going to Buffalo and Buffalo International Airport. In conjunction with Megabus USA (operated by Coach USA), Coach Canada operates buses to Buffalo, NY, Buffalo International Airport, Rochester on limited schedules, Syracuse, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Please see the Toronto Hub section on this page for more information on their schedules.

Greyhound Canada operates buses from the Toronto Coach Terminal to Ottawa, Belleville, Peterborough, Pembroke, London and Windsor.

Greyhound Canada also operates a small network of commuter services branded as Quicklink. Buses run from the Toronto Coach Terminal to Barrie, Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Peterborough, and Waterloo.

[edit] Future

Metrolinx, the government agency that oversees transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, is considering building a new bus terminal at 45 Bay Street or another location near Union Station that would replace both the Union Station Bus Terminal and the Toronto Coach Terminal and house GO Transit buses, Greyhound and Coach Canada in one location. Conversely, the Toronto Coach Terminal is proposing to Metrolinx that a new facility be built at the terminal's current location combining the original terminal and the Elizabeth Street annex into one structure that could fit double the current number of bus bays.^[4]