The TTC will revert to its fall schedules across the system on the Labour Day weekend. The schedule period starts on Sunday, September 1, but the first weekday will be Tuesday, September 3.
The summer changes implemented on June 23, 2013, will be reversed and many improvements, primarily in off-peak periods, will start in September with more to follow later in the year. Because many construction projects are stretching the bus fleet thin, some improvements cannot begin as soon as planned.
Construction Projects Expected To End in Mid-November 2013
- Lawrence West Station bus roadway reconstruction. 58 Malton and 59 Maple Leaf are extended to Lawrence Station.
- Kingston Road reconstruction from Queen to Birchmount. Additional service on 22A Coxwell, 92 Woodbine South, 64 Main, 12 Kingston Road and 69 Warden South. 502/503 streetcars turn back at Woodbine Loop.
- Spadina/Harbourfront reconstruction. 510 streetcars are expected to return to Queens Quay Loop in November, but streetcar service to Union depends on another project (see below).
- Ossington Avenue track construction from College to Dundas. 63/316 Ossington routes will divert via Bathurst from College to Queen.
- Bathurst Street watermain work. 511 Bathurst will operate with buses. 512 St. Clair will operate with AM peak service through the midday and PM Peak on weekdays, and with afternoon service level through the morning on Saturdays.
- Dufferin Street reconstruction from Queen to Dundas. 29/329 Dufferin routes divert southbound via College, Brock and Queen.
Other Long-Term Construction Projects
- Subway tunnel liner replacement north of Eglinton. This project requires early closing of the Yonge line, but does not affect peak bus requirements, until the end of 2013.
- Warden Avenue construction in York Region affects the 68 Warden bus contract service north of Steeles until late 2013.
- The Esplanade is closed for condo construction requiring a diversion of the 72A Pape bus until sometime in 2014. A further diversion is required by the Second Platform project at Union Station until late 2014.
- The Spadina Subway extension affects 106/196 York University services, 36 Finch West, 41 Keele and 107 Keele North. This will last at least to the end of 2013.
- Metrolinx bridge work (Georgetown South project) will affect 73 Royal York, 89 Weston and 59 Maple Leaf into 2014.
- 509/510 streetcar service to Union Station will not resume until February 2014 because the Second Platform project blocks access for passengers to the streetcar loop. The track and overhead construction on Queens Quay and in the Bay Street tunnel will be completed during fall 2013.
- Metrolinx LRT construction on Eglinton affects the 32 Eglinton West service. This will last into 2015.
- Construction on Leslie south of Queen related to the Leslie Barns will affect the 83 Jones bus until the fall of 2014.
Seasonal Route Changes
- 101 Downsview Park weekday service ends.
- 29D Dufferin service to the Princes Gates ends. (This service was scheduled, but has not operated since June 12 because the Dufferin bridge at the CNE is closed for repairs.)
- 30 Lambton weekend extension to High Park ends.
- 72B Pape service to Cherry Beach ends. (This service was scheduled, but has not operated in 2013 because the lift bridge at the Ship Channel remains closed for repairs.)
- 86 Scarborough and 85 Sheppard East extended hours and route to the Zoo end.
- 509 Harbourfront summer service ends. The route reverts to the March 2013 schedules.
Steve Munro 
What’s the elimination of 6-Bay service to George Brown at Sherbourne all about? Wouldn’t that require commission approval? Or am I missing something?
Steve: Commission approval is not required for adjustments to service design provided that the service meets the official Service Standards. In this case, the demand going to George Brown did not warrant a separate service.
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So if I am reading the sheet correctly, will the 95 York Mills 95B bus operate 7 days a week starting September then?
Steve: The 95B will not operate weekend evenings.
Also will the 38 bus have frequencies of every 9 minutes on Saturdays then?
Steve: Yes.
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So the 95B will operate 7 days a week then? And the 38 bus will have 9 minute frequencies on Saturdays? Also will the 32A regain weekend service because in your report you listed Renforth& Skymark for Saturdays/Sundays service too?
Steve: As I mentioned in a previous reply, the 95B will operate at all times except weekend evenings. If you look at the details you will see that the effect of the change is to improve the service on the York Mills route slightly while in some cases cutting service beyond UTSC. Yes, the 38 Highland Creek will operate at 9 minutes on Saturday afternoons. This is part of a general service improvement for the area.
As for the Eglinton West service to Skymark, this appears to be an error in the service memo because the running times match those now in use for the 32 branch, not the 32A. I have asked the TTC to clarify this.
