The TTC has announced the details of its service changes for October 2023.
Detailed Before-and-After Schedule Info
2023.10.08 Service Changes [Version 2]
Streetcars
The major change in October will be a further restructuring of service on Queen Street responding to changing conditions on various construction projects. Here are the services that will operate initially:
- 501L Queen bus from Long Branch to Dufferin (unchanged)
- 501 Queen streetcar from Sunnyside to McCaul Loop (unchanged)
- This service will be scheduled so that if The Queensway opens before the November schedule change, service can be extended to Humber Loop.
- 501B Queen bus from Bathurst to Broadview & Gerrard (unchanged)
- 501D Queen streetcar from King & York to Neville Loop (formerly branded as the 513 Queen East bus)
- The downtown looping will be from Queen & Church south to Wellington, west to York, north to King, east to Church and north to Queen.
- 503 Kingston Road streetcar from Spadina (Charlotte Loop) to Bingham Loop via King.
- This arrangement will put both eastbound services to The Beach (501D and 503) at both King and St. Andrew subway stops. (At St. Andrew Station the 501D will serve the stop on the SE corner at York Street, while the 503 will serve the stop on the SW corner.)
- 503 cars will be based at Leslie Barns.
If The Queensway opens to streetcar service before the November schedule changes, the following services will operate. There is no specific date when this might occur, and it depends on the state of the never-ending KQQR project.
- Daily until late evenings:
- 507 streetcar from Long Branch to Humber
- 501A streetcar from Humber to McCaul Loop
- Late evenings
- 501C streetcar from Long Branch to McCaul Loop
King Street services are unchanged:
- 504A streetcars from the Distillery to Dundas West Station Loop
- 504B streetcars from the Distillery to Roncesvalles
- 508 “Lake Shore” trippers between Roncesvalles and Parliament during peak periods.
- 72A Pape buses from King & Parliament to Pape Station
- At Dundas West Station, 504 cars will resume use of the inner loop track.
The 505 Dundas car will continue to operate to Woodbine Loop via Broadview, Gerrard and Coxwell.
- 505 cars will be based at Leslie Barns, shifted from Russell Carhouse.
- At Dundas West Station, 505 cars will resume use of the outer loop track.
The 506 Carlton car’s western terminus will change back to High Park Loop. There is no change in the schedule.
The 509 Harbourfront car will see a seasonal service reduction on weekdays during the afternoon peak and early evening, all day Saturday, and daytime and early evenings on Sunday.
The 510 Spadina AM peak service will be reduced to match demand.
The 511 Bathurst services will be reduced weekday daytime, afternoon on Saturdays, and daytime on Sundays to match demand.
The 512 St. Clair service remains a bus operation until summer 2024.
With the reopening of Queen Street at Degrassi, streetcar running in/out trips will be restored to Queen Street from their temporary route via Gerrard.
Buses
Scarborough RT Replacement Service
- The 903 STC Express bus will shift its loading location at Kennedy Station to the bay 11 in the new terminal in the south parking lot. During the September period, this route operated with Run-As-Directed buses, and therefore was not visible to service tracking apps. For October, the route is in the official schedules and will be trackable.
- The 954 Lawrence East Express bus will change its western terminus from Lawrence East to Kennedy Station. Westbound buses will operate through the service road to loop at Lawrence East Station and then return east to Midland where they will turn south and follow the 903 route to Kennedy Station. Northbound buses will follow the 903 route via Kennedy north to Lawrence. Buses will serve Bay 8 in the new south terminal.
Seasonal Changes
Service on 200 Toronto Zoo, 201 Bluffer’s Park and 202 Cherry Beach will end on Thanksgiving Day, October 9. (Service on 203 High Park ended at Labour Day.)
Routing Changes for Construction
- 23 Dawes moves back to Bay 1 at Main Station following completion of construction work.
- Construction at Dufferin Loop affects three bus services there:
- 29 Dufferin and 329 Dufferin Night will be rerouted to Princes’ Gate via Dufferin, Liberty, East Liberty, Strachan, Manitoba Drive and Canada Boulevard in both directions.
- 929 Dufferin Express will loop through Exhibition Loop, but will only serve stops outside of the loop.
