Verified November 3, 2026. Transit facts from MiWay, GO Transit and Metrolinx, parking, cycling and snow clearing rules from the City of Mississauga, the parking rule for transit station areas from the Province of Ontario, car share details from Communauto, and car running costs from CAA.
Short answer: Living without a car near Square One works for many people, especially for work and errands inside Mississauga and trips to Toronto. The City Centre Transit Terminal is MiWay’s main hub, with 17 bus routes listed, and the Square One GO bus terminal next door has buses to Union Station, Yorkdale, Pearson, Hamilton, Waterloo and other places. You can also use shared e-bikes, e-scooters and a small car share network. The gaps are real, though. There is no GO train station or LRT in the downtown yet, the Milton GO line runs only at rush hour in the peak direction, and the Hazel McCallion Line has no opening date. Plan on buses for most trips and an occasional rental or car share for the rest.
What “near Square One” means here
This guide covers the high-rise downtown around Square One Shopping Centre, the Civic Centre and Celebration Square, centred on Hurontario Street and Burnhamthorpe Road. TRREB calls the area City Centre, and the City’s Official Plan calls it the Downtown Core. Almost all homes here are condo apartments, which is why the car question matters: many buyers are deciding whether to pay for a parking space at all.
Two transit hubs sit side by side. MiWay’s City Centre Transit Terminal is at 200 Rathburn Road West, and the Square One GO bus terminal is at 210 Centre View Drive. The Mississauga Transitway, an 18 km bus corridor with 12 stations between Winston Churchill Boulevard and Renforth Gateway, runs through both City Centre and Central Parkway stations near the downtown.
If you want prices, condo supply, rents and tax rates for the area, see our guide to Mississauga City Centre condos. This guide is about daily life without a car.
MiWay buses from the City Centre terminal
The City’s page for the City Centre Transit Terminal lists 17 MiWay routes. Three are express routes. The page does not publish how often each route runs, and it was last updated in 2024, so check the MiWay trip planner for current times before you rely on a route.
| Type | Routes | Useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Express | 107 Malton Express, 109 Meadowvale Express, 110 University Express | Faster trips to Malton, Meadowvale and Kipling (109), and toward Clarkson GO (110) |
| Hurontario corridor | 2 Hurontario, 17 Hurontario | North and south along Hurontario Street |
| East to Toronto | 3 Bloor, 20 Rathburn, 26 Burnhamthorpe | Kipling Bus Terminal on the TTC |
| Airport | 7 Airport | Toronto Pearson |
| Local | 6 Credit Woodlands, 8 Cawthra, 9 Rathburn, 10 Bristol, 28 Confederation, 61 Mavis, 66 McLaughlin, 68 Terry Fox | Neighbourhoods across central Mississauga; Route 28 serves Cooksville GO |
MiWay changes schedules several times a year. Since September 7, 2026, Route 110 runs more often between City Centre and Clarkson GO. Schedules on 16 routes, including 2, 17 and 20, changed again on October 26, 2026, and the next round of changes is set for January 4, 2027. Construction on the Hazel McCallion Line also causes short detours on Hurontario routes from time to time.
MiWay bus bike racks hold two bicycles. They are free to use but do not take e-bikes or bikes with child carriers.
Getting to Toronto
There are two main ways to reach Toronto without a car.
MiWay to the TTC subway
Routes 3, 20, 26 and 109 run from City Centre to Kipling Bus Terminal, where you connect to Line 2 Bloor-Danforth. With One Fare, which started on February 26, 2024, the transfer between MiWay and the TTC is free if you tap the same PRESTO card, credit or debit card, or digital wallet each time. The free transfer window is two hours when the trip starts on a local bus, and three hours when it starts on GO. Cash and paper transfers do not count.