Updated August 8, 2013: The TTC confirms that the reference to 32A service on the weekend was an error in their service memo. I have updated the detailed list of changes accordingly.
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Very pleased to see the improvement in Saturday evening service on Dawes. This was one very odd anomaly, where service on Sunday late evenings was 15′ headway, but early Saturdays was still at ’30.
Now service will always 10′ or better, except late on Sundays.
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Otherwise looks like solid improvement, though peak services need more attention. I get the issue of limitation around surface fleets … but I’m surprised not to see some effort to add peak service on the B-D line at least, and arguably on Yonge, if only with another gap train.
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That seems kind of surprising given that we’ve been told not only IS there demand, but there’s enough demand for building an LRT.
Makes you wonder how students/staff are actually moving around.
On the other hand, the Sherbourne bus is likely a quicker bet to get to any of the east-west streetcar lines or the Bloor subway. And I can’t imagine that the Bay bus is very quick way to get to Union Station with all the current construction.
Steve: The Bay 6C service was not scheduled to blend with the through service from Bloor, and could in some cases wind up running lock-step with a regular Bay 6 bus. The route doesn’t exactly run on time with the construction activity anyhow. The demand is strongly defined by class changing times with big loads boarding southbound from Front in the AM peak as transfer traffic from GO, but it’s relatively quiet otherwise.
The LRT demand is projected for inbound traffic from condos that don’t exist yet. The school and office demand is counterpeak and not at the same level as the residential demand will be eventually. If eventually there are office developments in the Port Lands (something I doubt at least in the medium term), that’s another matter, but these would need to have a lot of workers to match the future population of the condos.
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As a Scarborough resident, I would like to thank the TTC for increasing service and making sensible changes in Scarborough. While council and the commissioners squabble about building an expensive (albeit less wasteful) subway extension to replace the RT, the TTC made traveling in Scarborough by bus more convenient by extending service on the 199 to Sunday (and implementing more express stops on Steeles East express). We saw increasing service on the 190 to all week service and I foresee Steeles East and York Mills having rocket services in the future. While I wish that transit city bus plan was implemented now, I think that this is a great start to getting more higher order transit in Scarborough as well as Toronto. It makes sense to have local and express services serving long arterials to reduce travel times.
P.S. while we all talk about the SRT and how a subway would serve Scarborough “better”, no one asks why Scarborough has so many express services to the Yonge line? (probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the buses in Malvern garage are used for express services during the rush hour). Do you think that a rider on the 53E or 199 would care if the RT was converted to LRT or subway?
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With the extension of 95C to Ellesmere, which is still at Wilson, and the elimination of the 16/70 interline, can you list and clarify any route movements Steve as possible due to the NovaBUS LFS artics to hit service? I know that Junction, Vaughan, Weston Road North, and possibly, Finch West or Dufferin are switching to newer divisions.
Steve: This info has not yet been published.
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James, leaving aside the issue of the service budget which may not have enough room for all of the improvements that would be needed based on loading standards, a general problem with the Bloor-Danforth line is that Greenwood yard is constrained in the number of trains it can put out on the mainline in time for the morning rush hour.
This has nothing to do with any budget and everything to do with the basic track layout at the yard exit, which limits the number of trains that can be dispatched per hour. The first train leaves the yard toward Kipling just after 5 AM, the last AM train is pressed into service eastbound toward Kennedy around 7:45 AM (on paper, usually later in practice), which is already too late, since the subway tends to get quite busy by 7 AM.
In any event, the ‘scheduled headway’ is creative writing, especially during the peak periods, as any regular rider probably knows. The rush hour NEVER finishes on time on the YUS and BD lines, so adding more trains to the lines would probably result in more across-the-platform ‘crew changeovers’ at various stations to put the operators back on time after the rush hour ends.
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With any hope, the off peak weekend improvements on 505 Dundas will trickle through to the rollout of the new vehicles next year.
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Back in 2009, the Transit City Bus Plan, was published. It proposed 10-minute headway service on its Transit City Bus Network (which included the Transit City LRT routes using buses during construction) by 2013 on 21 bus routes.
I know with our current anti-transit administration at city hall, only some of the suggestions or improvements have been implemented. Most of the targets are for 2014, so that could be the main excuse. However, how much of the bus plan are on track (insert laughter here)?
Steve: None of it. Any resemblance of the current network to the TCBP is completely accidental. This is precisely why I am calling out Karen Stintz to show how much she really cares about transit and about Scarborough by championing service improvements and an updated version of TCBP for the 2014 budget going into her mayoral campaign. Or perhaps she would prefer to promise subways we will never have the money to build, just like Rob Ford.