- The 40 Junction-Dundas West and 46 Martin Grove buses will shift to a temporary loading area at Kipling Station. (46 made this change on September 8.)
Service Changes
- 929 Dufferin Express: Service improved weekday early evenings, and mornings on Saturday.
- 39 Finch East: Service improved weekday midday and evening; Saturday early morning, afternoon and late evening; Sunday all day except early morning when there is a slight decrease.
- 40 Junction-Dundas West:
- Service interlined with 49 Bloor West.
- Eastbound 40 Junction-Dundas West trips shift to a temporary loading area at the St. Albans entrance at Kipling Station due to construction.
- Service on 40A to Jane improved to compensate for less frequent service on the merged 40B/49 route.
- Service on the 40A and 40B branches will no longer interleave regularly on the common portion of the route.
- 41 Keele: All evening trips will operate northbound to Pioneer Village station rather than some trips short-turning at Eglinton.
- 941 Keele Express: Peak service improved, midday weekday service added.
- 44 Kipling South: Reliability improvement with changes in the split between driving and recovery times, and minor headway widening in the PM peak and early Saturday evening.
- 944 Kipling South Express: Headways widened slightly for added running time and reliability.
- 54D Lawrence East: New weekday midday half-hourly service between Don Mills and Morningside.
- 59 Maple Leaf: Service improvement during the AM peak and on Saturday afternoon and early evening.
- 67 Pharmacy: Reliability improvements.
- 68 Warden: Service improvements weekday peaks and midday, Saturday late morning and afternoon, Sunday late morning.
- 71 Runnymede: Schedule adjustments. Route shifted from Queensway to Mount Dennis Division. [corrected from original article]
- 73 Royal York: AM peak adjustment for interline of 73B La Rose service with 76B Grand Avenue service at Royal York Station.
- 76 Royal York South: Reliability adjustments
- 79 Scarlett Road: Reliability adjustments. Service will be slightly less frequent on Sunday late evenings.
- 80 Queensway: Reliability and service improvements. Service will run more frequently weekday daytimes, and early evenings on all days.
- 88 South Leaside: Reliability and service frequency adjustments during most periods.
- 97 Yonge: Peak service south of Front Street removed. Off-peak service extended to St. Clair from Davisville. New peak service from Union Stn to Eglinton. Service improvements at some times on the Steeles branches.
- 102 Markham Road: Service improvement on weekends with the addition of 102B Steeles Trippers that will shadow the 102D Major Mac service, and with better service early Saturday mornings and on weekend late evenings.
- 112 West Mall: Service improvement midday and early evening weekdays, morning, afternoon, and early evening periods Saturdays, and afternoon and early evening periods Sundays.
- 116 Morningside: Service improvement during the AM peak and late evenings on all days. Two school trips added eastbound from Kennedy Station at 8:30 and 8:35am.
- 129 McCowan North: School trip added at 2:48pm southbound from McCowan and 14th.
- 135 Gerrard: Service and reliability improvement during all time periods
- 168 Symington: Service improvement all day weekdays.
- RADs: The number of Run As Directed buses has been reduced from 37 to 21 in the morning and early afternoon, but increases from 55 to 80 in the late afternoon and evening.
Subways
There is no change in the service level on the three subway lines.
Riders regularly see crowded trains, although not at all hours. Part of the problem is that some service is still running at reduced levels. Here is a comparison of January 2020 and October 2023 service.
In this table, values are shown as headway intervals (m’ss”) and trains/hour. These values do not include “gap trains” which are used as needed to supplement service.
Weekday service on all lines is running below pre-pandemic levels, particularly on Line 1.
| Weekdays | AM Peak | Midday | PM Peak | Early Eve | Late Eve |
| Line 1 Yonge-University | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 2’21″/25.5 | 3’49″/15.7 | 2’36″/23.1 | 3’30″/17.1 | 5’00″/12 |
| Oct 2023 | 3’10″/18.9 | 5’44″/10.5 | 3’31″/17.1 | 5’00″/12 | 6’00″/10 |
| Line 2 Bloor-Danforth | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 2’21″/25.5 | 3’20″/18 | 2’31″/23.8 | 3’42″/16.2 | 4’52″/12.3 |
| Oct 2023 | 2’46″/21.7 | 4’35″/13.1 | 3’45″/16 | 5’37″/10.7 | 5’43″/10.5 |
| Line 4 Sheppard | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 |
| Oct 2023 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 |
Saturday service on Line 2 is at the pre-pandemic level, but is lower at other times.
