York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton sends the following message to the York University community:
I am delighted to announce the official opening of the two new TTC subway stations on York University’s Keele campus, which took place on Sunday, December 17, 2017. Among the six new stations that make up the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, the opening of the York University and Pioneer Village stations marks an historic moment for York University.
Enhanced public transportation is essential to ensuring that our students, faculty, staff and alumni have ready access to our campuses, increasing our connectedness with communities and partners across the Greater Toronto Area, facilitating research collaboration, work-integrated learning, and enhancing York University as a destination.
The two new state-of-the-art subway stations on our Keele campus both reflect and advance the significant role that York University plays in contributing to the social, economic, cultural and other well-being of society, and in developing inclusive, smart cities. This investment in infrastructure helps us to remove some of the economic and mobility barriers to postsecondary education and allows us to fulfill our commitment to providing a broad socio-demographic of students across the GTA access to a high-quality, research-intensive university education.
These exciting new mobility hubs are a tremendous step forward for York University, and it would be an understatement to say that our community has been eagerly anticipating their opening for some time. As we look forward to the impact and the opportunities these stations signify, I would like to recognize the efforts of the many individuals and groups who have championed the construction of these stations, in some cases over decades. Thanks to the tremendous vision and perseverance of those who have been advocates of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension from its early planning stages, to those involved in executing the innovative architectural plans, these stations embody a community-wide collaboration that reflects the sustained efforts of community members, the TTC and government officials at every level, who were committed to providing safe and reliable transportation options for our community.
Having just released our first institutional sustainability strategy, the opening of the subway extension comes at an important time. Most of our students, faculty and staff commute to campus, so the subway provides a sustainable transportation option that will also reduce our community’s carbon footprint. A shorter, more efficient commute will mean more time to learn and innovate in our classrooms and labs, and more time to spend making an impact in our communities.
These subway stations on our campus represent a new chapter in the York story, and an opportunity to reflect on the special mission of the University, its history and its future, and the wonderful York community we are all a part of. I look forward to the many opportunities these stations will create for York University to amplify the impact we have on the communities we serve through increased access, connectedness and excellence.
To see the remarkable evolution of this project on our campus, you can view this 30-second time-lapse video of the construction of the York University Station. To learn more about the opening of the new subway stations on campus, please visit: http://transportation.info.yorku.ca/subway/.