Updated February 10 at 3:45pm: The TTC has advised that the 504C bus will not return to Roncesvalles south of Howard Park until mid-March.
The TTC has announced several service changes effective February 12. These are, generally speaking, not the changes pending due to revised Service Standards and the 2023 Budget which will not come to City Council until February 15. Those changes will begin to appear in late March schedules, although there is a good chance that that the details will be published soon.
Notwithstanding that, some routes will see service cuts in February “to match demand”, although the TTC sometimes masks this as a schedule adjustment for reliability. A headway (the time between buses) might be lengthened to provide more round trip with the same number of vehicles, but this also affects the level of service.
Details of the changes are available in the spreadsheet linked below.
Service Changes for February 12, 2023
The following routes are affected:
- Construction changes:
- 501 Queen: Service continues to operate to Sunnyside Loop.
- 504 King:
- Streetcar service operates to Bathurst Street. Overhead conversion for pantograph operation will occur from Bathurst & King to Howard Park & Roncesvalles. Headways are slightly wider during some periods.
- 504C bus service will operate between Dundas West Station and Church with through service on Roncesvalles replacing the Parkside Drive diversion, and looping downtown via Church, Wellington and York. Updated: 504C buses will continue to operate via Parkside Drive until mid-March pending completion of work on Roncesvalles Avenue.
- 45 & 945 Kipling: Due to construction at Finch & Kipling for Line 6 Finch, running time and buses will be added. Headways will be the same or only slightly less frequent than current schedules.
- 337 Islington Night Bus: North end loop changed to run west on Finch, north on Kipling and east on Steeles due to Finch LRT construction.
- Schedule reliability changes:
- 14 Glencairn & 28 Bayview South: Routes interlined at Davisville Station. Most headways will be slightly wider than on current schedules.
- 20 Cliffside & 113 Danforth: Running times increased and headway widened during most periods with capacity cuts of up to 25%.
- 26 Dupont & 55 Warren Park: Routes interlined at Jane Station on weekdays. Service on Dupont reduced to half-hourly during all weekday periods. 55 Warren Park schedules adjusted for reliability with no change in frequency.
- 59 Maple Leaf: Revised running times for reliability. Service levels improve or worsen in various ways depending on the time period.
- 100 Flemingdon Park: Time points enroute adjusted to match actual conditions. No change in service levels.
- 115 Silver Hills and 122 Graydon Hall: Running times adjusted for reliability. Small headway changes up and down on weekdays. Late night service on 122 Graydon Hall improved slightly.
- 127 Davenport: Running time increases during most periods with widened headways. Weekday service cut by about 25% except late evenings.
- 161 Rogers Rad: Running time increases during most periods with headways widened from 10% to 28%.
- Dead head times for trips to and from garages adjusted on several routes for reliability.
- Adjusting service to demand:
- 505 Dundas: Schedules are changed to provide more running time, and headways will be every 10 minutes during all periods. This represents cuts ranging from a tenth to a third of the existing capacity.
- 511 Bathurst: Schedules are changed in some periods to provide more running time, but more generally to widen headways with cuts ranging up to a fifth of capacity.
- 41& 941 Keele: Weekday running times on the 41 Keele local service adjusted for reliability. 941 express service will run less frequently with a major cut in the PM peak from every 14 to every 20 minutes. Weekend service adjusted with new running times and generally wider headways, although mainly by small amounts.
- 43B Kennedy via Progress: Peak service reduced by 25% on this branch. No change on 43A Steeles and 43C Village Green services.
- 72C Pape to Commissioners: AM peak service reduced by about 25%.
- Miscellaneous:
- 2 Bloor-Danforth: The number of “gap” trains will be reduced from 6 to 2 in both peak periods.
- 7 Bathurst & 89 Weston Road: Articulated buses now used on 89 Weston will shift to 7 Bathurst so that Bathurst runs all with artics, and Weston runs all with standard buses.
- 15 Evans: PM school trip times changed on the schedule to match actual current operations.
- 38 and 938 Highland Creek: The transition between schedule periods will be adjusted to match demand, and the first/last express trips will occur later.
- 86 Scarborough: Saturday late evening shuttle service to the Zoo extended to 10:20pm.
- 91 Woodbine: The formal “end of the line” will be shifted to Lochinvar Crescent & York Mills. The 3:10pm school trip will be reassigned to 924 Victoria Park Express.
- 95 & 995 York Mills: The transition times from express to local service in the early evening weekdays at UTSC will be changed.
- 396 Wilson Night Bus: Schedules modified so that buses arrive at the same time on all days. Trips on day services adjusted to avoid overlaps with night runs.
Budgeted Hours of Service
The Service Budget shows the effect of pending cuts to regular service for the schedules that will take effect at the end of March.