GO buses from Square One
GO Transit’s published timetables show these routes serving the Square One terminal:
| Route | Goes to |
|---|---|
| 21 Milton | Union Station Bus Terminal and the Milton area |
| 19 | Yorkdale, York Mills and Finch Bus Terminal |
| 29 | Kipling and Guelph Central GO |
| 40 Pearson Express | Pearson Terminal 1, Hamilton GO Centre and Unionville GO |
| 41 and 47 | Highway 407 Bus Terminal, Hamilton and Pickering |
| 25 | University of Waterloo and Laurier |
| 56 | Oakville GO and Oshawa (weekdays) |
| 94 | Pickering GO |
GO notes that its PDF timetables may not be the latest version, and not every trip on a route stops at Square One. Check the GO trip planner for your departure.
Airport, GO trains and longer trips
Pearson: MiWay Route 7 Airport runs from City Centre, and Toronto Pearson lists MiWay buses boarding at Terminal 1, ground level. GO Route 40 also links Square One and Terminal 1.
GO trains: The nearest station is Cooksville GO on the Milton line, reached on MiWay Route 28 Confederation. MiWay adjusted Route 28 times in April 2026 to meet Milton line trains. Metrolinx describes Milton line train service as weekday rush hour in the peak direction, toward Toronto in the morning and back toward Milton in the afternoon. Metrolinx says it wants to add more trips but has not published a timeline. Outside those hours, GO buses or the TTC are the way to go. Our guide to living near a GO station in the GTA explains how train access changes daily life.
Accessible transit: Peel Region’s TransHelp serves Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon residents with a permanent or temporary disability that sometimes or always prevents them from using regular transit. Age and income do not affect eligibility, applying is free, and a health care provider must sign the form.
Fares in 2026
| Rider | Fare |
|---|---|
| Adult, PRESTO or contactless | $3.50 |
| Youth 13 to 19, PRESTO | $2.90 |
| Cash, any age that pays | $4.50 |
| Adult monthly pass, PRESTO | $145 |
| Affordable Transit Program monthly pass | $72.50 |
| Seniors 65 and over, PRESTO set to senior fare | Free |
| Children 6 to 12, PRESTO set to child fare | Free |
| Children 5 and under, with a paying rider | Free |
MiWay transfers last two hours from your first tap. PRESTO also caps your weekly cost: after 11 paid MiWay rides in a Monday to Sunday week, the rest of that week is free. GO fares are separate and depend on distance, but One Fare makes the MiWay or TTC leg free when you connect within the time window.
Bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters
Mississauga Council approved an update to the Cycling Master Plan on June 24, 2026, with a five-year plan to 2030 and a focus on routes that suit riders of all ages and abilities. The City says 179 km of new or improved cycling projects were finished between 2017 and 2024. Coverage is still uneven, so ride your own routes before you count on them.
The City runs a shared e-bike and e-scooter program with Lime and Bird. E-scooters returned for the season on April 22, 2026, and e-bikes run all year. Riders must be 16 or older, devices must be parked at approved stations, and neither is allowed on sidewalks. The speed limit is 24 km/h for e-scooters and 32 km/h for e-bikes. E-scooters and e-bikes are not allowed on MiWay buses or at stops and terminals.
When 5 cm or more of snow falls, the City clears bike lanes, trails and crossings. Under 5 cm, trails are salted only. Short-term bike racks are on some downtown sidewalks, and every Mississauga GO station has secure, sheltered bike parking. If you own a bike, ask the condo about its bike room, waiting list and any fee.
Car share for the trips transit does not cover
Communauto launched in Mississauga in June 2025, working with the City. It is station-based, so you pick up and return the car at the same spot. There are three downtown stations, at 377 Prince of Wales Drive, 320 Webb Drive and 35 Elm Drive West. On November 3, 2026, Communauto’s Mississauga page listed pricing from $3.60 an hour or $30 a day, plus distance charges. Plans and rates change, so compare them with your own trips.
Car share works best for a few planned trips a month, such as a big grocery run or a visit to family outside transit range. If you need a car most weekends, the maths can tip back toward owning one.
