Markham Transit
Markham Transit was a public transit system for the town of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1973 and operated by Travelways and Miller Transit Limited after 1984 on behalf of the then Town of Markham. The service was merged into York Region Transit in 2001 with Miller Transit continuing to operate most Markham routes. History. Prior to 1973 public transit system were a patchwork of routes by various operators. In the early 1800s stagecoaches or omnibuses ran along Yonge to hotels in Richmond Hill to York (Toronto) beginning from the 1820s. Markham Village also had stagecoaches  but from 1871 to 1980 it had passenger rail serivces by various operators (Toronto and Nipissing Railway, Midland Railway of Canada, Grand Trunk Railway, Canadian National Railway and VIA Rail) before GO Transit began commuter rail service in 1982 as the Stouffville line. In Thornhill privately owned Metropolitan Street Railway or Metropolitan line ran streetcars on Yonge Street serving Markham on the eastside from 1897 to 1930. Publicly owned (via TTC) North Yonge Railways provided radial electric railway service on Yonge Street from 1930 to 1948. From 1948 to 1977 Toronto Transit Commission (Toronto Transportation Commission before 1954) ran North  Yonge (later as 59 North Yonge) bus route on Yonge. From 1977 to 2001 GO Transit Yonge C bus route provided suburban bus service. Routes. Contracted routes. There were a number or north–south routes operated for Markham Transit by other operators: The Toronto Transit Commission's 53 Steeles East was never operated on behalf of Markham Transit and did not require additional fares when the bus ran within Markham. (53B/E used Middlefield Road, Elson Street and Markham Road from 1994 to 1999; after 1999 the route turned at McCowan Road north of Steeles, along Elson Street to Markham  Road.) Park 'n' ride. This service allowed patrons to park cars at select locations and board buses without paying for parking. Park 'N Ride Locations included: Additional services. Mobility Bus Service Markham Transit provided specialized services for the disabled and was similar to the TTC's WheelTrans. Separate wheelchair accessible vehicles were operated for this service. It also included "Taxi Scrip", service for unplanned trips using contracted taxi operators. Request Stop program Similar services offered by the TTC for female patrons at night. This excluded routes from contractors (namely TTC and GO Transit), whom dictated their own Request Stop program . Faster to Finch Offered express connection between Markham Transit and GO Transit and 407 ETR to Finch Station. Transcab Introduced in 1990s when Markham Transit did not operate night services. The hours of operations was after 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. By the late 1990s, Markham Transit offered evening and weekend services; this has been continued under YRT. Transcab was replaced by school bus shuttles in 1997. Fleet. Many of Markham Transit's vehicles were second-hand, but more recent buses were new purchases. They were maintained by the contractor. Current YRT status (2005): Denotes wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Past fleet . Under Travelways the paint scheme used a olive/gold large arrow pointing to the front on a white background. A triple "m" logo on the front and sides. The word "Markham Transit" in black was found on both sides in front of the arrow. With Miller the fleet replaced the colour scheme with reddish-brown and yellowish-gold on a white background with the town's word mark "Markham" on the sides near the rear. Facilities. Markham Transit buses were stored at Miller Transit yard on Miller Avenue (Woodbine Avenue and Highway 407). The buses were stored in an outside  area on the east side of Woodbine.