For February, the planned service is only 0.6% below budget, but a further drop is planned for March and beyond. Note that there is a big jump in construction-related service (diversions, bus replacements, extra running time) that actually raises the total weekly hours through mid-year. This is possible even with a constrained budget because much construction service is paid for as part of a capital project’s cost.
A detailed plan for the timing of various projects has not yet been released.
Fleet Utilization
The peak bus and streetcar requirements are considerably below the level possible with the fleets the TTC owns.
Due to construction work, notably the King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles project, buses operate on parts of the streetcar network. The requirement in the February-March schedules is shown below.
The streetcar service requirement by carhouse is summarized below.
Construction Projects
The table below is taken from a TTC report.
Steve Munro 
Wow, TTC is really putting the nail in the coffin on the 26 and 127. Very frustrating to see.
Additionally, it seems the TTC still hasn’t figured out that running the 45A at 15+ minute headways in the midday is beyond stupid. I’ve seen complaints for quite a while on Twitter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Has the TTC’s “ten minute network” been officially dead yet?
If so, then why don’t they scrap that designation?
Steve: No. So far they have stayed within the ten minute limit on routes where there have been cuts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
KQQR work is extended from early 2023 to July 2023. Donlands and Greenwood easier access slipping from early 2023 to May 2023 and “TBC”. The overhead upgrades for Kingston which were scheduled for November 2022 to March 2023 is extended until May 2023? Unreal!
Steve: KQQR work includes the new right-of-way on The Queensway. The main intersection is finished now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How many times I have ridden the College, Dundas,Queen and King, sitting in front of a set of doors. The number of people I see not paying their way. At least 30 per trip, and that is just one trip at one set of doors. This revenue is theft.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi there, I am just curious are there any RADS buses from any division and is the Birchmount Electric buses entering service for this service changes.
Steve: There are only three scheduled RADs and they are at Eglinton. There are supposed to also be construction RADs that are paid for from the capital budget, notably for subway substitutions. I will see what I can figure out from available info.
As to electric buses, which ones are you referring to?
LikeLike
The western portion of the “501 Queen” route continues with its shuttle bus operation between Dufferin Street and the Long Branch. How much longer will this shuttle bus operation last, and when will streetcars return?
There will be a delivery of at least 60 additional new streetcars in the near future, with some of those on the “501 Queen” route, possibly replacing the shuttle buses.
Steve: Streetcar service west of Sunnyside awaits completion of the Queensway right-of-way. TTC shows July as the end of this project although I suspect it could happen sooner. The problem is that they plan their changeovers bus/streetcar months in advance and have to be sure that the track will actually be clear, hence the conservative, far off date.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If these aren’t the actual service cuts, I’m afraid of what we will see in spring 💀💀💀
LikeLike
The 97 YONGE bus should have a closer headway to Line 1’s headway. A “ten minute” headway would be better than the current “30 minute” headway.
When Line 5 opens, the 34 EGLINTON bus will be running parallel to it, like the 97 YONGE bus is SUPPOSED to be. The 34 EGLINTON should be a “ten minute” headway as well.
I miss the time when the 4 ANNETTE trolley bus had a ten minute headway. Went downhill when it was replaced by the 26 DUPONT bus. Started with Mike Harris’ downloading, kept down there by Rob Ford, and getting worse with John Tory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“… the level possible with the fleets the TTC owns.”
Yes, the limiting factor is employees to operate service. Any word on how the “Be Essential” hiring campaign is going? In my opinion, that is a brilliant slogan. The TTC finally did something right.
Steve: Too soon to tell.
LikeLike
Do you know when the King Queen Roncesvalles construction will finish and when will the 504 king streetcars returns on Roncesvalles avenue?
Steve: If you look at the table of construction projects in the article, you will see that the overhead work is to finish for the March schedule period which actually starts at the end of the month. Buses are expected to start running on Ronces by mid-March.
LikeLike
I wonder if DRT can finally use STC to loop their buses. It was a good idea, and TTC rejected it. With their buses seeing ridership increase at McCowan station, I hope this proposal is revisited. Especially now that Paul Ainslee is on the TTC Board. Its funny how their services see an increase in ridership, yet TTC hasn’t….mmmmmm
This also should be the last board period before the dreaded cuts. I saw a tweet by Stephen Wickens where Rick Leary is supporting this move. We badly need a direct clear message on wheather Rick Leary is staying or not. He’s 5 years should be up. I guess technically in June.
Any idea on what those service cuts will look like? By now they should have the service cuts in the finalization stage. Also, will their be layoffs of operators, even management as a result of the coming cuts. Or will they just fall into a spare or as extras or as RADs?
I hope the next bakes meeting, when ever it is, address this or gives us more insight. I don’t understand how they can be so pro cuts, yet are so secretive about where the cuts will take place?
