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TTC Service Changes Effective February 13, 2022

In the February 2022 service changes, the TTC will begin to restore some of the pandemic-era service cuts. Many of the affected routes are comparatively short and operate on headways where the removal of one or two buses made a big change in the level of service. At the same time, running times on some routes will be adjusted for reliability including some cases where service is improved by reducing round times.

The total amount of service remains below the budgeted level by 1.8 per cent in light of reduced operator availability.

About 20 crews remain open at each division, and they would be staffed using spare operators or overtime.

Vehicle occupancy standards will be changing for the purpose of planning service levels. I will discuss the TTC’s plans for the timing of service improvements in a separate budget update article to be published soon.

The TTC will be modifying the vehicle occupancy standard in the February board period in preparation for projected increases in ridership in Q2 2022 (50% of pre-pandemic levels) and Q3 2022 (70% of pre-pandemic levels). The vehicle occupancy standard will be adjusted to 80% of pre-pandemic levels or approximately 40 customers per bus in the AM and PM peak periods (measured at the peak point, peak direction, peak hour for each period). In addition, to accommodate this increase in customer demand, service hours are also budgeted to increase in Q2 2022 to 100% of pre-pandemic levels.

Subway

There is only one change on the subway. The step-back crewing for One Person Train Operation (aka OPTO) on the Spadina Subway at St. George Station will be changed to a double step-back to give operators more time between trains and reduce delays.

Streetcar

The following changes will occur on streetcar routes:

  • 501 Queen:
    • Streetcar service is restored via Queen to Wolseley Loop at Bathurst Street. It will be further extended to Sunnyside Loop in May.
    • The travel times on the bus service between Broadview and Humber/Long Branch will be reduced. No buses will be removed from the schedule, and headways will improve.
  • 505 Dundas:
    • The temporary extension to Woodbine Loop has been removed.
    • Four AM bus trippers from Broadview Station that originate from 100 Flemingdon Park have been restored.
    • Service to Broadview Station will resume with the schedule change in late June. (Presumably this will also see 504 King return to Broadview Station as well, although it is not explicitly mentioned in the TTC’s service change memo.)
  • 506 Carlton:
    • Streetcar service is restored over the full route following sewer construction on Coxwell Avenue.
    • Four AM peak bus trippers from Main Station that originate on 23 Dawes, 24 Victoria Park and 67 Pharmacy have been restored.

The total number of buses operating on streetcar routes has been reduced:

  • AM peak: From 88 to 83 (net of 8 restored trippers on 505 and 506)
  • PM peak: From 81 to 66

The TOInview infrastructure project map now includes the reconstruction of streetcar track on Adelaide from Charlotte Street to Yonge Street as a 2022-23 project. This is part of the Ontario Line diversion, but it also will give eastbound service a bypass for events on King and Queen between Spadina and Church. The addition of a southbound track on York Street is not yet listed on TOInview.

Buses

The following routes will see changes, most of which are service restorations to fall 2021 levels.

  • 8 Broadview: Schedules changed for reliability. Late evening headway increases from 20 to 30 minutes on all days.
  • 9 Bellamy: Service improvement weekdays during the peaks, midday and early evening.
  • 11 Bayview: An AM peak tripper removed in error in December has been restored.
  • 12 Kingston Road: Service improvements during weekday peaks, Saturday morning, Sunday morning and afternoon.
  • 20 Cliffside: Service improvements during all periods except Monday to Saturday late evening, and Sunday evenings.
  • 22 Coxwell: Running times increased and service reduced during most periods.
  • 23 Dawes, 24 Victoria Park and 67 Pharmacy: Trippers interlined with 506 Carlton restored.
  • 25 Don Mills: AM peak trippers removed. School trips restored.
  • 42 Cummer: Peak period service improvement. 42C Victoria Park service restored.
  • 45 Kipling: Service rebalanced between Steeles and Belfield branches so that matching headways operate on each branch.
  • 50 Burnhamthorpe: Service improvements during all daytime periods and weekday early evenings.
  • 57 Midland: Service improvements weekdays all day except midday, Saturdays except late evening and Sunday daytime.
  • 61 Avenue Road North: Service improvements weekday peak periods and midday.
  • 76 Royal York South: School trips restored.
  • 78 St. Andrew’s: Service improvement during weekday peaks.
  • 100 Flemingdon Park: Four AM peak trippers interlined with 505 Dundas restored.
  • 161 Rogers Road: Service improved during all periods on weekdays, offset by service reductions in some periods on weekends.
  • 168 Symington: Service improved during all periods on weekdays, offset by service reductions in some periods on weekends.
  • 925 Don Mills Express: Weekend operation restored.
  • 600 Run as Directed: Weekday crews reduced. Weekend crews substantially increased. Although this is not explicitly mentioned, weekend subway shutdowns for maintenance and construction will resume in February.
  • 300 Bloor-Danforth Night Bus: Several trippers have been added, especially on Sundays, to deal with crowding on trips in the period before the subway opens.

