Beverley Glen Ratepayers Association president Gila Martow is among those angered by the idea of taking buses off of campus when the subway extension opens and worries how it will affect students in her community. She called the idea of winter-only service an “attempt at damage control” by YRT staff that fails to address year-round problems, such as increased travel time, an extra transfer and the possibility of added expense for some bus riders.

“I am outraged that YRT’s planners agreed to discontinue direct bus service to the campus at York University since this will create a longer route for many students and staff,” she said in an e-mail. “This demonstrates a severe lack of insight by YRT planners into who uses public transit within the region and, I believe, should cause us to further question their assurances that it is proper planning to re-route the Hwy. 7 Rapidway down Bathurst (Street) and across Centre (Street) in Thornhill.

“Students need quick, efficient, easy, and inexpensive access to campuses (and) they should be the focus of all bus routes,” she added.

The decision demonstrates the need for Metrolinx to exercise greater control over local transit agencies to better establish a seamless transit system in the GTAH and avoid unnecessary projects, she said. Funds allocated for the Viva rapidway down Bathurst and across Centre, for example, would be better spent on establishing a downtown relief subway line and helping to build the Yonge Street subway extension into Richmond Hill as the project is poised to become a repeat of Toronto’s struggles on St. Clair Avenue.

Ms Martow also voiced concerns non-PRESTO card users would be forced to pay an additional fare for transferring from a YRT/Viva bus onto the new subway extension.

The intent is that YRT/Viva users won’t have to pay a second time to take the subway into the heart of the York U campus, Mr. Kawun said. That applies to riders paying by PRESTO and cash, he said, although the exact details are still being worked out.

There remains a great deal to be determined between now and 2016, York Region Rapid Transit Corporation spokesperson Dale Albers said. Routing in and around the campus has yet to be finalized and transit users and other interested parties will be consulted in the months to come.

“It’s premature to comment on the ongoing routing analyses which transit agencies that go to York University are considering in advance of the subway opening in 2016,” he said. “Nothing has been set and, as part of the analysis that YRT\Viva is doing of its own services, consultation with customers and stakeholders will be conducted this spring.”