Züm


Züm is a bus rapid transit system for the suburban city of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, northwest of Toronto owned and operated by Brampton Transit. The first phase calls for three corridors operating in mixed traffic, similar to York Region Transit's Viva network. There are connections to the City of Mississauga, York Region, and the City of Toronto, with the first corridor having started service in fall 2010. Phase 1 became fully operational by fall 2012. A key aspect of the Züm plan is increased service on supporting local corridors. Unlike other, similar, services and partly due to Brampton's geographic position farther from Toronto than other suburbs such as Mississauga or Vaughan, many Züm corridors will overlap significantly with other agencies' services, requiring more complex, co-operative planning between neighbouring cities. During the planning of this bus rapid transit system, Züm was called Acceleride.

Routes

Phase 1

Phase 1 calls for three express corridors to improve service on some of Brampton's busiest routes.
Some stops and routes are located outside of Brampton, namely Mississauga, Toronto and Vaughan. Once the Queen route leaves Brampton and enters Vaughan, the bus schedule alternates between express with no stops until York University, or regular with stops at all stations that are on the York Region Transit Viva Orange route. Brampton Transit has a fare partnership agreement with York Region Transit that allows for boarding and debarking anywhere along the Viva Orange route, using Züm buses. This was particularly convenient during a labour dispute involving select contracted companies at York Region Transit resulting in the temporary suspension of Viva Orange.

Phase 2

In phase 2, the existing routes will be extended to the west. Beyond phase 2, the agency plans to look into exclusive busways.

Terminals

In preparation for the launch of Route 501, Brampton Transit re-built its Bramalea City Centre terminal, relocating it from its previous location beside Clark Boulevard, on the south side of the shopping centre, to the north-east corner, adjacent to Queen Street. Minor renovations will also be performed at the downtown terminal.
In preparation for the launch of its Steeles Avenue route, Brampton Transit also relocated the Shoppers' World terminal, near Hurontario and Steeles, to be closer to Hurontario/Main Street.
Züm uses Brampton's downtown, Bramalea, and Brampton Gateway terminals, in addition to Mississauga's City Centre terminal, and Toronto's York University Commons terminal. In December 2017, Züm connected to the TTC subway system at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

Intermodal transfer points

These stops allow interchange to other services, including Brampton Transit, Mississauga Transit, GO Transit, and the Toronto Transit Commission.
StopCorridorOpen
Airport LoopBovaird Drive2014
Bramalea City CentreQueen Street2010
Bramalea GO StationSteeles2012
Brampton Civic HospitalBovaird Drive2014
DowntownQueen Street2010
Humber College Steeles2012
Hurontario–407Main Streetlate 2012 and beyond
Lisgar GO Station Steeles2015
Mount Pleasant GO StationBovaird Drive2014
Sandalwood LoopMain Street2011
Shoppers WorldMain Street2011
Mississauga City Centre Transit TerminalMain Street2012
Trinity CommonBovaird Drive2014
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre TTC subway stationQueen Street2016
York University Queen Street2010

Fares

With York Region's Viva as a precedent, Züm buses shares the same fare structure as the conventional Brampton Transit system. Further partnership between the two agencies permits YRT customers to board Züm buses within York Region and pay standard YRT fares.
The Presto card fare payment system has been active on Züm since 2011.