Several changes will affect TTC routes on June 18. Notable among these is the formal restoration of more frequent weekend subway service, the Broadview construction project, various adjustments to improve route operations, and seasonal changes.
A consolidated table showing current and new service designs is in the spreadsheet linked below.
2023.06.18 Service Changes V2.2
Updated June 15, 2023 at 1:00pm:
- Route numbers for 104 Faywood, 121 Esplanade-River and 165 Weston Road North corrected.
- Route of Broadview/Gerrard loop for 121 added.
- Route of 100 Flemingdon Park on Pape clarified.
- Route of 203 High Park South clarified.
Updated June 15, 2023 at 10:30pm:
- Change to partly articulated bus operation on 36A Finch West corrected to refer to the portion of the route between Yonge and Finch W Stn.
Updated June 16, 2023 at 2:00pm:
- Route maps for streetcar service changes added.
Subway Service Changes
Weekend service on 1 Yonge-University-Spadina will revert to the March 2023 schedules with no headway wider than 6’00”.
Weekday evening unscheduled extras on Line 1 (6 trains) and Line 2 (5 trains) will continue to operate to supplement scheduled service. They will be formally included in the July 30 schedule change.
Construction Projects Overview
Restoration of streetcar service west of Sunnyside Loop has been delayed from late July to September.
Streetcar Service Changes
Broadview, Coxwell/Gerrard and Main Station Projects
The planned route changes due to the Broadview Station, Broadview Avenue, Coxwell/Gerrard and Main Station projects are detailed in a separate article.
One change not covered in the original version of that article is that the 304 King Night Bus will operate to Pape Station instead of Broadview Station via Queen, Carlaw, Riverdale and Pape. (The article has been updated.)
An important scope change at Broadview Station is that the planned loop expansion has been deferred. According to the TTC’s service change memo, this was known in mid-May, but was only very recently published.
Other Streetcar Changes
509 Harbourfront service will be improved at various times due to seasonal demand. Details are in the spreadsheet.
All run in/out trips from east end carhouses that were diverting around the Queen/Don bridge were restored to Queen Street with the completion of repairs a few weeks ago. This change is now formally reflected in the schedules.
The allocation of routes to carhouses is shown in the table below.
The consolidated view of streetcar routes and temporary replacement services is shown in the map below.
Updated June 16, 2023: The TTC has published route-level maps showing the service arrangements for each streetcar corridor.
Bus Service Changes
All school trips have been removed from the schedules for the summer period. They will be restored in September.
The allocation of “Route 600” Run as Directed buses between divisions has changed. Details are in the spreadsheet.
Bus Terminal Bay Reassignments
The assignment of bus bays will change at three terminals.
At Wilson Station, bays will be reassigned to accommodate the new 184 Ancaster Park route and to resolve conflicts between 118 Thistle Down and 119 Torbarrie.
At Pioneer Village Station, the routes serving Steeles Avenue west of the station will be shifted to a more central location to better serve passenger volumes.
At Scarborough Centre Station reconstruction in anticipation of future requirements following the SRT shutdown in mid-November is complete. Routes will stop as shown below.
Broadview Station Construction
The 504/505 shuttle from Broadview Station to King and Parliament will be replaced with an extended Pape 72A route running via Queen and King to loop at Parliament-Front-Berkeley. The 72A service will interline with 100 Flemingdon Park at Pape Station. Flemingdon Park buses will operate between the Leaside Bridge and Danforth via Pape, not Broadview and O’Connor.
In the original plan for this period, the expansion of Broadview Station Loop was expected to reduce the amount of platform space available. Routes 8 Broadview and 62 Mortimer were planned to be interlined at Broadview without running south to the station. With the revised plans, these routes will now serve Broadview Station, but the planned schedules remain in effect because of the late notice of the scope change. TTC acknowledges that running times will be insufficient requiring careful route monitoring.
As part of this change, 8 Broadview will be extended east to take over the former 70C O’Connor service to Warden Station. The loop at Coxwell and Plains Road will no longer be used.
Service on the 70A O’Connor branch to Eglinton will be adjusted and will run more frequently than in the May schedules.
Route 121 Esplanade-River will loop at its eastern end via Dundas, Broadview and Gerrard to River.
Details of the service plans are in the spreadsheet.
The interlined 72A/100 and 8/62 services will operate from Birchmount.
