YRT buses no longer allowed on York University campus, students forced to pay double fare Facebook

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York University students and employees are voicing their frustrations, now that York Region Transit buses are no longer allowed to stop on campus.

Michelle Galloro, who works at the school, says it has added at least 30 minutes to her already hour-and-a-half commute.

“You don’t even know what to do with the lack of time anymore because it is sometimes upwards of two hours each way,” she said. “They’re making service worse. Fees are going up and service is going down.”

The decision to stop YRT services on campus was made in a 2008 agreement between York Region, York University, the City of Toronto and the TTC.

“It’s not for me to say if it was the right decision, all I can tell you is that it was a decision agreed to by all the parties” said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green. “That was one of the principals of the new subway.”

With the Line 1 subway extension to campus now up and running, YRT is contractually obligated to stop service to campus.

The closest YRT stop is at Pioneer Village station which is a 20-30 minute walk to the central campus area. Students coming from York Region will have no choice but to walk or pay a second fare to hop on the subway.

“It seems to make it more difficult for students. And the transit system should make it easier, not harder. So, it kind of makes no sense,” said York U student Ryan Neiman.

“I think the TTC coming to York University is a great thing for commuters from Toronto but at the detriment of GTA commuters,” said Galloro.

York Region Transit says they have no choice but to abide by the decision, which was made in part to reduce the number of vehicles on campus, but also to prevent what officials call a duplication of services.

“It’s not the best situation. I’m doing what we are required to do,” said Anne-Marie Carroll, York Region Transit general manager. “When you spend all those millions of dollars to build a subway, there’s an expectation that the subway is going to be used.”

All parties are in ongoing talks to help reduce the financial burden on students by implementing fare integration between the TTC and YRT.

“There was a lot of hope between 2009 and now that we would’ve been a lot further ahead with the fare integration issue,” said Carroll.

York University tells CityNews that they’ve been advocating with the transportation agencies to reduce the financial burden for students by implementing fare integration as quickly as possible, and will continue to do so.

They add York offers free transportation from any location on campus to assist students, faculty and staff with mobility needs.