A new GO bus terminal opened last week at Union Station in Toronto.
The 23,000 sq. ft. terminal, at the north-east corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Boulevard, links people travelling in and out of the downtown core.
The new terminal is an upgrade from the old one, which had more than 100-million customers travel through it since it first opened in 2003.
With 14 bus bays – double the capacity of the previous terminal – 270 bike parking spaces, and convenient amenities like washrooms, charging ports and Wi-Fi. The new 10,000-square-metre bus terminal will have two levels in which the buses will enter from Lake Shore Blvd. Each level will have seven bus bays – a total of 14, twice as many as the current station.
Construction was a joint project between Metrolinx and Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines and the project includes two office towers – at 81 and 141 Bay Street – and an overbuild park spanning the GO rail corridor.
Some of the changes at the new station include an indoor glass pedestrian bridge that connects the terminal to Scotiabank Arena’s galleria and the city’s PATH pedestrian walkway system.
The bus platforms will occupy two floors instead of one, while safety gates will keep riders away from the buses until they’re ready to board.
The project has been under construction for more than three years.