I know this is unrelated, but what’s going on with the electric bus fleet procurement. I thought they were supposed to award a winner back in June 2022? Are they back tracking on that?
Steve: The TTC is using all of the loop capacity for its SRT shuttle changes and has kicked even GO Transit out.
Rick Leary? Who knows. He was supported by John Tory, but now he’s gone it’s hard to say what will happen. I do not hold much hope for the TTC board to look for a substantially better replacement.
I don’t know what the cuts will look like, but the TTC has had the details available for weeks. They were promised to Council at a mid-January budget meeting, but the TTC reneged on that. Coming to the Council budget meeting, probably, and then we will know.
The TTC has been silent on eBus procurement. I suspect that they do not yet have confirmation of funding for this project.
LikeLike
For the interlining between the Glencairn and Bayview South buses, I’m curious which division will the buses will come from since Glencairn is Mount Dennis and Bayview South is Eglinton?
Steve: Mount Dennis. It’s in the detailed spreadsheet linked from the article.
LikeLike
Hi Steve, the electric buses that i am referring to is the New Flyer Batteries Buses at Birchmount Garage. So is the New Flyer Batteries Buses at Birchmount Garage going to be entering in service for the February 2023 Service Changes?
Steve: The TTC has not purchased any new battery buses. The ones on order right now are hybrids.
LikeLike
I hope you drop the fare if you are cutting services… this should be free as it was intended to be. Cut the CEO paycheck in half… and so on down the line.
Steve: Please note that it is the TTC and Council who will dictate fares and service levels, not I.
LikeLike
Looking at the Budgeted Hours of Service in the fall, I see there is a large bump in September and November. I’m assuming the September one is the regular increase reversing the Summer decrease plus a few new service increases. Would I be wrong to guess that the November increase is the start of the Line 3 replacement service and/or opening of Line 5?
Steve: Looking at those numbers, I don’t know how they are going to fit in Line 5, let alone Line 6, without other parts of the system taking a serious hit. This is an example of the secrecy surrounding budget details and the Board’s lack of interest in how the provision of service works.
If anything good comes from Tory’s demise, it could be a Mayor who knows the City has to face the reality of its financial problems, and encourages an open, informed discussion of alternatives.
LikeLike
How can [we] improve the service in TTC trains? Every hour of [the] day there are delays. Due to security bridge [?] and violence in TTC areas.
LikeLike
That is a huge cut, especially for the east end of the line where Regent Park has seen huge population growth. 10 minute service, especially with lax TTC route management puts it outside the safety level of a “show up and one will be there soon” service level.
It’s the first step on the system death spiral.
Steve: Yes. At the Board of Trade, Rick Leary talked about headways widening by 30 seconds to maybe three minutes. The cut on Dundas is deeper, and the percentage change in frequency (even assuming reliable service) is much greater than numbers he has cited in the past would indicate. Either he is making up numbers to suit the pols, or he is badly misinformed.
LikeLike
As a point of reference, before the arrival of the Flexity cars the service on Dundas was 5:15 peak and no worse than 6:30 during off peak. Why did they need 60 more cars again?
Steve: The extra cars were for service plans pre-pandemic when (a) they were short cars and (b) they would need more for the soon-to-be-approved Harbourfront extensions.
LikeLike
43 bus could be better for a long route.
LikeLike
The 98 to Willowdale Senlac should also be a night bus. 398.
LikeLike
Am I getting this right? The King Streetcar will not run west of Bathurst til sometime in March due to overhead conversion work, at which point it will come back, maybe going all the way to Dundas West, then a few weeks later they will start watermain work near Dufferin and the streetcar will stop running west of Bathurst again for many months? From memory it seems like from July 2022 to December 2023 we will have seen streetcars west of Bathurst for a few weeks at most.
Steve: Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone. I am sure that the Mayor’s wonderful co-ordinating committee has it all in hand!
LikeLike
Don’t worry, Ben. They’re timing the platform reconstruction on Roncesvalles to be when the streetcar could run through to Dundas West. Current announced streetcar return time is May. At current rate that might be the 507.
LikeLike
Don’t hold your breath. If the overhead conversion on Kingston Road takes 6 months to do then I’m confident they won’t be close to being done on King by March.
LikeLike
Mount Dennis still has buses on the 501 to longbranch even though the chart says only Wilson and queensway are supplementing the 501.
Steve: Yes, I see. The chart of buses replacing streetcars (a TTC chart) does not show any Mount Dennis buses on the 501, and yet the Scheduled Service Summary does show “MtD/Qsy/Wil” as the source for 501 buses. In both cases, the peak bus count is 19.
On occasion, the information in the service memo can be out of sync with the service summary because of last minute changes.
LikeLike