In London's East London Link BRT and Toronto's TTC bus corridors, municipalities replaced painted lanes with MMAX MMA coatings and TrafficPatternsXD preformed thermoplastic, and eliminated the repainting cycle that had been consuming maintenance budgets for decades.
Painted bus lanes and crosswalks fade, chalk and lose retroreflectivity under the heavy axle loads, freeze-thaw cycling and de-icing chemicals of Canadian transit corridors.
MMAX MMA coatings and TrafficPatternsXD preformed thermoplastic are the alternative transit agencies have been adopting.
The East London Link BRT in London, Ontario
The City of London's East London Link Bus Rapid Transit corridor required surface marking systems that could hold up under the specific load conditions of BRT operations: concentrated axle loads at bus stops, tight turning radii at intersection entry points, and the expectation that markings remain legible without repainting through full seasonal cycles.
Two systems went in: MMAX MMA red bus lane coatings throughout the corridor, and TrafficPatternsXD preformed thermoplastic crossings at intersection conflict zones.
MMAX delivered long-lasting colour, UV stability, and skid resistance across the bus lane surface. Cure time in the 30-60 minute range allowed overnight application without disrupting weekday transit operations. TrafficPatternsXD crossings, stamped into the intersection asphalt, provide slip-resistant pedestrian zones with BPN 65+ skid resistance at the exact locations where bus, cyclist, and pedestrian movements converge.
The East London Link is now a safer, more legible multimodal corridor, with no repainting cycle.
TTC bus corridors in Toronto
Toronto's TTC bus priority corridors operate at some of the highest vehicle and pedestrian volumes in the country. Traditional painted bus lane designations required recurrent repainting, each cycle causing service disruptions, lane closures, and temporary loss of the marking visibility that bus priority lanes depend on for driver compliance.
Applied during off-peak overnight windows, MMAX bonds securely to the asphalt surface and achieves traffic-ready hardness before morning service resumes. The MMA formula provides excellent UV stability and abrasion resistance under the lateral shear forces generated by bus turning movements.
The result for Toronto is bus lanes that hold their colour and contrast season after season, with far less maintenance.
The specification case
In both cities, the total cost of ownership for durable surface marking systems (MMAX for colour lanes, TrafficPatternsXD for high-load crossings and intersection treatments) is substantially lower than the total cost of the painted alternative when repainting frequency, lane closure duration, and safety performance degradation between cycles are properly accounted for.
For transit agencies, municipalities, and engineering teams specifying new BRT corridors, bus priority lanes, or busy crosswalk upgrades, the question is how to write the specification so the saving over the service life is captured.
Contact HUB Surface Systems to discuss MMAX and TrafficPatternsXD specifications for transit corridor projects. Technical documentation and reference project support available.