Details of these changes are in the spreadsheet linked below.

2022.02.13_Service_Changes

22 thoughts on “TTC Service Changes Effective February 13, 2022”

  2. Glad that 50 Burnhamthorpe is almost going back to pre-pandemic schedule. I commute from Etobicoke to downtown and the morning headway has been absolutely unreliable.. as sometimes it is like 21-22 minute per bus.

    However, I am disappointed that service isn’t being restored on BD line (Line 2).. I take the train at Islington, and it already becomes standing room only from here.

    And I really think more trains are needed during the PM rush. I take the train back home at St. George and it is not only a standing room only, but it is getting to a point which I can’t properly social distance myself.

    I really think there should be immediate improvement on line 2 since schools are back and more people are using it.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Are more routes would see service increase in the next service change by the end of March?

    Steve: Nothing has been announced yet.

    Also when streetcars will run along Broadview Avenue?

    Steve: Late June, as it says in the article.

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  4. As it is in the 2022 Service Plan and would, I think, not involve adding any vehicles while providing a better service, I am surprised (well, not really) that the TTC did not go ahead with extending the 65 Parliament bus to Queen’s Quay (presumably to the ‘loop’ at Lower Sherbourne/ George Brown). The 75 (Sherbourne) bus can get quite crowed at times and allowing some people to use the 65 would presumably help that.

    Steve: It’s only February. Items from the Service Plan tend to show up later in the year.

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  5. Hi Steve, since kids ages 12 and under ride fare-free on the TTC, does this also apply on TTC-operated bus routes such as the 160 Bathurst, 17 Birchmount, 68 Warden, 129 McCowan Road North and 102 Markham Road buses that travel north of Steeles Avenue into York Region where York Regional Transit (YRT) fares apply?

    Steve: In theory children should pay, but I am not sure how that would be accomplished as the TTC buses don’t have Presto readers set up to handle York region cards. One of the issues within discussions of regional fare integration is what to do with uneven tariffs between the different systems.

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  6. Also Steve why the push to permanently close Line 3 Scarborough RT in 2023? Buses cannot carry the same capacity as subway trains can do.

    Steve: It’s falling apart and cannot be reasonably maintained. Even that date is a stretch. Thanks to the many delays in the SSE project, the opening date has drifted off to 2030. You might recall that the Scarborough LRT was planned for almost a decade ago, but the project was deferred because Dalton McGuinty was worried about getting the line open in time for the Pan Am Games. At least that was the story at the time.

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  7. 501 Queen “will be further extended to Sunnyside Loop in May.” – is there a project further down that prevents operation through to Humber and/or Long Branch? Are they anticipating The Queensway won’t yet be finished west of Sunnyside? Parkside bridge or geometry changes around Glendale or…?

    Steve: The reconfiguration of The Queensway west of Sunnyside will still be in progress. When that finishes …

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  9. How many times has the 501 Queen been converted to bus service in the last decade? I’m on the west end and it seems like the Long Branch stretch has been running maybe a handful of months in the last 7-10 years.

    Steve: Many times. The TTC seems to treat any excuse to bus Long Branch as an opportunity to save on streetcars. That, plus some jobs taking longer than they should thanks to design cock-ups.

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  11. So the 501 Replacement buses are still going to Broadview right even after the February board period? That makes zero sense because there is a large overlap Between where the streetcar ends and where the bus ends. Isn’t it a better choice to turn back at Jarvis or possibly even to downtown?

    Steve: The TTC’s ability to waste buses on the 501 replacement service is quite amazing. They have at least trimmed the running time, but I expect we will still see clouds of buses laying over at the terminals as well as erratic headways.

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  12. re: Line 3 SRT supposedly closing in 2023. 6 days after a big snowfall, the service is still down. I guess it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if it never reopens. I certainly doubt we’ll see much of it during winter of 2022/23 if it snows to any notable degree.