Coxwell & Lower Gerrard Construction
The 506C Carlton bus will divert via Greenwood, Danforth and Coxwell to Upper Gerrard both ways. These buses will use on street stops at Coxwell & Danforth and will not enter Coxwell Station.
The 31 Greenwood bus will be continue to operate to Coxwell Station at its north end due to construction at Greenwood Station. The south end route via Eastern Avenue will become permanent and the loop via Hiltz and Dorothy will no longer be used. The route at the south end will be via Queen, Leslie, Eastern, Coxwell and Queen to Woodbine Loop in both directions.
The 322 Coxwell night bus will shift to Pape Station rather than to Broadview Station. The interline with 324 Victoria Park will be discontinued.
The route is rather convoluted to get around various construction zones: Eastbound from Pape Station north to Mortimer, west to Broadview, north to Cosburn, east to Coxwell, south to Danforth, west to Greenwood, south to Queen, east and north via Kingston Road to Bingham Loop. Westbound trips will follow the same route in reverse.
Seasonal Changes
29 Dufferin will be cut back from Princes Gate Loop to Dufferin Loop because of frequent events within Exhibition Place which would block service. Service levels on the route are not changed.
Weekday service will be added on 200 Toronto Zoo and 201 Bluffers Park.
Late evening service on Sundays will be added to 202 Cherry Beach, and the schedule will be changed so that the last trip on all days operates back to Union Station rather that out of service to the garage.
A new weekend route 203 High Park South will operate between High Park Station and Colborne Lodge Drive between 8am and 7pm. This is a rebranding of an extension of 30 High Park operated in past years. Route 30 will be renamed as High Park North.
New Route 184 Ancaster Park
A new route has been created to serve what is now a loop on 120 Calvington. The Ancaster Park route will serve the Maniza-Powell-Garrett loop from Wilson Station while the Calvington route will run through east-west on Wilson.
The new service is created by extending trips on the existing 104 Faywood buses from Wilson Station with the effect that Faywood buses will run less often to provide extra running time for their western trips to Ancaster Park.
Changes for Reliability and Adjusting to Demand
This group of changes includes some major routes where running times are increased to compensate for traffic conditions. This is generally done by running existing buses on wider headways rather than adding vehicles, and in some cases there is a concurrent reduction in buses. Service details are in the spreadsheet.
14 Glencairn / 28 Bayview South: Headways will be adjusted up and down by varying amount in most periods to adjust for traffic conditions.
36A Finch West: The service between Yonge and Finch West Station is unchanged, but PM peak will operate with articulated buses on alternate trips. This is actually a reduction in capacity because the route is now scheduled with 25 artics on the main 36B Humberwood service, and 8 standard buses on the 36D and 36F Milvan branches. [Corrected] This is an increase in capacity as the branch now operates with 10 standard sized buses.
42 Cummer: The peak period 42C service to Victoria Park will be dropped. Service during many periods will run less often than it does now.
57 Midland: Running times will be extended considerably, but this is accomplished entirely by running the existing complement of buses less often.
63 Ossington: Midday service will run slightly less often, every 10 rather than every 9 minutes.
86 Scarborough: Service will operate as 86A to the Zoo during all hours when the Zoo is open, otherwise as 86C to Sheppard.
94 Wellesley: Weekday service will run less often in the PM peak, but more frequently in the evenings. Weekend service will run less often, especially west of Yonge, due to a combination of longer running times and removal of buses in some periods.
108 Driftwood: Peak service will run less frequently due to the removal of one bus in the AM peak and two in the PM peak.
130 Middlefield / 132 Milner: Weekday service on these routes will be interlined. Service will run slighhtly less often on the combined routes in most periods.
165 Weston Road North: Seven early morning trips that now run out of service eastbound to York Mills Station will enter service eastbound at Jane Street at 5:16 am.
Fleet Utilization
Steve Munro 
On the TTC chart the Esplanade-River bus is called the 131. Presumably a typo and not another route number change designed to confuse everyone! and it remains 121!
Steve: My mistake. It will be fixed along with other clarifications.
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Weston Road North is Route 165, not 189 which is Stockyards.
Steve: Thanks for catching this. It will be fixed in the post and in the spreadsheet.
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To get stacked Steve:
I’d expect routes 8 and 100 to return to New Eglinton once construction wraps up completely. Otherwise, they stay at Birchmount.
Steve: In the service memo, the TTC refers to the service as 42A even though it is the only surviving branch.
Don’t forget that there will be a big route shuffle when Line 5 finally opens, and so any garage allocations today may not last long.
