Month: May 2023

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TTC Service Changes Through Rose Coloured Spectacles

Updated May 4, 2023: The High Park bus service erroneously mentioned in the media release below is supposed to go into service on June 18 according to the Seasonal Services page on the TTC’s website.

The TTC has issued a press release as a general announcement of the planned changes on May 7, 2023. It puts a rather generous spin on what is about to happen. First, here is the unedited text.

Starting this Sun., May 7, the TTC is introducing new schedules on some routes to improve reliability along busy corridors, add seasonal service to key city attractions, better align capacity with ridership demand and accommodate construction across the city.

“We are investing more than ever before as a City government in the TTC to continue to support transit service as it comes back from the unprecedented impact of the pandemic. The TTC is continuing to provide more service than ridership and to increase service on the busiest routes at the busiest times,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie. “Thank you to all TTC workers for continuing to provide safe and reliable service across our city for residents and visitors.”

“These service adjustments are a direct result of extensive consultation with communities and customers,” said TTC Chair Jon Burnside. “On behalf of the TTC Board, I commend the TTC for their focus on service improvements to important City corridors, including Markham Rd., Finch Ave., Wilson Ave., and Jane St.”

“The TTC is continuing to focus on delivering more frequent service to the areas across the city that need it most. This is all part of our strategy to match service to demand and ensure that we are meeting the needs of our riders,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary. “I’d like to thank everyone who engaged with us and provided feedback as we developed this latest schedule, and we look forward to continued feedback from our customers.”

Among the adjustments being made:

• Reduced wait times on overnight routes along Finch Ave., Jane St., and Wilson Ave., to every 20 minutes from 30 minutes.
• Enhancing reliability on the Markham Rd. corridor – one of the TTC’s busiest – by extending service on the 902 Markham Rd Express to connect to busy employment areas at Morningside and Steeles avenues.
• Launching seasonal routes to popular parks and attractions such as Cherry Beach, Bluffer’s Park, High Park and the Toronto Zoo.

The TTC will also continue to monitor service in real time and have additional, unscheduled vehicles available across all modes to fill gaps in service when and where possible.

TTC Media Release May 3, 2023

Let’s take these points in order.

… better align capacity with ridership demand …

That sound very productive, but it hides the fact that many service cuts both in May and in March were made on this basis. A related change in crowding standards implemented by management enabled service cuts on many routes, particularly in off-peak periods.

The TTC is continuing to provide more service than ridership and to increase service on the busiest routes at the busiest times …

Riders on those “busiest routes” might choose to differ. TTC has cut service on several trunk routes over the past months.

In March:

  • Line 2 Bloor-Danforth
  • 501 Queen weekdays
  • 25 Don Mills
  • 29/929 Dufferin
  • 35 Jane
  • 36 Finch West
  • 41/941 Keele
  • 943 Kennedy Express
  • 905 Eglinton East Express

In May:

  • Line 1 Yonge-University
  • 501 Queen (weekend afternoons)
  • 512 St. Clair
  • 52 Lawrence West
  • 85/985 Sheppard East

“These service adjustments are a direct result of extensive consultation with communities and customers,” said TTC Chair Jon Burnside. “On behalf of the TTC Board, I commend the TTC for their focus on service improvements to important City corridors, including Markham Rd., Finch Ave., Wilson Ave., and Jane St.”

I suspect one would be hard pressed to describe what the TTC did as “consultation” considering that they actively withheld information on service changes from City Councillors during the budget debates. The information only came to light thanks to a Freedom of Information request by TTCRiders. The official version of the May 7 changes was only released on the afternoon of May 1, although this existed in draft months earlier.

As for service improvements listed by Chair Burnside, yes Markham Road sees better service. However, the only changes on Finch, Wilson and Jane are to overnight service. Two of these routes saw daytime service cuts in March.

Among the adjustments being made:

[…]
• Launching seasonal routes to popular parks and attractions such as Cherry Beach, Bluffer’s Park, High Park and the Toronto Zoo.

The Cherry Beach, Bluffer’s Park and Zoo services run every summer. They are not additions to the network but simply revivals of regular seasonal services under new branding. As for High Park, there is nothing in the announced changes of summer service into the park previously provided by 30 Lambton. High Park Station is now served by 189 Stockyards and 30 High Park, and there is no mention of an extension in the service memo for May 7, nor is there any mention on the TTC’s website.

