Union Station Bus Terminal

The Union Station Bus Terminal is the central intercity bus terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Downtown Toronto on the second floor of the south tower of CIBC Square, on the northeast corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. The terminal currently serves GO Transit regional buses as well as Coach Canada, Greyhound Lines and Ontario Northland long-distance bus services, among others. Owned by the provincial Crown agency Metrolinx, the terminal is connected by pedestrian walkways to the adjacent Union Station, Canada's busiest transportation hub.

The terminal opened on December 5, 2020, replacing both an outdoor terminal that was located on the north side of the rail corridor and the Toronto Coach Terminal.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Toronto hub for GO Transit bus services was the Elizabeth Street annex to the Toronto Coach Terminal at Bay and Dundas Streets, with some routes also stopping curb-side at the Union Station train terminal, or the Royal York Hotel opposite it, from the inception of the GO Bus service on September 8, 1970. After most operations moved out of that terminal in the mid-1990s, GO buses used a curb-side facility on Front Street in front of the railway station that could hold up to seven buses. However, taxis, delivery trucks and other private vehicles would compete for space in the area reserved for buses. GO staff had to organize lines of waiting passengers so as not to obstruct the sidewalk in front of the station.

Given the traffic congestion and subsequent delays to service, a dedicated bus terminal close to Union Station was required. In 2003, GO Transit officially opened a dedicated Union Station bus terminal at 141 Bay Street at a cost of $9 million on December 5. The terminal unofficially commenced service the Labour Day weekend in 2002, when GO's Hamilton Express service, which was the last GO route still using the Elizabeth Street Terminal, relocated to Union. Non-GO intercity bus operators such as Greyhound and Coach Canada continued to operate out of the Toronto Coach Terminal.

The terminal was built on the site of a small passenger depot and a former CP Express & Transport building. Most of the old structure was demolished, with a dock door retained and its limestone fascia stored for future use.

The bus terminal was located on the east side of Bay Street directly across from the railway terminal, behind and south of the Dominion Public Building on Front Street, with an enclosed walkway above Bay Street directly connecting the terminal to the railway station concourse. There was also direct stairway access from the bus terminal to railway platforms 4 through 13 via the Bay East Teamway under the railway tracks.

The terminal had 7 platforms with fixed platform assignments. Every GO bus route departed from the same platform, a practice that would result in backlogs and delays. Due to height restrictions on the approaches to the terminal, all buses that served the terminal were single-decker buses or special low-height double-decker buses. Per weekday, the bus terminal hosted 485 bus trips and served 13,600 riders. According to Metrolinx, it was estimated more than 100 million customers had used the terminal while it was in operation.

The bus terminal's last day of service was December 4, 2020, when it relocated to its current location under CIBC Square. The 2003 terminal was demolished shortly after.