The TTC will implement many changes to its services effective June 21 including the usual seasonal reductions, another phase in the rollout of the Ten Minute Network, and new Blue Night service on Steeles West.
New Branch Names
The continuing move away from unlettered branch names on bus routes affects three more lines:
- 21 Brimley to Steeles via Scarborough Town Centre becomes 21C
- 63 Ossington to Liberty Village becomes 63A
- 67 Pharmacy to Ellesmere becomes 67A
Ten Minute Network
The following routes will have 10 minute or better service at all times except overnight:
- 7 Bathurst Bus
- 22 Coxwell / 502 Downtowner & 503 Kingston Road (combined)
- 29 Dufferin
- 505 Dundas
- 100 Flemingdon Park (to Wynford)
- 43 Kennedy (to Steeles)
- 45 Kipling (to Steeles)
- 72 Pape (to Eastern)
- 84 Sheppard West (to Oakdale)
- 89 Weston
- 95 York Mills (to UTSC)
Blue Night Network
- 353 Steeles will be extended west to York University
The Ten Minute and Blue Night changes were originally planned for September implementation, but they have been advanced to June.
Extended Running Times to Match Road Conditions
Some routes will get new schedules giving more travel time so that vehicles can stay on schedule.
- 505 Dundas weekdays
- 111 East Mall
508 Lake Shore
This route, whose PM peak service was suspended due to a shortage of streetcars, will not operate in the AM peak as a summer cutback.
Storage Outside of Yards
Wilson Yard is getting crowded through a combination of work to expand its capacity and the delivery of more TR trainsets. Four trains will be stored overnight at or near Downsview Station.
Storage of streetcars overnight at Exhibition Loop will be increased from 22 to 25 cars to allow for delivery of Flexitys at Roncesvalles, and space constraints at Russell.
Lift-Equipped Buses at Wilson Garage
The dispatching protocol for these vehicles will be that these buses are not used on routes scheduled for articulated buses (Bathurst and Dufferin), on single-vehicle routes such as Forest Hill, or premium fare routes. The buses will be limited to runs that do not stay in service for extended hours. This change was made unofficially in early 2015, but is now formally in place.
Route 107 Keele North will be changed from a Lift Bus route to Low Floor.
The lift buses are expected to retire by the end of 2015.
Service Relief Buses
25 Service Relief buses will be scheduled with a few from each garage to be used as required during weekday middays. They will be based at various subway stations around the system.
Pan-Am Games Route Changes
Several route diversion will be required around the secure areas of the games.
- 172 Cherry will not operate through the Distillery District, but will run via Parliament and Lake Shore to Cherry. This is the same diversion that was used when Mill Street was closed for construction in 2014.
- 29 Dufferin and 329 Dufferin Night will terminate at Dufferin Loop rather than at the Princes’ Gates. This arrangement was used while the Dufferin Bridge was closed for repairs.
- 139 Finch-Don Mills will shift from bay 13 to bay 15 at Don Mills Station to leave bay 13 for Pan Am services.
- 94 Wellesley will divert via Queen’s Park, Bloor and Spadina because Hoskin Avenue will be closed west of Queen’s Park.
- 106 York University will divert westbound via The Pond Road, Ian MacDonald Blvd and York Blvd to The Common because Ian MacDonald Boulevard will be closed between Shoreham Drive and Founders Road.
New Construction Projects
Road construction will affect two routes where buses will be given additional running time to compensate for congestion:
- 17 Birchmount: Construction from Eglinton to Lawrence (planned to end in late 2015)
- 86 Scarborough: Construction on Meadowvale from Kingston Road to Ellesmere (planned to end in late 2015)
Steve Munro 
So.. with the Pan-AM games going on at Exhibition Place where will the store the 25 cars during the games? I doubt they will use Exhibition Place for storage when it is so heavily used.
Also, any idea when the service changes for Pan AM will be announced. By this I mean schedules, added services etc? I know they have new services being added such as the 194 Aquatic Centre rocket and the return of the 193 Exhibition Rocket but nothing specific was announced I don’t think.
Steve: The schedules for the next Board Period won’t be announced for a few weeks based on the usual lead time when I see them, although draft versions will already be up in TTC offices for operators to peruse.
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Every time service restoration is announced I eagerly look to see if route 25 will leave Pape station every three minutes after 9 am as is the case before 9 am as it seems to me there was three-minute service after 9 am at some point in the last ten years. Can you verify how long it has been (if ever) since there was such service after 9 am?
