What’s going on subway surfers, we’re back on the surface today
exploring the newly opened Canadian Drive Transit Hub in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Opened in October 2020, this seven-bay bus terminal on the south side of the Niagara
Square Shopping Centre will service buses run by Niagara Falls Transit and Niagara Region Transit.
Today, we’re taking a look around this newly opened transit hub, which will provide a dedicated
transfer facility between various routes. I’m Zach with Vanishing Underground, and let’s take a look.
The Canadian Drive Transit Hub is located near the intersection of Montrose Road and
Canadian Drive in Niagara Falls, roughly 4.3 kilometres southwest of downtown.
The newly constructed terminal contains seven bus bays, divided over three separate
zones. This new terminal replaces a previous facility located roughly 250 metres northwest,
which contained three bus bays on the west side of the Niagara Square Mall.
Shortly after the mall's closure, the terminal was relocated to a temporary platform on the east side
of the mall property. As the demolition of the former mall is now complete, the terminal has
opened in its final location, in close proximity to some of the new buildings constructed on the
site. The previous 83-tenant indoor mall has been replaced with an outdoor shopping plaza,
which includes a new Costco store, Winners, Cineplex movie theatre, and other smaller
tenants. Unfortunately, there are no sidewalks from the terminal into the shopping plaza,
requiring pedestrians to walk on the driveway to access the stores.
The new transit hub contains seven bus bays, which are divided into three zones by driveways for the
Niagara Square Shopping Centre. The eastern zone contains 3 bus bays, which service Niagara Falls
Transit routes along Kalar and Montrose Road. On Platform B, Niagara Region Transit routes
running between the Morrison & Dorchester Hub and the Niagara College Welland Campus stop in
both directions, while Niagara Region route 22 running to Fort Erie stops nearby at Platform C.
In the middle zone, two bus bays service the remaining Niagara Falls Transit routes, which
travel east across the Queen Elizabeth Expressway. Routes 101, 103, and 203 travel to the Main & Ferry Hub,
while routes 111 and 211 travel north to the Morrison & Dorchester Hub. During weekday
and Saturday daytimes, route 112 also provides a connection east to Chippawa. The western zone of
the terminal is currently unused and contains two smaller bus bays, which will most likely service
Chair-a-Van mobility drop-offs, as well as future local TransCab and regional on-demand routes.
Buses turn into the terminal from the signalized intersection at Montrose Road,
before servicing the bus platforms along the north side of Canada Drive.
From there, buses continue west on Canada Drive, turning north on Pin Oak Drive. At McLeod Road,
buses then diverge either left or right to their respective routes. The terminal design is minimal,
with only bus bays, shelters, and sidewalks connecting the platforms.
The east and centre platforms each contain two standard shelters, containing lighting
and benches. A higher shelter connects the two standard shelters, with provisions for a future
real-time information display to be installed. The west platform contains only a singular shelter,
also equipped with benches. Driver's washrooms are located to the west of the centre platform,
and overhead lighting is present throughout much of the transit hub.
Thanks for watching. We hope you enjoyed, and perhaps found a new place to check
out on your next adventure. If you have any questions or we got anything wrong,
feel free to leave a comment below, and we’ll be sure to get back to you. As always, leave a
like if you want to see more, and as for us here, we’ll be Vanishing Underground until the next one.