| Saturdays | Early Morn | Late Morn | Afternoon | Early Eve | Late Eve |
| Line 1 Yonge-University | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 5’00″/12 | 3’41″/16.3 | 3’41″/16.3 | 5’00″/12 | 5’00″/12 |
| Oct 2023 | 6’00″/10 | 4’34″/13.1 | 4’34″/13.1 | 5’00″/12 | 6’00″/10 |
| Line 2 Bloor-Danforth | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 5’41″/10.6 | 4’15″/14.1 | 4’15″/14.1 | 5’30″/10.9 | 6’00″/10 |
| Oct 2023 | 5’40″/10.6 | 4’15″/14.1 | 4’15″/14.1 | 5’30″/10.9 | 6’00″/10 |
| Line 4 Sheppard | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 |
| Oct 2023 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 |
Sunday service on Line 2 is at pre-pandemic levels during the daytime, but all other services are operating at lower levels.
| Sundays | Morning | Afternoon | Early Eve | Late Eve | |
| Line 1 Yonge-University | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 5’00″/12 | 4’20″/13.8 | 5’00″/12 | 5’00″/12 | |
| Oct 2023 | 6’00″/10 | 4’34″/13.1 | 6’00″/10 | 6’00″/10 | |
| Line 2 Bloor-Danforth | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 4’52″/12.3 | 4’52″/12.3 | 4’52″/12.3 | 4’52″/12.3 | |
| Oct 2023 | 4’52″/12.3 | 4’52″/12.3 | 5’30″/10.9 | 6’00″/10 | |
| Line 4 Sheppard | |||||
| Jan 2020 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | 5’30″/10.9 | |
| Oct 2023 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 | 7’20/8.2 | 7’20″/8.2 |
Construction Projects
Carhouse and Garage Allocations
Steve Munro 
Thanks for the update!
Steve: You’re welcome!
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Hi Steve,
Great article as always. Just a quick thing I wanted to point out. The article mentioned that the 71 Runnymede is switching from Mount Dennis to Queensway. The route is currently at Queensway, so I think it might be the opposite.
Steve: You are correct. I reversed the divisions. Will fix.
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This is really helpful, Steve. I knew the rush-hour split to the 97 was coming because my morning driver tripped me off to it, but the narrative in the service changes notice on the TTC website didn’t suggest there were any changes to the off-peak 97D/F service. Seems pretty clear from the maps you’ve included here that there is.
In typical TTC fashion, the only notice they’ve posted to the bus stops involves the removal of service below Front St. There’s absolutely nothing about the rush-hour split.
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I am wondering what is the logic of the TTC keep sabotaging the routes in west Etobicoke? 49 Bloor West already has significantly reduced service compared to a pre-pandemic and the crowding issue is getting worse since the school started in September, and indeed the TTC is further reducing the service on the route by interlining with 40 Dundas West.
The situation is similar on 50 Burnhamthorpe especially during the PM peak.. since the headway got much worse (from every 15 min to every 20 min), the bus becomes packed and it gets to a point that people can’t board on the front door.
There was a rumour that the TTC is working on the fare integration with other GTA transit provider like MIWAY or YRT.. and I think Bloor and Burnhamthorpe was some of the pilot project for that.. I am wondering if the TTC is intentionally sabotaging the service level on those routes to make that fare integration in place.
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Missing the Hillcrest Complex, which will have its 100th anniversary in 2024. Just in time for…
Phase 1
Summer 2024 -Winter 2026*
• Install streetcar tracks and overhead power for 25 streetcars.
• Provide track lubrication to all storage tracks to minimize squealing from streetcars.
• Provide temporary pre-servicing area.
• Relocate the bus brake testing area permanently away from the residential neighbours and from the original location.
• Upgrade underground utilities.
• Replace tracks inside the Harvey Shop and other maintenance work.
Phase 2
Summer 2024 -Spring 2027*
• Install sanding system (silo, dispensers, compressors, etc.).
• Provide permanent pre-servicing area.
• Complete landscaping (southwest corner of Bathurst St/Davenport Rd and along Bathurst St towards the entrance of the facility).