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Is the 8 Broadview takeover of the 70C branch permanent? Is the 100 bus detouring from Broadview Avenue to Pape Station or driving the length of Pape south from O’Connor?
Steve: I am not sure about the 70C. At one point there was a proposal to extend 8 Broadview south to Coxwell Station. I will check with TTC on this.
The 100 Flemingdon Park will operate south on Pape from the Leaside Bridge, and will not run on O’Connor or Broadview.
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No surprise as the recent level of construction activity on Queensway was roughly 3 people with one shovel.
The “Streetcar Service June 2023” shows 501L looping via Dufferin, King, and I’m guessing Shaw. Previously the buses were looping via north on Dufferin, Peel, and Gladstone. Is this an official change, or just a guess of the map drawer? If official, do we know which direction will the new loop be, clockwise or counterclockwise?
Steve: I will inquire.
This also means there is no direct TTC service to Exhibition GO for riders who would wish to head north or west. And with current Metrolinx construction, there is no accessible way to Atlantic Avenue and King Street from the eastbound platform. GO, TTC, and Exhibition Place’s idea of joined-up, transit-forward thinking is a shuttle bus to be booked by phone 48 hours in advance.
I’m guessing that just like the 30, this means service to West Road at Colborne Lodge Drive, rather than Colborne Lodge the building? The table gives 17 minute round trip time, which doesn’t seem enough to get to the building and back. High Park is nominally still closed to motor vehicles on weekends – will they have someone operating the gates at Bloor for the bus?
Steve: The routing will be the same as in past years, although the destination sign is to read “Colborne Lodge”. There will be City Parks staff at the gate to let the buses through when the park is closed to traffic.
I have a cookie for anyone who ever saw the Ossington bus arrive every 9 minutes midday.
Steve: Oh ye of little faith! Maybe it’s like Tinker Bell, and if we all clap and believe, the bus will come. Probably as good a tactic as any other.
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In “New Route 184 Ancaster Park”, “The new service is created by extending trips on the existing *108* Faywood buses…”,
I believe you meant 104 Faywood.
This is minor so you can delete this after if you want because I’m just nitpicking.
Steve: Thanks for catching that.
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How can there be no attempt to fix the disastrous 506 streetcar schedule, when they’ve had time to tweak the 506C bus schedule (which has been working very well, in my experience).
Steve: The lead time for fixes limits how fast a major change could be implemented. There will be a new schedule at the end of July when the route changes back to running via Gerrard to Coxwell. We will see what they fix when it comes out.
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You sure the 8 and 62 are interlining? I see nothing on the TTC site or posts or sinage to suggest this. From what I can see they are operating separately.
Steve: When the plan was to expand the streetcar loop, the 8 and 62 would have interlined by hooking up on Broadview and never coming south of Mortimer. That schedule was already in place when the scope change came through for the loop. The buses will drive south to Broadview Station as usual, but they are scheduled to interline. From rider’s point of view, there will be no change, although the running times will be tight because of the extra mileage, and service might be a bit (more) screwed up. The service memo notes:
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Under the 100/72 section on the summary you have posted the details for the 8/62/70 routes. You need to fix that and post the 100/72 info
Steve: Oops. I see what happened there. The 100/72 changes are included in the streetcar section. I had done a cut and paste of the 8/62/72 routes as a template and then realized that I already had the info elsewhere, but didn’t delete the duplicate section. I will update the spreadsheet. Thanks for catching that.
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So it looks like the bright stars at TTC management are starting to roll back some of the subway service cuts. I’ve noticed the Yonge line in particular is getting to be increasingly overcrowded on weekends, especially in the early evenings. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been on busy weekends later in the summer.
Interestingly the 8 and 70 split on O’Connor is an old legacy of the Hollinger Coach Lines system. The TTC is chronically unable to blend headways on the two branches of the 70 evenly so this could very well be a net improvement.
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So the 72A/100 interline will be operated by Birchmount?
Steve: Yes.
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Would extending 203 High Park South all the way down to Queensway with on street looping boost ridership with there being more options to transfer to/from other routes instead of just High Park subway station?
Steve: I very much doubt it. Also the hills at the south end would be difficult for buses.
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I’m glad they finally addressed the service issues with 120. Ever since they cut it to 2 buses/30 minute service at all times back in November 2021 buses have really struggled to stay on schedule in the afternoons everyday.