Condo parking when you buy without a car
Since the Province’s Bill 185 received Royal Assent on June 6, 2024, municipalities cannot require a minimum number of parking spaces in protected major transit station areas. Mississauga’s 2022 parking by-law already set the lowest minimums for the City Centre precinct. As a result, new downtown buildings can be built with fewer parking spaces than units, and some units are sold with no space at all.
For a car-free buyer that can be good news, because you are not paying for a space you will not use. It also has some trade-offs:
- Resale: some future buyers will want a space. A unit without one may appeal to fewer of them. TRREB does not publish a price difference for units with and without parking, so ask your agent for recent sales in the same building.
- How the space is held: a parking space can be its own titled unit, an exclusive-use common element or a rental from the corporation. Each has different rules for selling or renting it out. The status certificate and the declaration show which applies.
- Fees: a titled parking unit usually has its own share of common expenses and its own property tax. Our guide to condo fees explains how those shares are set.
- Renting a space later: if you might want a car in future, check whether owners in the building rent spaces to each other and whether the rules allow it.
This is general information, not legal advice. Have your real estate lawyer review the parking details before you firm up an offer.
Street parking for visitors
Car-free households still have visitors. Downtown on-street parking costs $1 an hour with a two-hour limit, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and overnight parking is $1 an hour up to $5 a night. Municipal lots 34 and 35 on Living Arts Drive charge $1 an hour, with a $6 day pass and a $65 monthly pass.
Across the city, street parking is limited to five hours unless signs say otherwise, and no one may park on the street from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. without a permit. Temporary permits cover up to five days each, with a limit of 14 per plate per calendar year. Snow events add separate rules, covered in our guide to Mississauga winter parking. Most condo buildings also have their own visitor parking rules, so check those too.
Winter on foot
Mississauga clears all sidewalks, which helps if you walk to the bus. Timelines start when the snow stops falling:
| Sidewalk type | Under 5 cm | 5 to 15 cm | 15 to 30 cm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority: major roads, bus routes, near hospitals, schools and long-term care homes, plus bus stops | Salted within 12 hours | Plowed and salted within 12 hours | Within 24 hours |
| Secondary: residential streets | Within 24 hours (under 15 cm) | Within 36 hours | |
Sidewalks on downtown major roads and bus routes are in the priority group. In practice, expect some slush and windrows at crossings in the first hours after a storm. Our guide on who clears the sidewalk compares the rules with Toronto and Brampton.
What the Hazel McCallion Line will change
The Hazel McCallion Line is an 18 km light rail line with 19 stops between Port Credit GO and Brampton Gateway Terminal. Its stop nearest Square One is Mississauga City Centre Stop, at Station Gate Road and Rathburn Road. Metrolinx tested light rail vehicles at slow speed on the street in August 2026, but it has not published an opening date.
When it opens, it should make north and south trips along Hurontario easier, including to Port Credit GO on the Lakeshore West line. The original three-stop loop through the downtown was cut in 2019. In January 2024 the Province asked Metrolinx to plan for restoring it, and Metrolinx now lists a Downtown Mississauga Extension as future planning, with no schedule or details. Do not pay extra for a unit based on an LRT opening date nobody has announced.
What car-free living costs compared with a car
The table below uses published prices. The totals are our own calculations and only examples; your costs depend on how you travel.
| Item | How we worked it out | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| MiWay adult monthly pass | $145 x 12 | $1,740 |
| Car share, two full days a month | $30 x 24, before distance charges | $720 |
| Transit plus car share | Sum of the two rows above | $2,460 |
| Running a 2025 Toyota Corolla | CAA Driving Costs Calculator, Ontario: vehicle costs per year, not including insurance or financing | $4,544 |
The CAA figure leaves out insurance, loan interest and parking, which are often the largest costs of owning a car in the GTA. Add your own insurance quote and the price of a parking space before you compare. If you would also save by buying a unit without a space, include that difference too.