Steve: In the online versions of the schedule summaries that I have back to 2008, there is no service that frequently after the AM peak. I would have to mine my paper archives to look further back.
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Here are some of my TTC service recommendations to help make bus service in Toronto more reliable:
Implement 384 Sheppard West blue night and operate from Weston to Sheppard Yonge Station.
Implement blue night routes on other routes such as Keele and Kennedy.
Steve: All three of these are on the list for September. Look at the map.
Have 95 York Mills buses divert both ways via Scarborough Centre Station to better serve other TTC routes as well as the 3 Scarborough RT.
10 Minute Network implemented on additional routes including 37B Islington (Islington Station to Steeles), 32 Eglinton West (Renforth And Skymark), 34 Eglinton East, 501 Queen (Long Branch to Neville Park), 25 Don Mills, 89 Weston (Weekend morning service), 41 Keele, 29 Dufferin, 16 McCowan (Scarborough Centre Station To Warden Station), 199 Finch Rocket (Implement full service), 190 STC Rocket, 196 York U Rocket (York Lanes to Downsview Station), 85 Sheppard East (Don Mills Station To Meadowvale), 96 Wilson (York Mills Station To Humber College and York Mills Station to Claireport via Albion), 52 Lawrence West (Pearson Airport to Lawrence Station), 54 Lawrence East (Eglinton Station to Starspray Blvd), 60B/D Steeles West (Martin Grove To Finch Station), and 53 Steeles East (Saturday early morning service).
Steve: Look at the 10 minute network map on page 7 of the August 2014 report. Most of the routes you list are on that map. The rollout of the Ten Minute Network is being done in stages.
Extend 89 Weston to Steeles replacing 165A Weston Road North and have all 165 buses operate from York Mills to Vaughan.
Have 16 McCowan extended southwest to Coxwell station replacing the 70C O Connor service.
Have 32D extended east to Eglinton Station and eliminate 32C. Service along Trethewey should be replaced by a separate route operating out of Eglinton West station.
Reconfigure 96 Wilson bus service and have all buses except for express to operate out of York Mills Station to simplify service:
96A WILSON YORK MILLS STATION To CARRIER DR via KIPLING & JOHN GARLAND
96B WILSON YORK MILLS STATION To HUMBERLINE / ALBION
96C WILSON YORK MILLS STATION To CLAIREPORT via ALBION
96D WILSON YORK MILLS STATION To CARRIER DR and WESTMORE DR
96E WILSON WILSON STATION To HUMBER COLLEGE EXPRESS
Service along Markham Road/Main Street Markham from McNicoll to Major Mackenzie should be replace by a new separate route operating out of Scarborough Centre station.
Operate all 54 Lawrence East to Starspray and eliminate the express service.
Operate all 80 Queensway buses operate east to Keele station to make connections with the subway.
Restore full service on 5 Avenue Road, 169 Huntingwood, 56 Leaside, and 135 Gerrard.
Have 224 Victoria Park North buses to operate at all times to Honda Blvd until YRT takes over this route.
Extend 17A to 16th & Warden.
Extend 130 Middlefield to Raymerville Drive and McCowan and operate via Middlefield, Highglen, and McCowan Road.
Implement 129C McCowan North (Scarborough Centre Station to Bur Oak Avenue) to provide additional service along McCowan north of Steeles due to increase ridership.
Run Orion Vs exclusively on 196 York U Rocket and 106 York U until all are retired.
Cut 56 Leaside back to Eglinton and Brentcliffe.
Operate all 95 York Mills buses to Kingston Road.
Operate all 11 Bayview buses to Steeles.
Operate all 42 Cummer buses to Middlefield.
Also, please see my blog article on the 10 worst TTC surface routes.
Steve: Any decision about service north of Steeles is a matter for York Region, not for the TTC, who are paid to run these routes on a contract basis at a service level determined by the region.
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Actually, I have additional TTC routes that should be improved to make service more reliable:
Implement 10 Minute network also on 123 Shorncliffe (branches alternating trips).
Run all day express service on Dufferin street from Wilson station to Exhibition and Don Mills road from Pape Station to Steeles via Don Mills Station.
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Wow Steve! I was being excited about this change.
With the Pan-Am Games upon us as well as the wrap up of an another academic year, TTC is quickly ordering more buses like elephants joining in the room for the Games. My only question is, could Danforth ever be re-commissioned as an active garage even after the September changes? TTC would need another division than Bowes or Leslie.