Regarding the 36, I heard that it is the 36 branch (Finch West Stn to Finch Stn) that will be changed to operate with artics on alternate trips. Currently this branch is all standard size buses at all times.
Steve: You are correct. I had misread this change, and will fix the post.
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Jason on June 15, 2023 at 10:33 am
The signs on the stop poles say it’s a temporary change, but I don’t think they give an end date…
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Temporary changes can become permanent. It is probably a trial with an excuse of “construction”. They “trial” the 52 Lawrence West/58 Malton merger the year before it took place with Lawrence West Station elevators being installed requiring the 58 to be extended to Lawrence Station. They trialed the 504 King split during a construction project on Broadview Ave during the summer of 2018 and decided it will be permanent.
I can’t remember how many summers Broadview didn’t have streetcars now.
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What is the listed Manitoba Dr construction? I regularly ride my bike through the Ex the entire length of Manitoba Dr and haven’t noticed any construction.
Steve: Don’t know.
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Hey Steve,
Two questions for you:
1: Do you know if the 100 is going to be permanently going to Pape station or is it temporary? I can see them doing permanently because a bunch of the Pape station routes would be going to Science Centre station.
Steve: It is temporary. Frankly, given the scope change in the work at Broadview it really wasn’t necessary and they could have just put extra service on the 72A. What we are seeing is the effect of a last minute decision not to expand the streetcar loop and routes left in oddball configurations.
2: In mid November do you know what buses will be extended from STC Stn to Kennedy station?
Steve: There is a map in my article about the 2023 service plan, bt at the point that document was published it was still a proposal and might change before the actual implementation date. The TTC’s own site is silent on this subject, but I hope they will start to publicize the changes soon because the schedules will be locked down in roughly mid-September.
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The first weekday of operation with the combined 8/62 and 72A/100 didn’t look promising to say the least.
Steve: I am not surprised. The 8/62 schedule is too tight because it did not foresee buses coming down to Broadview Station, and the 72A/100 hookup is likely having bus congestion problems at Pape based on what I saw there on Sunday.
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As far as a know Steve, the 8 extension to Warden Station goes back to 1981 when the Borough of East York government requested to extend the 70 O’CONNOR bus to Broadview Station but it didn’t work out. So the recent changes I believe had fulfilled the 1981 proposal done by East York.
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The other big bottleneck introduced along the extended and combined 72A/100 is approaching the Broadview intersection westbound thanks to the combined effects of on-street parking/CafeTO lane closures effectively reducing the street to a single lane and three streetcar routes passing through.
The heavy pedestrian traffic and lack of protected turning phases for right turns ensures that only 1 streetcar can make it through during any single green cycle.
When we add in the 503 and the random 501 bus running east of Broadview and then the 72A/100 on top of general traffic and the back ups extend to beyond the rail corridor.
Steve: Not to mention construction at the rail corridor which was blocking curb lanes this morning (June 21) even though the first stage of the bridge project is not supposed to start until September.
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SOP for Metrolinx. Diversion track around their precious mini metro construction isn’t their concern but they move heaven and earth and jump the gun when it comes to anything that lands in their backyard. They actually started working on the bridge a few weeks ago. I wasn’t paying attention to whether any workers were wearing the proper PPE but anyone with a grudge could report them out of spite.
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Another page from the “TTC provides bad information” booklet here. Their service advisory informs customers traveling downtown via King Street on the 501/504 replacement bus from Woodbine loop to board 504 King streetcars on the east side of Sumach.
Steve: There are two errors. Not only does the King car not stop on the east side at Sumach (the connection is better made one stop west at Sackville, or over at Parliament), but the buses do not enter Woodbine Loop, but instead loop around via Eastern Avenue and return west from Coxwell as their own map clearly shows.
The degree to which people responsible for public info clearly do not understand how their own system works is embarrassing, but even worse that others in the organization don’t catch the errors and get them fixed.
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When streetcar service is restored west of Sunnyside Loop in September, I suspect that only 501 Queen streetcars would run but not 508 Lake Shore. I have noticed that the Subway and Streetcar Map and the System Map on the TTC site no longer show the 508 route. So, has 508 gone the same way as 503 and the downtown express buses?
Steve: Well, the 503 is reappearing this week as a bus and in October as a streetcar, so I’m not sure if which routes are on the map indicates their long-term status. Both the 508 Lake Shore and the 14x Downtown Express buses serve commute trips to the core with limited service whereas the 503 is a more frequent service through the daytime.
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