    (With SRT being a supposedly better alternative to “streetcars” in Scarborough when it was first built, there is something fitting about it, too, getting bus-replaced to death…)

    Steve: I am trying not to gloat too obviously.

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  13. Living near Coxwell and Gerrard, I’m a little puzzled why we’ve had replacement buses. I’ve not seen a single day when the tracks were blocked.

    Did the work happen, or are we going to see another bustitution soon?

    Steve: Nothing announced yet.

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  14. So what will happen to the existing TTC Line 3 vehicles when they retire from TTC service?

    Steve: Moved to a field and used as housing for the gulag to which we will send over-eager marketers of new transit technologies.

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  15. Those trippers on the 300 would be useful if they were to actually run on-time. Pointless otherwise if they’re going to bunch up at Warden and head west all the way together. Wonder how the TTC explains that – the invisible traffic on Bloor-Danforth at 5 a.m.?

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  16. Ironically, not long after my comment about no major construction on Coxwell, they finally started (they may have been further south earlier). Not a lot of interference with the tracks though.

    Meanwhile, crossing the street today at Upper Gerrard and Coxwell, I realised just how bad the concrete is around the tracks. It looks as though it’s started to heave during the winter!

    Here’s the link for Streetview from September 2021. Shame they can’t co-ordinate fixing this with the current closure.

    I’m not sure when Coxwell between the Gerrards was last done. Upper Gerrard was all done back in 2005 or 2006 … but I don’t remember them touching Coxwell then.

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  17. Hey Steve, I was wondering if you had an update on the 365 Parliament bus being cancelled.

    The reason I ask is because it seems to have disappeared online. There’s no data on Saturday or Sunday nights on Google Transit, the TTC website has no schedules, and TransSee shows no buses on it (at least when I checked last night around 2:30am).

    Steve: 365 Parliament still exist on the schedule for weekdays but not weekends. The same is true for the schedule file on NextBus. TransSee depends on the NextBus feed as well as the GTFS schedules, and so if the service is missing in the schedule it won’t show up there. However, weekend service is shown in the Scheduled Service Summary (p 61). I will have to inquire.

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  18. A substantial portion of the “501 Queen” and “504 King” routes continue with shuttle bus operation, particularly the former (more than the latter). In addition to the King-Queen-Roncesvalles reconfiguration and track replacement, there are other construction projects that affect the “501 Queen” route between Broadview Avenue and the Long Branch Loop.

    In the next year or two, 60 or more additional new streetcars from Alstom (formerly Bombardier) will be delivered to the TTC. Which routes will we see these new streetcars?

    Steve: The new cars are basically the same as the existing ones. They will be used everywhere. The KQQR project will reach the point that streetcars can return in mid May, and Broadview Station will see streetcars in late June. The water main work on Broadview will probably finish well before then. Track work will close the central part of 506 Carlton this summer. I will be publishing the map of all planned work later today.

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  19. Here’s another tactic I’ve seen on the streetcar routes presumably to reduce the number of short turns showing up on internal dashboards: Streetcars deadheading from the end of the line when they’re running a little behind before flipping over into service.

    I’ve seen all day runs on the 505 deadheading from Woodbine Loop during AM peak in the peak direction. I may have even caught 503 runs doing this but not with 100% certainty. If they’re willing to do this during peak periods I’m sure it happens at all hours of the day. It’s a big screw you from Rick Leary to the public.

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  20. Hey Steve,

    Last week I commented about the 365 missing on schedules. I checked the schedules for tonight, on the new board, and they are still missing.

    Steve: Yes, I know. Checked them earlier. I am going to write to the TTC *again* about this.

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  21. The last time I visited King/Queen/Roncesvalles, the tracks on Roncesvalles were completely severed by a large utility cut north of Queen and south of the yard entrance.

    Steve: This section is scheduled to be rebuilt starting in the Spring. You probably noticed that the old and new tracks do not line up. This is due to the southbound rails shifting west for a new curb-lane bumpout platform.

    Also, it’s not just streetcars that are sometimes directed to run express to make up time. It’s happened on the 123 Sherway (née Shorncliffe). Which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense – there are only a few stops on Brown’s Lone to be skipped in the first place.

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  22. Hi Steve,

    First weekday after this new schedule in in effect and I am very happy how the 168 route [Symington] panned out this morning … great headways, almost no bunching , and people weren’t packed like sardines like they have in January till now … in all a pleasant surprise from the dark days of having only 4 buses on this route.

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