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Thanks for the info, Timur.
That being the case, the TTC has long indicated its intent to revive Keele/Vincent Yard.
I assume this would help a great deal, (allow for faster ramp up of service).
Which leads me to ask … Steve … do we know if the TTC has begun the necessary work on this yard yet? Or has a scheduled start-date for work or an in-service target?
Steve: That work is already in progress, but it is unclear whether it will be used only for storage, or for actual live service with trains and crews based in the west end.
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I read the article about the new artics on BlogTO and was more than a little put off by the Brad Ross quote about larger headways = better route management. This crap has to stop. Service frequency is likely the biggest determinant of trip speed/time. I was agog at the suggestion that Bathurst peak headways will widen by 2’45”! I hope the article was wrong!
It is especially bothersome as it seems senior management, not just politicians, don’t really get the basics of how the TTC works or the things it does well. A grid of frequent routes makes high rates of transferring possible – which despite some comments here and what councillors think, is a very good thing and the basis for an effective transit network. Not that councillors give a damn about building a network.
Just like the streetcar network I worry about the attitude of a little headway widening here and a little there. It seems lost on the TTC/councillors what the cumulative effect is on trips that require transfers between two or more routes that *gasp!* don’t involve a subway component … some councillors would likely deny such things exist.
Steve: That whole premise about wider headways is based on a theoretical paper written years ago about a specific condition. King Street. Rush hour. Two minute headways. Closely spaced signals. Long stop service times. The conclusion was that larger cars on wider headways would not bunch as badly mainly because of the interaction between close headways and the traffic signals. This limited situation has been expanded by the TTC into a general purpose statement that simply does not hold water.
It is not quite on a par with the 100-year subways, but has the same mythological ring to it. A simplistic (and wrong) answer to a complex problem.
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The construction at Lawrence West Station has a temporary silver lining for me: Until November, there will be direct bus service to the airport from Lawrence Station! Eliminating a transfer is nice when one is hauling luggage to the airport, and it may reduce a long trip by a few minutes.
I believe you have a typo in the sentence: “58 Malton and 58 Maple Leaf are extended to Lawrence Station.” It should be 59 Maple Leaf.
Steve: Fixed. Thanks!
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Steve, I would be interested to see a service analysis of the 7 Bathurst route. Despite it being quite a long route, there is very little traffic congestion on Bathurst that could cause the sort of bunching and short-turning problems that plague the route 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I’d be very interested to know how much service actually makes it to Steeles and back to Bloor. Somehow I doubt longer buses will help very much.
Steve: Once the rollout plan is announced for the artics, I plan to obtain “before” and “after” operating data for the affected routes to see what, if any, change in service quality results.
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I would disagree with you completely, there is a lot of traffic on Bathurst at rush hours at least in the northern portion of it (say north of 401, but quite possibly further south as well). I also see traffic there on weekends in the Sheppard-Steeles area.
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The new 95C branch to Ellesmere station is interesting. I guess the TTC decided there was a need for additional service between Victoria Park and Kennedy. Of course, Ellesmere station has no bus terminal, and is indeed quite difficult to access from Ellesmere road. I assume that buses will cross over the bridge and then loop through the service road in order to turn around? Will that be on the east side or the west side?
Either way, this puts buses closer to Ellesmere station than they’ve been since the Scarborough RT opened. That’s wild.
Steve: The buses will use the west service road and, therefore, will not cross over the bridge to access the station.
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“509/510 streetcar service to Union Station will not resume until February 2014 ”
Delayed *again* this time by 3 months since their last estimate. <_<
Steve: This delay has been known about for some time and written about here. As I mentioned before, this is because the Union Station project is running late and access to the loop won’t be available until February. The Harbourfront project itself should be done before Christmas.
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Jonathon, a basic problem with 7 Bathurst is that oftentimes not all scheduled service actually makes it on the street. At Wilson division, the very frequent routes (7 Bathurst, 29 Dufferin, 196 York U Rocket) are the first to have buses removed and service cancelled when there is a need for shuttle buses due to unexpected subway/streetcar delays or to fill for missing runs on other, less frequent routes, where having even one or two buses missing can create huge gaps in service (with the associated passanger complaints). As Karen Stintz might put it, you get bad service “for the greater good”…
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The express additions in Scarborough are a welcome change. I never did get why the TTC did not start express service until Victoria Park on most east-west routes serving Scarborough. Clearly we needed it to start much more east then that, and this will aid in doing that.