• Upgrade underground utilities.
Steve: This has nothing to do with the October changes, and I wrote about this plan back in August.
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I can not believe there is no service improvements on Line 1 at all… I try (note use of word try) to board northbound at Bloor-Yonge approximately 3 p.m. Mon-Fri. The alleged 5’44” headways are a figment of someone’s imagination 2-3 days a week stretching to 10, 12, and occasionally 14 minutes. Ask a supervisor – “nothing we can do, they don’t listen to us” call customer service…. After the large gap, finally get on the 3rd train after, heading to Sheppard Yonge, only to be thrown off at either York Mills or Lawrence. You report this and get told, come on it can’t be all that bad… they need “boots on the ground” from Service Planning or Operations staff to see it for themselves. Hell of a way to run a railway.
Steve: With the recent hand-wringing about the need to fund replacements for the T1 trains on line 2, we seem to have forgotten the need to fund actual operation of trains.
I am guardedly hopeful that the November schedules, which are supposed to bring back much service, will see a subway improvement. We have all of this infrastructure, but can’t afford to actually run trains. But the subways, subways, subways crowd are getting their construction projects.
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They can’t “reduce service to match demand” much further on some routes like 511 daytime Sundays without the service falling off the 10-minute service map…
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Thanks for the update. So glad to see service improvements on the 168.
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If the 501 Queen streetcar is indeed extended to Humber loop, then the question is, what’s the excuse now for it not to go all the way to Long Branch? I know there’s no overhead wires just west of Sunnyside loop for a short section(actually they’re putting it up now). But what’s stopping them from going all the way to Long Branch or even Kipling?
Steve: When streetcar service resumes, it will be a separate 507 Long Branch route from Humber westward with the 501s running east from there.
And why can’t the 513/501D shuttles not go all the way to Bathurst/Wolseley loop for a more seamless trip? I assume they don’t want it to be too long? Or too many buses with the 501B still looping at Bathurst?
Steve: The idea is to provide better links to the financial district from the east end with the 501 and 503.
This coming board looks like a simple tweak from the Sept board. I hope to see significant changes in November.
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This is a feature – at least for the politicians who are pushing them. Like road widening, bus transitways, and LRT tunnels through Etobicoke, it’s about giving contracts to construction companies.
Actually operating transit is not really a concern. Fancy Viva stations have a bus every 11 minutes. Fancy Mississauga Transitway stations have a bus every 8 minutes. Lines 5 and 6 will likely be similar.
That’s why construction costs have blown out. The costs aren’t really a concern. Sure, we could build twice the amount of transit infra if our construction costs were more like in Sweden. But construction companies would still get the same amount of money overall, so why bother? If you build double the infra, you might need to operate double the service, and construction companies don’t get paid for that.
For that matter, a lot of times actually finishing the construction is not really a concern. The objective is to be building things, so who cares if you finish building them? That’s how we get Line 5, KQQR, Wellington Street, and 10-year subway extensions.
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The ‘utilisation rate’ of the streetcar fleet seems terribly low since it is so new (and growing). From the chart, the maximum number of in service cars is 136. We have the original 204 plus, I assume, a few of the new order. Though the use of bus-titution may be high at the moment due to all the construction, it does look like a mis-match.
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Given the split of 501 streetcar service into eastern and western segments, has the TTC definitely abandoned running 501 service via Dundas Street? Is the TTC experimenting with various routings such as formerly running 505 Dundas to Neville Park Loop?
Steve: It’s been a lot of experimentation this year because so many routes were under construction at the same time. I think the next change we will see will be the hookup of the western and eastern halves via Richmond/Adelaide so that there will be a single route from Neville to Humber.
The track work on Broadview is likely to be done by November, but current plans see streetcars not returning until February. They should really shift the 505 back to Broadview Stn seeing is has running time to reach Woodbine Loop as soon as it is physically possible.
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I get that it’ll be a seperate service. But the 501L will still be buses. Why can’t they run streetcars between Humber Loop and Long Branch? What’s the hold up on that section?
Steve: It is supposed to be streetcars.
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Does the 102B Markham Road trippers goes from Warden Station to Steeles or Steeles to Major Mackenzie?