About the High floor buses, TTC would have to organize a retirement ceremony to mark the bus fleet 100% low floor.
Lastly, about the Blue Night service, residents in the Markham Road, West Hill and Guildwood areas could benefit in need of an all night service. Smart move splitting the 302 DANFORTH ROAD-McCOWAN into two routes: 300 BLOOR-DANFORTH extension to Kennedy via Danforth/Brimley/Eglinton and 302 KINGSTON-McCOWAN rerouted to Bingham via McCowan/Danforth/Brimley/Kingston. Tough luck putting the Brimley Road residents north of Eglinton out of misery for an Blue Night route as the 21 BRIMLEY has 8900 riders which is so close to the existing 302.
Steve: I think this comment really belongs in the thread about new services, not the June 21 changes. Not sure what you mean by “Bowes”. As for “quickly ordering more buses”, it’s a small order, and the last one that makes a net increase in service fleet size until 2019. Hardly elephants. Danforth lost property along its northern and southern edges to development, and the interior has been converted for other uses.
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Hi Steve. Are you able to provide a link or explanation of the categories in the service update chart? I’m not fully clear on what they all mean. My staff and I work in the Port Lands area so I’d like to be able to understand the changes to the 172 and 72 routes. Thank you.
Steve: The 172 Cherry route’s summer changes are always a bit tricky, and this year Pan Am Games improvements are part of the mix. The biggest change is that during many periods the route will run more frequently during many periods — every 10 minutes. Weekdays, the midday service will be extended to Cherry Beach (this change occurred in other periods earlier in May).
The chart is organized to show mainly the cases where there is a change in service frequency or the number of vehicles in use, not the full timetable. Typically, only a few periods of service change with each new set of schedules (for example the peak service changes for the summer) and I show only these updates. In the case of Cherry, many, but not all, periods are affected.
Reading down, there are five service periods; across shows the before and after frequency and the change in vehicles used, if any.
As for 72C Pape to Commissioners, it has a summer service cut in the AM peak, as well as a late evening service improvement as part of the roll-out of ten minute service on key routes.
In September, tentatively, the 72 and 172 routes will be recombined into a single route because construction at Union Station will no longer be snarling Front Street.
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Steve, you may have answered this elsewhere; if so, I apologize, but: when 172 CHERRY STREET and 72 PAPE are re-united, will the PAPE buses continue to loop downtown via Wellington, York and King, serving St. Andrew and King stations instead of just Union? From what I can tell, this move significantly increased the ridership along this portion of the route, meaning it significantly increased the usefulness of said route.
Steve: This has not yet been announced.
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As mentioned before Steve, Bowes is a temporary lot owned by YRT. There is a possibility they are temporary setting up a satellite garage.
My question is the 198 AQUATIC ROCKET. Would Malvern operate the line?
Steve: Ah yes. Thanks for the clarification. I don’t know the assignments for the Pan Am routes yet.
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And will it use swan boats, as the name suggests?
Steve: The Toronto Swan Boat and Inclined Plane Railway Company did not choose to be a Pan Am sponsor, and so alas, no swan boats.
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Can you please consider putting a Blue Night bus down Brimley South in Scarborough? I live on a side street off Brimley South at Brimley and Danforth. And I work late a lot of the time, and by the time I get to Kennedy, I have to take the 116, which only takes me as far as Brimley and Eglinton E. So I still have to walk 20 to 30 mins home in the dark around 2am by myself, after being on my feet for like, eight to twelve hrs. Not fun. And usually too broke for a cab.
I’m a year new to Toronto, by the way, from Peterborough, much smaller. And I was quite surprised that I’m still having to put up with things like this here, (although at least there’s some sort of 24 hr service), but I would expect 24 hr service on a main street like Brimley. It has so many side streets coming off it, and people work all hrs of the day and night. It’s a real inconvenience not having a 24 hr bus not going down there.
Steve: It’s not up to me, but the TTC to consider where night routes should go. Write to your Councillor and to the TTC Chair, Josh Colle.
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I wonder about the 10 minute service on the 502 and what will happen to it when the increased fall service requirements arrive without enough new Flexity cars on the road.
Steve: The 10 minute service is all off-peak. Fleet size is not an issue.
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In fact, the TTC will be installing Blue Night service along Brimley between Eglinton and Kingston Road in September. It’s reorganizing and extending the current 302 Danforth Rd – McCowan route and renaming it 302 Kingston Rd – McCowan.
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