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Oh, now the Service Summary is out, the 6 Bay changes make more sense. I thought that they were cutting back all the service to Sherbourne, and returning to the old route, that only went to Queens Quay/Jarvis. All they’ve done is cut the relatively infrequent 6C buses that short turn at Union Station and don’t go to Bloor.
Looking at the old service summaries, the 6C only ever ran on weekdays midday and Saturday/Sunday afternoons. Meanwhile they’ve beefed up the 6 service by 1 bus for those periods where they removed two 6C buses. Your summary doesn’t seem to reflect the service summary … perhaps they changed their mind, or they weren’t very clear.
Steve: Er, my table clearly shows that the “old” service includes the Front to Queens Quay branch, while the new service does not. The service increases are there too. Maybe I should have included the route number with each description as I did for some of the other routes, but the info is there.
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Steve, what will be the future of the York University Busway once the Spadina Subway extension opens? Will it become a public road available to cars, will it be closed to all traffic including cars and buses or will it be extended perhaps to Finch Station or future Cummer station or future Steeles station to be able to serve other express routes? Has anyone looked into what to do with this? It will be a shame if it is abandoned or used as a public road as it was very expensive to build and will only have been in use for slightly less than 7 years by the time the subway extension opens in 2016.
Steve: I do not know what will happen with the part south of the university, but the road in York U proper will be abandoned because it conflicts with future building plans. This was a matter of considerable discussion when the road was proposed, and York wanted to ensure that it would not outlive the subway.
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Steve wrote “Er, my table clearly shows that the “old” service includes the Front to Queens Quay branch, while the new service does not. The service increases are there too. Maybe I should have included the route number with each description as I did for some of the other routes, but the info is there.”
Perhaps I’m missing something? For example, for AM Peak you show -2. But I’m not seeing any difference between the May 12th and September 1st service summaries for AM Peak. Nor do I show that 6C was running during AM Peak before the summer (or in the summer). It looks like all the peak service from pre-summer has been restored.
Steve: The May schedules already had a service cut in them for the summer because the George Brown winter/spring term had ended. If you look at the March schedules, there were two buses on the 6C in the AM and PM peaks, and it’s those buses that are removed. When the TTC cites changes in vehicles in September (in the service memo I use as the basis for the articles/tables) it is relative to the fall/winter service levels, not the summer reductions which were included in my May update. Looked at another way, in the absence of this change, those two buses would have been restored as part of the usual seasonal updates.
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I have a question. Can the T.T.C. extend the hours of the 60D Steeles West bus to 7 days a week? Because the Brampton Transit bus 11 Steeles changed their routing to go to Signal Hill where 60 Steeles bus turns back east to Finch station. It would be great to have a connecting bus along Steeles.
Thanks.
Steve: This sort of request should go directly to the TTC. It certainly makes sense for services to meet each other, but this should be part of a larger study of using Humber College (the eastern terminal of the 11 Steeles Brampton route) as a node in northwest Toronto with the 60D running south to that location.
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I have been hearing from a Facebook group about the new 199A Finch Rocket implemented this October Steve. As mentioned, I’m aware that the new peak service will run from STC to York U via Finch Stn to ease loads from the 196/60CF/36 and could possibly use the Busway going north of Dufferin. Malvern and Wilson might possibly split the route operations.
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Thanks Steve. I see where you’re coming from. And you’re totally correct! I didn’t look far enough back.
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Steve, you have a typo in your table. The service increase on 48 Rathburn is in the PM peak, not in the AM.
Another change not mentioned specifically in the service memo is the service reduction on 35E Jane. Compared to the March board, there is one fewer bus in both the AM and PM peak periods in September. In other words, the ‘seasonal’ change made for the May board is permanent.
Steve: I have corrected the table. Thanks.
Updated September 10, 2013: The Jane 35E change will be restored in the October schedules. This change was omitted in error in September.
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Hey, when will you will have the October-November service changes out?
Steve: I have received the Service Memo but have not yet formatted the info for publication. Other things like the film festival and a few political upheavals about a certain subway line got in the way. Be patient.
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As soon as overhead wiring and concrete-embedded track is complete on Queens Quay West, which will be sometime in winter or spring 2014, streetcars are expected to return to the “509 Harbourfront” and “510 Spadina” routes. I’m looking forward to making fewer transfers when going on trips to Harbourfront Centre and/or the Toronto Islands next year.
Steve: According to the most recent CEO’s Report, service will resume in late June 2014.
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