Updated May 4, 2023: It turns out that there are plans effective June 18 for a 203 High Park bus. The existing 30 High Park will be renamed High Park North

The TTC will also continue to monitor service in real time and have additional, unscheduled vehicles available across all modes to fill gaps in service when and where possible.

The TTC has cited its “Run as directed” buses as a catch-all fix for service irregularities, but is unable to show how these vehicles have actually been used. At its last meeting, the TTC Board was told that there would be a presentation to their May 8 meeting on the use of RAD buses, but nothing has appeared on the agenda. With luck it will be a “walk in” report presented as part of the CEO’s report.

The TTC would attract better regard from those who try to support their work by being less secretive and defensive. Providing timely information allows debates about the city’s priorities to occur in context rather than with only vague rumours.

The TTC’s job is to provide good transit service. If as an organization it turns into a good news mouthpiece for the Mayor, the Board members, the CEO, it has lost its way. Toronto needs open debates about the future of so many services, not self-serving puffery.

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TTC eBus Contract Goes to New Flyer and Nova Bus

With the federal announcement of funding for the TTC’s eBus project, the bid award has been posted on the MERX website as of May 2, 2023.

The bid closed on April 18, 2022, but was not awarded until late January 2023, likely subject to receipt of funding.

The dollar value of the awards are $343.5 million to New Flyer and $220.2 million to Nova Bus. Vehicle quantities are not included in the MERX information, and I await a press release from the TTC with more details.

The total of $563.7 million is split roughly 60/40 between the two builders. This implies that neither of them scored in the highest possible echelon on product evaluation. This would have led to a much higher proportion going to one of two, or even to a single bidder, based on the scoring system in the RFP.

By implication, BYD, the only other bidder, fell even lower in the scoring. This is not surprising considering the quality and reliability problems the TTC has encountered with their vehicles.

I will update this article with additional information as I receive it.

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TTC Service Changes Effective May 7, 2023 (Final Version)

On May 1, 2023, the TTC released the final version of the service changes planned for May 7. These are substantially the same as the draft version obtained via a Freedom of Information request by TTCRiders. See Draft of TTC Service Changes Effective Sunday, May 7, 2023.

Back in January during budget debates, some Councillors asked for details of the service cuts that would be implemented due to increased crowding standards and financial constraints. TTC staff agreed that this information could be available within a week, but an unseen hand at a higher level (either the TTC CEO Leary or then-Mayor Tory’s office) blocked this. Actually admitting the effects of a budget before it was approved simply was not part of the TTC’s agenda.

The official, final version allows comparison with the draft version. Although the TTC suggested that TTCRiders publication of the draft could be misleading because of changes in the final version, in fact there is very little change.

This article includes only the updates since the draft version, and readers should look to the article linked above for the full list. The spreadsheet (linked later in the article) detailing all of the changes has been updated to reflect the differences between the draft and final versions.

Updated May 2, 2023 at 10:10 am: A overview of all routes showing which get more service and which get less has been added.

Continue reading →
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King Streetcars Return to King Street

The TTC has announced that the 504 King streetcar is now actually running on King Street!

For the period from May 1-6, the 504B streetcar service from Broadview Station to Dufferin Loop will operate over the normal route. The west end 504C bus from Dundas West Station to the Distillery, and 504D from Broadview/Gerrard to Exhibition via Strachan will continue to operate until May 6.

Effective May 7, streetcar service will resume all the way to Dundas West Station, but all cars will operate to Distillery Loop because the Don Bridge on Queen will be under repair for a few months. The east end of the line will operate as a shuttle bus from Parliament & King to Broadview Station. West end service will be the standard combination of 504A cars to Dundas West and 504B cars to Dufferin.

This will change again on June 18 when major construction begins on Broadview Avenue and TTC service between Gerrard and Danforth will be suspended. For further details, see my article on this summer’s construction projects.

As I write this, the routes as defined to NextBus (which supplies most data to prediction apps) have not been updated for 504 King or 501 Queen (which starts its own major diversion around Ontario Line construction). This means that predictions for stops are going to be a mess probably for the coming week until the main update with the May 7 service changes is implemented.