MiWay
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| Area served | Mississauga, ON |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | 3484 Semenyk Court Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
| Executive | Eve Wiggins, Director |
| Fleet size | 497 (January 2024) |
| Number of routes | 67 (January 2024) |
| Revenue Ridership | 44.7 million (2023) |
| Union | Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1572 |
| Website | miway.ca |
MiWay provides transit service to the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is Ontario's third largest transit agency. Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city and MiWay operates as part of the city's Transportation and Works Department. Connections are made with GO Transit, Brampton Transit, Oakville Transit, TTC and York Region Transit at several locations within MiWay's service area.
The Mississauga Transitway, a 18km Bus Rapid Transit system with 12 stations, was fully opened in November 2014 and is a major east-west transit corridor spanning the City of Mississauga.
History
Mississauga Transit first began operation in 1969. The southern transit service covering much of Mississauga was contracted to Charterways Transportation, while service in the northern area (Malton) was contracted to Georgetown Transportation Company. While the two systems were branded under Mississauga Transit, they were independent operations that did not connect with each other. The Town of Mississauga assumed operation of the municipal transit service by the end of 1973, bringing together the two systems and expanding the route network. In October 2010, Mississauga Transit was rebranded as MiWay.
Key Milestones
- For a detailed list of key milestones, see Mississauga Transit Timeline.
- 1969 - Mississauga Transit is established.
- 1973 - The Town of Mississauga assumes operation of the municipal transit service by the end of the year.
- 1974 - The new City of Mississauga is established, taking over the transit service. Mississauga Transit expands from 8 to 14 routes.
- 1977 - Central Parkway Garage is opened.
- 1982 - Mississauga Transit acquires 12 GM TA60-102N as part of a provincial demonstration project and becomes one of the first transit systems in Canada to operate articulated buses.
- 1987 - Mississauga Transit participates in a project for CNG buses, with a 1978 Orion I converted to run on CNG; Electronic Fareboxes are installed in all buses.
- 1989 - Mississauga Transit takes delivery of the first Orion V buses, and becomes the first transit system in Canada to operate buses with air conditioning.
- 1992 - Malton Garage is opened, featuring outdoor storage with buses plugged into a outdoor heating system.
- 1995 - Central Parkway Garage is expanded to include outdoor storage.
- 1997 - Mississauga Transit introduces the first low floor articulated buses; The City Centre Transit Terminal is opened.
- 2007 - Route 110 University Express is launched, becoming the first 'Pre Rapid Transit' (PRT) route, which would later expand to 9 routes.
- 2009 - Central Parkway Annex Garage is opened, as well as a new body shop for transit buses.
- 2010 - Mississauga Transit is rebranded MiWay with routes branded as MiLocal and MiExpress; First hybrid buses introduced.
- 2011 - By the end of the year, the entire MiWay fleet consists of low floor, fully accessible buses.
- 2014 - The first phase of the Mississauga Transitway is opened in November, between City Centre and Dixie Stations.
- 2017 - The Mississauga Transitway is fully complete with the opening of Renforth Station.
- 2019 - 24 hour weekday service is launched on routes 1, 3, 7, and 19.
Directors of Transit
The Director of Transit leads senior managers in operations, maintenance, business systems and business development, and reports to the Commissioner of Transportation and Works, who is currently Geoff Wright.
The following people have served as Director of Transit:
- Edward Dowling (1974-1997)
- William Cunningham (1997-2007)
- Geoff Marinioff (2007-2023)
- Eve Wiggins (2023-Present)
Fares
MiWay collects cash fares in its GFI Genfare CENTSaBILL fareboxes. Operators do not make change, and the farebox shows the driver exactly how much money has been put in. Presto readers are installed on all buses.
In order to encourage Presto usage, paper fare media has been discontinued. Paper weekly and monthly passes were discontinued between 2013 and April 2016. Paper tickets were discontinued effective May 1, 2019, however were accepted as valid fare media until the end of 2020. On August 11, 2022, fare open payment using contactless credit card or a mobile wallet on a smartphone or watch was introduced.
MiWay currently organizes fare categories based on age, similar to many other transit systems across the Greater Toronto Area. Children under 5 years of age ride free when accompanied by a fare paying customer, as do CNIB cardholders and support persons. The City of Mississauga also provides a 'Youth Freedom Pass' which allows youths 12-14 years of age to ride MiWay free of charge during the summer months.
On March 14, 2022, the GO transit co-fare was eliminated for PRESTO card holders, with a full reimbursement of your MiWay fare. A transfer is active for 2 hours when transferring from MiWay to GO service, and 3 hours when transferring from GO and MiWay service. Previously, a GO Transit co-fare of 80 cents applied to PRESTO card holders transferring between MiWay and GO Transit services.
Fares effective April 1, 2024
| Fare Type | Cash Fare | PRESTO | PRESTO Monthly Pass |
PRESTO Affordable Transit Program Monthly Pass |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child (Age 6-12) | Free | Free | Not Available |
| |
| Youth (Age 13-19) | $4.00 | $2.65 | Not Available | ||
| Adult (Age 20-64) | $4.25 | $3.40 | $141.00 | $70.50 | |
| Senior (Age 65+) | $1.00 | $1.00 | $65.00 | $32.50 |
|
Transfers
All fare paying passengers receive a transfer on the first bus they board. It is valid on any bus on any route for two hours from the time of fare payment. Presto card holders have a transfer automatically applied to their card, while cash-paying passengers receive a printed transfer from the Presto equipment.
MiWay accepts transfers from other GTA transit agencies, such as Brampton Transit, Oakville Transit and York Region Transit as long as they are not expired. However, TTC transfers are not accepted.
Bus routes
MiWay currently operates 79 bus routes throughout the City of Mississauga.
Currently, MiWay routes are generally organized in the following format: routes 1-99 are local routes, routes in the 100 series are express routes, and routes in the 300 series are school special routes.
Prior to 2005, express routes were numbered in the 80 series, and school specials were often numbered in the 70 and 90 series.
Historically, there were other numbering arrangements. For example, routes 11, 21, 31, 41, and 51 at one point all ran from Islington Station, travelling west on Dundas Street and branching off at various points along the street, allowing one seat trips to be made to the subway from most of the city.
For a listing of all current and historical MiWay routes, view the MiWay Routes page. All current routes are also listed in the template at the bottom of the page.
Fleet
Active
On Order
| Fleet Numbers | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | Engine | Transmission | Destination sign | Seating | Garage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (82) | 2024 | New Flyer | XDE40 | Cummins B6.7 250 hp |
BAE HybriDrive HDS 200 Series-ER |
Retired
- Note: early units under operation by Charterways had "Mississauga Transit" and "Operated for the Town of Mississauga by Charterways Co. Limited" lettering on the sides.
- Fleet numbers had initially been assigned in sequence based on series (2000-series, 3000-series, 5000-series) but starting around 1983, a year/bus fleet numbering system based on orders was adopted (e.g. 8605 = 1986 unit, bus 5 of that order)
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Non-service
MiWay operates a number of vehicles for non-service purposes. These vehicles include driver change off (relief) cars, supervisor vehicles, and service trucks. For more iformation, view Mississauga Transit non-service fleet.
