York Region Transit route 589/590 'Richmond Hill Local'


	589/590 Richmond Hill Local
Number of Branches		2
Types of buses used		EZ Rider MAX
Division		Southwest (Mobility Plus)
Related routes		None

589/590 Richmond Hill Community Bus was a community route operated by York Region Transit in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.

Route Details

The route operated on Yonge Street, Dunlop Street, Pugsley Avenue, Major Mackenzie Drive, and Harding Boulevard.

This route served Mon Sheong Court, Bernard Terminal, Upper Yonge Plaza, Richmond Heights Plaza, Central Library, Richmond Hill GO Station, York Medical Building, Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital, T&T Supermarket Plaza, Hillcrest Mall, and South Hill Plaza. It also served many of the residences in central Richmond Hill.

Route 589/590 connected to VIVA Blue on Yonge Street at 16th Avenue/Carrville Road, Weldrick Road, Major Mackenzie Drive, Crosby Avenue, Elgin Mills Road, and Bernard Avenue.

Branches

This route had 2 branches:

589 Richmond Hill Community Bus - Counter-clockwise (7 days a week)
590 Richmond Hill Community Bus - Clockwise (7 days a week)

History

Service was first operated on a community-bus type approach to the seniors in the central Richmond Hill area by Richmond Hill Transit. Orion IIs and/or SoLos were operating at this time. Starting in 2007, the vehicle type changed to the Mobility Plus ELF vehicles instead of conventional vehicles (SLF and EZ Rider II). This was to keep more in line with the other community bus routes, which also ran using ELFs. Since there were no destination signs on the ELFs, a sheet of paper describing the route was put in the windows of the vehicles. November 2008 saw the return of conventional vehicles (EZ Riders), however this was likely unplanned as buses ran without destination signs displaying route info.

September 4, 2001 - York Region Transit inherited this from Richmond Hill Transit during the merger and continued to operate the route with conventional low-floor buses (II, SoLo and now SLFs). The route was assigned the number 89, keeping with the other Richmond Hill-area routes.

May 12, 2002 - New weekend service is introduced. Route is extended east on Major Mackenzie Drive past Bayview Avenue to serve the Walmart Plaza.

September 2, 2008 - Route is renumbered from 89 to 589.

September 8, 2009 - McConaghy Centre will no longer be served on Sundays. Service to the Richmond Hill Centre Library and on Baif Boulevard is removed.

December 20, 2009 - Service along Baif Boulevard is restored.

November 14, 2011 - Route 589 is reorganized to operate in a counter clockwise direction and route 590 is introduced to operate in a clockwise direction. Community bus service is expanded to serve new locations and streets within Richmond Hill. New locations include Loblaws - Richmond Hill Market, 10870 Yonge Street (Longos/Rexall), the medical building at 955 Major Mackenzie Drive West, Richmond Hill Central Library (Sundays only), and the South Hill Shopping Centre.

June 29, 2014 - Route is modified to serve the medical building at 955 Major Mackenzie Drive West on Ilan Roman Boulevard. Also, buses operating on Sundays will no longer loop within the Richmond Hill Library property. On Sundays, the library can only be accessed via on-street stops on Major Mackenzie Drive at Yonge Street.

April 29, 2018 - Service on Ilan Ramon Boulevard, Valley Vista Drive, and Major Mackenzie Drive west of Trench Street is removed and the route will no longer serve the medical centre at 955 Major Mackenzie Drive West. Service is extended north along Yonge Street to Devonsleigh Boulevard where the new northern terminus is Mon Sheong Court. Southbound 590 buses operate via east on Devonsleigh Boulevard, south on Yorkland Street, and west on Bernard Avenue to the Loblaws at Yonge Street.

June 30, 2019 - Due to low ridership, weekend and Holiday service is discontinued. Route is renamed from "Richmond Hill Community Bus" to "Richmond Hill Local".

April 5, 2020 - Route is replaced with Mobility On-Request Richmond Hill Local. Instead of operating over fixed bus route, service will provide direct pick-up and drop-off between any YRT stops along the former 589/590 route. Service will operate from 7:00am to 3:00pm.

Vehicles

Route 589/590 operated mainly with the 99x-series EZ Rider MAX buses.

Route Maps

April 2018 - May 2022
June 2014 - April 2018
November 2011 - June 2014
September 2008 - November 2011
May 2002 - September 2008
September 2001 - May 2002

Summary

Major Stops

Major Stop	Branches	Notes
Major Stop	589/590	Notes
Hillcrest Mall	589/590
South Hill Plaza	589/590
Marshall St. / Observatory Lane Residences	589/590
Baif Residences	589/590
33 Weldrick Rd. East	589/590
T&T Supermarket Plaza	589/590
York Medical Building	589/590
Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital	589/590
955 Major Mackenzie Dr. West	589/590
McConaghy Centre	589/590
Richmond Hill Central Library	589/590
Smart!Centres Plaza (Food Basics/Walmart)	589/590
Rosetown Apartments	589/590
Dunlop Residences	589/590
Richmond Heights Plaza	589/590
Upper Yonge Plaza (Loblaws)	589/590
Mon Sheong Court	589/590