Steve: The trippers will go to Steeles, and will “shadow” the Major Mac buses by a few minutes, sort of like a second section.
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So what do you mean by “shadow” buses?
Steve: The Steeles trippers will follow the Major Mac buses about three minutes behind, and this will likely collapse quickly to them running as a pair. The idea is to provide extra capacity on the Major Mac trips, as opposed to running more frequent service over the entire route.
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Thanks for the update. I notice that in Transsee the ‘future schedules’ posted, the 97 bus no longer goes into Davisville Station. Do you happen to have an idea why?
Steve: As my article explains, the southern end of the main 97 route is St. Clair Station, and the peak period service from Union ends at Eglinton.
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RE my comment on 97 Yonge… Maybe I need to explain again ha
I remember back in the day that service went to St Clair Station off peak on 97 Yonge. But they still went through Davisville Station both ways. Now starting tomorrow it doesn’t look like they will use Davisville Station at all, just serve it on the street. Just curious if you heard anything why (or if you knew before).
Steve: According to the GTFS version of the schedules which list all of the stops, the 97A/B services stop at Chaplin Cr. (SB) and at Davisville (NB), but the station itself is not listed. The 97C Union/Eglinton buses stop at St. Clair both ways, as well as at Balmoral (SB) and at Rosehill (NB) but do not go into the station.
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Wow – very disappointing. So much for Chow’s promise of 95% of service restoration to pre-Covid levels
And none here for Streetcars nor Subways. And Spadina with another service cut instead? Did Chow lie to us? Did Leary lie to Chow?
Perhaps worse than none. Why replace the every 4 minute Neville bus with a streetcar that runs only every 10 minutes in rush hour! Pre-Covid it was every 6.5 minutes.
It’s hard to find the pre-Covid peak for 502/503 streetcar service with years of bustitution for streetcar shortages and construction. Perhaps Fall 2016(!) when there was a peak streetcar every 6 minutes on Kingston Road. Now it’s every 10 minutes.
Why did Chow promise service restoration, when here we have more cuts?
A chart comparing pre-covid streetcar Flexity frequencies to current streetcar frequencies would be interesting. Did 505 ever schedule Flexities pre-Covid? 506 was every 7.5 minutes pre-Covid. Now every 10 minutes. 509 AM peak was every 6.25 minutes. Now every 8.5 minutes.
And how does 511 Bathurst gets another service cut from every 9 minutes to every 10 minutes in AM peak when it was every 7.25 minutes in February 2020?
Meanwhile the 6 RAD cars are disappearing? And yet I’ve seen a lot of RAD cars on 506 recently, filling in the massive service gaps that occur when an every 10-minute scheduled service has the inevitable 20-minute gaps.
It’s hard to believe they are making further service cuts in October, only to restore them in November. It looks more like streetcar service is being further cut, to increase bus service.
Steve: I am waiting for November schedules before I flatly say that Leary misled Chow about service, but it would not surprise me one bit. I will pull together a table of service frequencies and vehicle types to track the pre/post-pandemic changes and the C/ALRV-to-Flexity migration. But I have a few other things on my plate first.
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From a operator’s prospective with numerous reports and discussions with service planning for years I’m finally glad to see some improvement in the 88 South Leaside. Sunday service especially was abysmal. 20 minute runtime one way with only 2 vehicles where the speed limit is predominantly on average 30hm/h was near impossible unless you were “speeding”.
Headways are still mostly unchanged but service should be more reliable. Getting off the vehicle to use the bathroom shouldn’t completely mess up the line anymore. The 88 is the backbone, most direct and quickest way when timed correctly to get from line 1 to the Thorncliff area.
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Thanks very much for all of this info. My question relates to the bus route previously known as the 70C, running between Coxwell and Warden stations (via Coxwell, O’Connor and St. Clair East). Earlier this year, this was changed and now the 8 Broadview bus runs between Broadview and Warden stations (via Broadview, O’Connor and St. Clair East). This change was never communicated well and, in fact, the map for this route on the TTC’s website still shows it traveling only as far east as Coxwell Ave. Do you know if this is some kind of temporary change, possibly due to construction, or is this a permanent change?
