MiWay

History

Public transit in Mississauga was first operated by Charterways Limited as Mississauga Transit Systems with four buses in 1969 and was acquired by the city's newly formed Mississauga Transit in 1974, incorporating the former towns of Mississauga, Port Credit and Streetsville. Services began on November 1, 1973.

It later acquired routes formerly operated by others, such as;

Mississauga Transit was renamed MiWay on October 4, 2010. New MiWay-branded hybrid buses entered service, with orange MiLocal buses on local routes and blue MiExpress buses on express routes. Advertisements were placed on buses and shelters in September 2010 to introduce users to the new branding. Older buses using the old logo would continue to be used until they are decommissioned. Service levels did not change with the rebranding.

The reason for the company's new name is twofold: "Mi" could be interpreted as standing for Mississauga, and it is also a homophone of "My", suggesting possession.

On December 1, 2011, the last high-floor bus retired, making the transit fleet 100% low-floor and fully accessible. As of October 22, 2012, bus stop pads have been put at all stops that MiWay serves. This allowed all routes, hence the entire system, to become fully accessible.

Transitway

All MiWay routes are wheelchair-accessible ().

Other terminals and junctions

All MiWay routes are wheelchair-accessible ().

GO Transit stations

All MiWay routes are wheelchair-accessible ().

Routes

All routes are wheelchair-accessible ().

TTC-contracted routes

Toronto Transit Commission routes within Mississauga require an exact fare, a MiWay ticket or a transfer. A TTC ticket or token with cash supplement, depending on the category that the passenger falls on to, can also be used for fares. All TTC passes (day, weekly and monthly), except the GTA weekly pass, are not valid for travel in the Mississauga Fare Zone. Transfer privileges apply to and from MiWay routes. Only one route, 52B/52D Lawrence West, is operated by the TTC on behalf of the City of Mississauga.

Bus rapid transit

In 2007 Mississauga received federal funding for a bus rapid transit (BRT) line, the Mississauga Transitway. This line will be built alongside Highway 403, which passes through the City Centre. It will connect to Toronto and Pearson Airport at its terminus point, Renforth Drive.

Light rail transit

The Cities of Mississauga and Brampton propose a light rail transit (LRT) route on Hurontario Street between Port Credit and Downtown Brampton. This route would link Port Credit, Mississauga City Centre, and Downtown Brampton in response to increasing congestion and anticipated high growth in the corridor.

The LRT will connect to three GO Transit rail lines (Georgetown line at Brampton GO Station, Milton line at Cooksville GO Station, and Lakeshore West line at Port Credit GO Station), and seven rapid transit lines (Lakeshore Rapid Transit, Dundas Rapid Transit, Highway 407 Transitway, Züm Steeles, Züm Queen, Züm Main, and Mississauga BRT).

Accessibility

MiWay operates low floor, wheelchair accessible buses. The last high-floor bus was retired December 1, 2011. A separate transit service for the disabled, called Transhelp, is operated by the Peel Regional Municipality.

Schedules

Mississauga Transit's paper "Ride Schedules" were discontinued in 2004. From 2005 onward all timetables were only available from the system's website.

MiWay provides up-to-date bus schedules via their CityLink telephone service. In November 2005 MiWay inaugurated a schedule finder on their website, called Click 'n Ride, with information specific to each bus stop.

Fares

As of January 2017 the MiWay's cash fare is $3.50 (exact change) for all passengers. Transit passes are eligible for tax credits by the federal government. Presto cards are being used in the entire MiWay system since May 30, 2011.

Traditional fare media:

Presto card fares:

TTC-contracted routes:

Other fares:

Presto programs

In 2007, MiWay was the first test site for the new Presto card, before being adopted across the entire MiWay system in May 2011. Since launching the Presto card in Mississauga, MiWay has issued more than 9,000 cards and they are currently being used for more 2.4 million trips within the system. MiWay offers two programs exclusively for Presto cardholders:

Smart Commute Discount Transit Program

MiWay is also offering discounted adult transit passes to employees of the members of Smart Commute Mississauga and Smart Commute Pearson Airport Area. Transit passes are automatically paid by deductions on payrolls.

Fleet

Mississauga Transit has an active bus fleet of 443 units: 340 regular 40-foot buses, 67 60-foot articulated buses, and 36 32-foot minibuses. MiWay operates only fully wheelchair-accessible buses (); however, some routes are still not designated as accessible due to the lack of bus stop pads for safe loading and unloading of disabled passengers.

Media related to MiWay buses at Wikimedia Commons

Mississauga Transit Enforcement Officers patrol in white Dodge Chargers bearing a single black stripe and wording Transit Enforcement in black.

Staff

MiWay drivers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1572.

Mississauga Transit Enforcement officers are part of the City of Mississauga Corporate Security team and not Special Constables.