Hey guys, welcome back to the channel! Today, we are exploring Don Mills station, a TTC
subway station that is the eastern terminus of the Sheppard subway line. Even though the
Sheppard line isn’t known for being the busiest, Don Mills station still has a lot
to offer and many interesting things to see with it being both a subway and bus terminal.
Alright, come with me, and we’ll get going!
Located at the intersection of Don Mills and Sheppard right near highways 401 and 404,
Don Mills station opened in 2002 along with the rest of the Sheppard line. The station
is sizeable and sprawling across the southern end of Fairview Mall, one of the city’s
bigger shopping malls. Here you can get on the Sheppard subway heading for Sheppard-Yonge,
or you can get on one of TTC or Viva’s local bus routes.
Let’s first check out the main concourse of the station, which connects the bus terminal
and the various entrances of the station. First-time visitors will definitely be a little
daunted by the size of this concourse and the tall ceilings, but thankfully there are
lots of signs to get you around. One important aspect to notice about the concourse
is the series of decorative tiles and artwork on the walls and floors. This is a public
art piece named before / after: 1997 / 2002 created by Toronto artist Stephen Cruise,
it consists of graphical depictions of local flora and fauna, the geological strata through
which the line travels, as well as fossils of leaves, fish and turtles found at the site.
There is one main entrance with a collector’s booth, where you can also find washrooms and
other amenities. You can also buy some yummy baked goods from this bakery here, for when
you want a bite for the ride.
Time to head down to the platforms. This center platform is similar to other ones on the Sheppard
line, such as the one at Leslie station that we covered for the very first episode of this
series. It features the usual amenities such as TVs, maps, waiting areas, benches, as well
as big signs that indicate which side the next train will come from. This station is
fully accessible like other stations on the line, and you can move between the platform
and concourse by stairs, escalators, or elevator.
Now, let's head up to the bus terminal and concourse and see what we can find there,
it is just up the stairs from the main concourse. This bus concourse is quite sizeable with
a round building housing things like departure boards, maps, benches, and telephones inside,
and a much larger covered platform outside. Here, you can use the presto machines to load
up or get a Viva ticket if you decide to use that service, or shop at this convenience
store which was unfortunately closed when we were there. Lots of buses serve this station
with it being the terminus and one of the only northeast subway stations, and it is
one of the only stations that have another transit agency’s services available for
boarding within itself. The bus routes here include the 25, 925 and 325
Don Mills, 85, 985, and 385 Sheppard east, 10 Van Horne, 24B Victoria park, 167 Pharmacy
North, and 169 Huntingwood. The YRT buses here include the 24 Woodbine, the 90 Leslie,
and the Viva Green, although there is only pickup service inside the terminal, so that
passengers getting dropped off aren’t allowed to skip the TTC fare.
Outside of the building shelter, we find a long platform that extends both ways all along
this massive indoor terminal. Buses will park along this platform all around, so make sure
you find the correct spot for your desired bus by looking at the signs. Too bad it is
a little dark for my poor eyesight to see sometimes. At the very end here you can also
find another Viva machine if you intend to use the Viva service, and there are some benches
if you would rather wait out here. Seems like there is some sort of construction going on,
most likely general upkeep and maintenance of the platform.
In terms of station surroundings, Don Mills is located at the centre of a relatively busy
commercial corner of a predominantly residential area, with Fairview Mall being right here,
as well as the Fairview branch of the Toronto Public Library.
Fairview Mall is a large shopping centre here in North York with over 180 stores and a Cineplex
theatre, over an area of about 80 thousand square meters, or 800 thousand square feet.
You can access the mall via this automated entrance reachable from the bus terminal,
and crossing the parking lot of the mall. With the unfortunate closing of the Sears
department store that was here though, the closest entrance to the mall is blocked off,
and customers must walk around to the side entrance of the mall in order to get in. This
is the mall I grew up with, and while it definitely isn’t as big as some other malls in Toronto
such as Eaton or Yorkdale, it is still quite a good indoor mall experience up here in North
York. Besides the mall, there are quite a few condo
buildings around here as well as office towers. The highways around here mean that a lot of
people will be driving instead of using transit, but the abundance of buses serving this station
do help ridership, with Don Mills being the second busiest station on the line beside
Sheppard Yonge with a respectable 37 thousand riders in an average weekday.
In this parkade here is also the TTC commuter parking, although it is restricted to levels
4 and 5, leaving the lower levels available for mall patrons.
The other two entrances are on the northeast and southeast sides of Sheppard Avenue respectively,
and these have access to the manned collector's booth we mentioned earlier. One of these entrances
also comes with a passenger pick-up area with 18 temporary parking spaces, right alongside
some Fairview mall outdoor parking, which will be useful for taxis and cars picking
up and dropping off. Here you can also find a bus stop serving some of the routes we mentioned
earlier that run on Sheppard.
Alright guys, thanks for coming along with me to check out Don Mills station, and I hope
you’ve enjoyed this video. As always, like, subscribe, and leave a comment down below
to tell us what station you want us to explore next in the station focus series. Thanks for
watching guys, and we’ll see you in the next one.