Steve: No, I don’t know if this is permanent or not. There was a proposal in 2022 to extend 8 Broadview south via Coxwell to Coxwell Station, but nothing has come of that. Separating the two branches of 70 O’Connor has improved reliability (the two services never meshed properly), but again I don’t know if this is permanent. I’m waiting to see the final version of the 2024 Service Plan to see what the recommended network looks like. The delay in opening of the Eglinton line is really screwing up a lot of plans for route restructuring.
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I saw a “191 Underhill to York Mills Rd” route sign at a science centre station bus bay. Would that route travel on Don Mills and Lawrence to Underhill and then follow the 91 Woodbine route to York Mills? Other than that sign I haven’t seen any information about the route anywhere.
Steve: Some of the proposed routes have changed since the last map was published in the 2022 Service Plan. Another issue will be that at some point, the specs for signage at Science Centre Station were given to the builder, and the signs reflect the plans then in effect. Whether there will be any update to “reset” the accumulated list of proposed, but not implemented, route changes included in the 2024 Service Plan, I don’t know.
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I see Russell carhouse is down to only 12 streetcar pull outs a day. And Ronc. is not much higher. Is there a plan to eventually close at least one of those depots? It doesn’t seem like there are enough streetcars to require three separate divisions, not even including Hillcrest.
Also, what year do you think we will see all the streetcar routes operated with streetcars again? We can exclude the Ontario Line disruption on Queen.
Steve: According to the table in the article, Ronces is at 30 AM, 34 PM, which is not exactly “not much” higher than Russell at 12 and 13 respectively. Russell is currently under construction including the addition of a bay where cars that have roof-mounted equipment can be properly serviced. This is similar to what has already been built at Roncesvalles which went through a similar period of low utilization.
As for full streetcar service everywhere, not until summer 2024 when St. Clair comes back online. There are, of course, going to be track construction projects next year (one on the west end of King), but nothing on the scale of major, long-lasting bus substitutions we have seen in recent years. More to the point will be how many more cars the TTC will use to restore and improve service in general. They have been doing a great job of driving riders away with unreliable, infrequent service. I suspect that the lag in streetcar ridership recovery compared to buses is not just from the downtown work-from-home effect, but because people simply have given up on TTC service in pats of the city.
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As one might have expected, the TTC started the 501 diversion onto Wellington without bothering to put up STOP signs (even paper ones) at several stops. (e.g Wellington @ Yonge). They really are incapable of coordinating anything!
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My “501D” operator this morning at about 8:25 a.m. kicked everyone out at Queen and Church, informing us with a terse announcement that “all streetcars are short turning at Church.” I decided to follow on foot as I was going to King anyway and watched him drive down Church to Wellington and turn there, verifying this wasn’t some other unplanned short turn.
Sounds like some operator training on this diversion is needed immediately.
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The 501D streetcars all seem to be signed as “Queen to Church”. This is not totally accurate as they actually go to York and I bet some people will not take them because they think they will pass nowhere very near a subway station. There must be space to say “Queen to Church/York”
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They obviously wouldn’t need paper stop signs along Wellington if they were planning on giving passengers the boot at Queen and Church and not stopping anywhere around the loop but then why wouldn’t they just loop via Richmond and Victoria? The mysteries of TTC management and planning!
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It’s because the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
On the streetcar changes page, it says first:
But then it later says:
I am unclear on how being kicked off at Church connects you to the subway.
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Ed, I think the whole update is badly worded, but from what I’ve seen the 501D westbound goes to Church, then diverts south, but don’t think it connects to a Subway really, just have to walk to King or go to Union.
I’m sticking to my walk from Queen/Woodbine to Kingston Rd to take the 503 as it’s reliable, but have to say with no sports and stuff going on downtown my commute at midnight to the east is really quick now.
Steve: Walking north from Wellington to King & Yonge is not a long way, and in any event the transfers will shift to Richmond westbound and Adelaide eastbound when the permanent diversion is in place next Spring.
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The route display appears to have now been updated and the eastbound “501D” streetcars now show on their route sign “To King & York // via Church”.
Steve: I assume you mean westbound, but thanks for the update.
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No increase to service levels on line 1 and, line 2.
For the rest of the year.
Steve: What is your source? The November schedules are not out yet, although I fear that you might be correct as the TTC is concentrating its resources on the bus network.