Checklist before you buy
- Map your regular trips (work, school, family, groceries) in the MiWay and GO trip planners at the times you would travel, including evenings and weekends.
- Walk from the building to the City Centre terminal and the Square One GO terminal, and check the entrances, crossings and lighting.
- Find out whether the unit comes with a parking space, how it is held, and what it costs in fees and tax.
- Ask about bike storage, a waiting list for it, and any car share spaces in or near the building.
- Check visitor parking rules in the condo and on nearby streets.
- Plan for winter and for the trips transit does not cover, with car share, a rental or a ride.
- Treat the LRT as a future bonus, not a reason to pay more today.
Thinking about a condo near Square One? We can pull recent sales in the buildings you like, including units with and without parking. Start on our buying page, or get a free home evaluation if you are selling first. For other Mississauga areas, see our comparison of Erin Mills and Meadowvale.
FAQ
Can you live near Square One without a car?
For many daily trips, yes. The City Centre Transit Terminal has 17 MiWay routes listed, the Square One GO terminal has buses to Union Station, Yorkdale, Pearson and other cities, and Lime and Bird e-bikes and e-scooters and Communauto car share are available. The weak spots are trips outside the bus network, late evenings and the lack of an LRT or GO train station in the downtown.
How do you get from Square One to downtown Toronto by transit?
Take MiWay Route 3, 20, 26 or 109 to Kipling station and the TTC subway, or take GO bus Route 21 to Union Station. With One Fare, the MiWay to TTC transfer is free if you tap the same card within two hours.
How much is a MiWay monthly pass in 2026?
The adult PRESTO monthly pass is $145. A single adult ride is $3.50 on PRESTO or $4.50 in cash. Seniors 65 and over and children 6 to 12 ride free with a PRESTO card set to the right fare type.
Is there a GO train station near Square One?
No. The nearest is Cooksville GO on the Milton line, served by MiWay Route 28. Milton line trains run on weekdays at rush hour in the peak direction only, so most trips from Square One use GO buses instead.
Do new downtown Mississauga condos have to include parking?
No. Since June 2024, Ontario has not allowed municipalities to require minimum parking in protected major transit station areas, and Mississauga already had its lowest minimums downtown. Some units sell without a space, so check what is included before you make an offer.
Is there car share in downtown Mississauga?
Yes. Communauto has operated in Mississauga since June 2025, with downtown stations at 377 Prince of Wales Drive, 320 Webb Drive and 35 Elm Drive West. On November 3, 2026 its pricing started at $3.60 an hour or $30 a day, plus distance charges.
Sources
- City of Mississauga, City Centre Transit Terminal, Kipling Transit Hub and Transitway station locations
- MiWay, Fares from January 1, 2026, Free rides for seniors, Transfers, Travelling with a bike, September 7, 2026 service changes, April 27, 2026 service changes and October 26, 2026 service changes
- Metrolinx, One Fare program launch, Milton line GO Expansion, Hazel McCallion Line and August 2026 vehicle testing notice
- GO Transit, PDF timetables for routes 19, 21, 25, 29, 40, 41, 47, 56 and 94, and Square One GO stop
- Toronto Pearson, MiWay at Pearson
- Region of Peel, TransHelp
- City of Mississauga, Updated Cycling Master Plan (June 17, 2026), E-scooter program 2026 season (April 22, 2026), Bicycle parking and Snow clearing (updated November 2, 2026)
- City of Mississauga, Metered on-street parking, Municipal parking lots, Parking in Mississauga, Temporary parking permits and Parking Regulations Study
- Environmental Registry of Ontario, Bill 185 decision notice (June 2024)
- Communauto, Launch in Mississauga and Mississauga pricing (checked November 3, 2026)
- CAA, Driving Costs Calculator, 2025 Toyota Corolla, Ontario (checked November 3, 2026)
Images: AI-generated illustrations created for this guide. They do not show real properties.
Local Toronto, HomeLife Landmark Realty Inc., Brokerage.