Metrolinx completed the Kipling Transit Hub, where riders in Toronto’s west region can connect to GO Transit, MiWay bus and Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) services at a single location in Etobicoke, Ontario.
“The transit connections offered at the new Kipling Transit Hub will provide residents with better access to job and housing opportunities, both locally and across the Greater Golden Horseshoe,” said Ontario Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney.
Ontario Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA) Kinga Surma added, ““By supporting communities and delivering a seamless transit experience, we will meet the needs of the over five million people who will call this region home by 2051.”
The new facility has 14 bus bays, 90 bike spaces, an elevated pedestrian bridge connecting the GO train platform with the bus terminal and underground tunnels linking the bus terminal to the TTC station.
The 3,000-square-foot indoor waiting area in the bus terminal features heated floors, accessible elevators, digital displays with schedule information, wayfinding signage, enhanced lighting, PRESTO and pay machines, as well as electric phone charging stations. Outside, the hub features a snow melting system on the bus platform, upgrades to the GO train platform (including accessible boarding features), updated pick-up and drop-off building and more than 1,400 parking spaces.
"We have created a seamless transit journey by bringing together all of the transit services customers depend on. With connections to the Milton line, more than 10 bus routes, GO, MiWay and TTC transit providers and express access to the airport, the Kipling Transit Hub will be a new home base as customers travel across the region," said Metrolinx President and CEO Phil Verster.
Metrolinx says Kipling Transit Hub was designed with the goal to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. The facility has a 48,000-square-foot green roof that was installed last summer and includes 24,000 vegetated modules. Metrolinx says the green roof helps improve the building’s overall energy performance, diverts excess rainwater and helps combat the urban heat island effect.
“Sustainable design and construction are now an essential part of environmental stewardship,” said Payman Khezri, Metrolinx project manager, project delivery team.
EllisDon Infrastructure Transit was awarded a C$73-million (US$60.5-million) contract in 2018 to design, build and finance the project. Construction began in the fall of 2018.