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TTC website’s “Streetcar Changes” page still says 501D goes to Church and Queen. So I suppose some rider will be able to ride to Wellington and York, while others will be told “End of the line!” at Queen and Church.
That seems typical — diversion routings and terminals are whatever the operator thinks they are.
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Frank wrote:
When is extra service on line 1 needed?
I ride south from Finch 7-7:30 am and back from King 5:30-6:30 p.m. and none of the trains I have been on were so full that a lot of additional service is necessary. I am comparing against pre-Covid trips which were the same for me in terms of timing and direction. I was expecting trains to be full after the summer was over, but those 2-3 extra trains they added were enough at least for rush hour service.
An added bonus of the current level of service (and perhaps ATC) is that the long traffic jams for trains approaching Finch are a thing of the past and subway trip times became more predictable.
Steve: I have seen and been on crowded trains, although moreso on Line 2 than Line 1, and not necessarily during the peak.
Yes, ATC does help with queuing at some locations, but it is mainly the less frequent service which has many fewer trains/hour than the terminals can handle, and which of course don’t back up when there is a delay simply because there are fewer of them.
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Can anyone tell me when the 501 streetcar will be restored between Humber and Neville? I don’t understand why eastbound cars are still only going to McCaul. The disruption this is causing to the 501 is getting out of hand.
Steve: The tentative plan is to restore streetcar service west of Sunnyside Loop with the mid-November schedules including a separate 507 Long Branch car from Humber to Long Branch Loop. I have not yet seen an official announcement of this, but it’s been shown in the construction project status (chart at the end of the article) for some time. Originally, it was going to be September, but there were snafus.
Streetcars already run to Neville. The hook-up in the middle of the route is planned for May 2024, although with the acceleration of the trackwork downtown this date might be advanced (I am not holding my breath). The downtown route will run eastound via Queen, York, Adelaide and Church; westbound via Church, Richmond and York. York will become two-way for this operation.
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Yes, I know they are technically still running to Neville, but the amount of connections you have to make just to get past downtown to Leslieville is nuts this month. And seems to have come out of nowhere? The 501 running on Dundas to connect to the east end seemed far better than just stopping at McCaul. Thanks for the info
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Hi Steve
I have access to the schedules because I represent the workers at the TTC.
Even though there was a announcement of restoring service to pre-pandemic levels, TTC decided not to increase any service in all modes at least for the rest of the year.
Steve: I feared that this is what was happening, but was waiting for the official announcement of the November changes to write up the issue.
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Thanks Steve for your response.
The next question to the councillors is, what is city hall doing with the TTC budget. The people of Toronto paid for a level of service that they’re not receiving.
Steve: We don’t yet know what will happen with the 2024 budget although obviously it must be in preparation, and this is tied to the ongoing problem of the City’s deficit and the shortfall in TTC revenue. Some recent service restorations were possible only because of headroom created by the provision for operating Line 5 Crosstown that has not actually been used, and that leaves us with the need to find net new money for Lines 5 and 6 in 2024 and beyond.
2024 was not budgeted on the basis of full service restoration, and so it is incorrect to say that the people of Toronto paid for that kind of service. Remember that the budget dates from the Tory era.
A “full service” budget in 2024 will face more than a few challenges including the fact that operating costs are higher now than in the pre-pandemic 2020 budget, fare revenue has not grown both through ridership losses and fare freezes, traffic congestion is worse in 2023 than 2020, and the cost of new rapid transit lines will compete with the existing system for funding.
Service restoration so far has concentrated on the bus network with some subway changes (infrequent off-peak service) backed out after public objections. Streetcar routes are not at pre-pandemic levels, and I cannot help thinking that part of the problem with demand there is the appalling hash the combination of overlapping construction work and TTC route management have made of that network. The subway network is well below pre-pandemic service notably in the peak period.
A related problem in all of this is that service quality – both in management and operations – leaves a lot to be desired. It is easy to find routes where there are schedule problems such as inadequate running times, but also routes where vehicles run in packs with little apparent intervention to smooth out service. In practice, “full service” might be restored on paper, but not in reality.
The TTC Board meeting scheduled for October 26 has been deferred to November 22, and so we will not get a public update on the state of the network for some time. There was a jump in ridership in early September, but no updates on recovery have been published since then.
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