Finch station

Finch
Finch station platform level
Location	5600 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	43°46′50″N 79°24′53″W / 43.78056°N 79.41472°W / 43.78056; -79.41472Coordinates: 43°46′50″N 79°24′53″W / 43.78056°N 79.41472°W / 43.78056; -79.41472
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	TTC buses  36  Finch West  39  Finch East  42  Cummer  53  Steeles East  60  Steeles West  97  Yonge  125  Drewry  320   Yonge  336   Finch West  339   Finch East  939  Finch Express  953  Steeles East Express  960  Steeles West Express Finch Bus Terminal
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Parking	3,251
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	March 29, 1974; 47 years ago (1974-03-29)
Passengers
2018[1]	99,350
Rank	6 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station North York Centre toward Vaughan Yonge–University Terminus

Finch is the northern terminus subway station of the eastern section of Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located under Yonge Street, north of Finch Avenue.^[2]

Finch is the busiest TTC bus terminal and the sixth-busiest subway station, serving approximately 99,350 people per day. The station connects with other transit agencies at the adjoining Finch Bus Terminal.

History[]

The station was opened on March 29, 1974, in what was then the Borough of North York, by provincial premier Bill Davis and borough mayor Mel Lastman. It replaced York Mills as the northern terminus of the line. Houses which once fronted the station along Yonge Street were demolished. Finch was created using the cut-and-cover technique as a way to save money.^[3]

In 1999, this station became accessible with elevators.

In April 2006, work began on creating a new exit from the bus station on the western stub of Pemberton Avenue. This new exit was created because of the passenger and vehicular congestion that was created during the rush hour periods.^[4] In the morning rush hour, buses took an average of 1 minute and 58 seconds to travel the 40 metres from the station to Yonge Street, with some waiting up to 4 minutes.^[4] The new exit was completed in January 2007.

Station description[]

A map of Finch station and surrounding area. The maroon exit indicates the Pemberton Exit

Station layout and features[]

Stairs, escalators, and elevators lead from the bus platform down three levels to the train platform. The upper concourse, one floor below the bus platform, is a corridor running the length of the bus platform. It collects the landings of all of the terminal's stairs and escalators and leads to another bank of stairs and escalators down to the lower concourse.^[2]

The lower concourse level is the main concourse of the subway station. It is divided into the fare-paid and unpaid areas. The unpaid area is a long corridor, part of which runs alongside the fare-paid area lined with several automated Presto card fare gates and manned entrances. It contains connections to office towers (North American Life, Place Nouveau, and condominiums on Pemberton Avenue), the regional bus terminal, and the "Kiss-n-Ride" passenger drop-off facility; it also contains Presto card fare vending machines. The fare-paid area houses a few shops, including Gateway Newstands and Tim Hortons, florist, lottery booth, clothing shop, and stairs and escalators down to the subway platform.^[2]

Entrances[]

Passengers can enter the station from eight different entrances located in the Finch Avenue and Yonge Street area. Accessible entrances can be found on Yonge Street at Hendon Avenue, by the Finch Bus Terminal, and at the North American Centre. Other non-accessible entrances can be found at 5775 and 5765 Yonge Street, Pemberton Avenue, and at the northeast corner of the Yonge Street and Finch Avenue intersection.^[2]

There is an emergency exit between Finch and North York Centre stations at the northeast corner of Church Avenue and Yonge Street. The site was once the Willowdale United Church, demolished to make way for subway construction. Stairs from the subway tunnel surface into a brick building in the old cemetery.

Parking lots and passenger drop-off facility[]

"Kiss-n-Ride"

There are two major TTC parking lots (referred to as the car park in directional signage) at Finch Station for use by commuters. They are named the East Lot and the West Lot, and are located north of Bishop/Hendon, east and west of Yonge Street respectively. The lots have a combined capacity of 3251 parking spaces, the most of any TTC facility. As of January 1, 2012, parking costs $5 from 5:00am to 3:00pm on weekdays, $2 between 3:00pm and 2:00am, and free all-day on weekends and holidays.^[5]

In addition to the parking lots, Finch station also features a relatively elaborate "kiss-n-ride" passenger drop-off/pick-up facility, which is connected to the lower concourse level of the station (outside the fare-paid area) by pedestrian tunnels. The area has a round, indoor waiting area for passengers, with about 20 temporary parking spaces circularly surrounding the structure. It is adjacent to the west parking lot.

On the north side of Bishop Avenue, slightly east of the station (along the southern edge of the GO bus terminal) is a parking lane for taxicabs. This is best accessed by exiting the subway station at the stairs/escalator to the north-east corner of Yonge and Bishop (the GO bus terminal).

Ridership[]

The ridership at Finch station has been relatively stable since 2007, with a peak ridership of 101,940 in 2011 and the lowest ridership in 2016 with 85,720 riders.^[6]

Architecture and art[]

The sculpture on the concourse level, Rhythm Of Exotic Plants, is "donated by Rio Algom Ltd. for the enjoyment of TTC riders"

Krystyna Sadowska's sculpture Rhythm of Exotic Plants (1965) is displayed on the lower concourse level, outside the fare-paid area; A stainless-steel plaque celebrating the station's opening is also located on the lower concourse. A smaller plaque is located at the south subway platform.

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity[]

North of the station, there are two tail tracks extending beyond the end of the platform, plus a third in between them, to store subway trains. South of the station, there is a diamond crossover for arriving trains to cross over to the southbound track, and for departing trains on the northbound track to depart via the southbound track.

Surface connections[]

Finch Bus Terminal

Finch station entrance

When the subway is closed, buses do not enter the station, and an on-street transfer is required. TTC routes serving the station include:

Nearby landmarks[]

• Plaque on the North American Life building commemorating the birthplace of former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
• Newtonbrook Plaza
• Finch's Hotel (historic landmark that no longer exists)

Expansion plans[]

On June 15, 2007, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a plan to extend the Yonge Subway from Finch station to Highway 7 in Richmond Hill by 2020 as part of the government's MoveOntario 2020 plan. As of 2008, the plans for a north Yonge extension have become less of a priority with focus shifting to the possibility of resurrecting plans for the Relief Line.^[7]

In 2007, the Transit City proposal called for a new LRT line, known as the Etobicoke–Finch West LRT line, to run along Finch Avenue West from Humber College to Finch station. Phasing of the line would have resulted in the eastern section beyond Keele Street being built at a later date.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Finch station.

• Finch station at the Toronto Transit Commission
• Finch Station TTC Parking Lot Time Lapse