by

TTC Service Changes Effective Sunday November 19, 2023

The TTC plans many service changes for November 19 of which the largest group relates to the Line 3 replacement bus service. Other groups of changes include the restoration of service at Broadview Station, the return of streetcar service to Long Branch, and the closure of Lawrence Station bus loop for accessibility retrofits.

Notable by its absence is any change in subway service.

Although the list of routes affected is substantial, there is little change in the total number of vehicles in service. Bus service during the AM peak gains 3 vehicles, and in the PM peak loses 10. Streetcars gain 8 due to the restoration of 507 Long Branch service. This is only a rebalancing of resources across the system.

Much of the additional service operated in 2023 was due to construction projects, while the basic service level on the system did not change much until late in the year. We have yet to see budget proposals for the 2024 service levels.

Details of Service Changes

For those wanting the detailed comparison of October to November services, please refer to the spreadsheet linked below.

2023.11.19 Service Changes

Correction

This article originally described a change to the 97 Yonge service with all branches serving Eglinton Station. In fact, only the peak period 97C service running south to Front Street will stop there. The all-day A/B branches running to St. Clair Station will not loop through Eglinton Station.

Line 3 Replacement Bus Network

Many routes that now terminate at Scarborough Centre Station will be extended to Kennedy Station. Other concurrent changes are noted below.

  • 38A/B & 938 Highland Creek:
    • Early evening service improved weekdays and Sundays; late evening service reduced on all days.
  • 129A/B McCowan North:
    • Service during many periods will be adjusted for reliability.
  • 131 Nugget:
    • Service improved Saturday morning, and Sunday afternoon and early evening.
    • Service reduced on Saturday afternoon and early evening.
  • 133 Neilson:
    • Service improved during all weekend time periods.
  • 134 Progress:
    • 134C Centennial College branch replaced by 903 Scarborough Express.
    • 134B McNicoll and 134D Finch via Centennial College branches unchanged.
  • 903 Scarborough Express:
    • Route renamed “Kennedy Station – Scarborough Express.
    • Extended east to Centennial College replacing 134C/913 Progress during most operating periods.
    • Service reduced because of overlapping service added in the express corridor by other routes.
    • All service will operate from McNicoll Division.
  • 939A/B Finch Express:
    • Service improved during weekday peaks periods, and on Saturday mornings.
  • 954 Lawrence East Express:
    • There is no change in service levels.
    • The 954 was rerouted to Kennedy Station on October 8.
  • 985A Sheppard East Express:
    • No change to scheduled service levels.
  • 996 Wilson Express:
    • No change to scheduled service levels.
    • Service to Ellesmere Station discontinued.

Bus bay allocations will change at STC Station as shown below.

At Kennedy Station, the new south loading terminal “Platform B” will be used.

Construction Project Overview

Here is the TTC’s table of construction projects affecting various routes. One point of note here is that construction at St. Clair West Station is expected to end in March 2024, but work at the railway bridge west of Caledonia will run to mid 2024. Whether this implies an early return of streetcar service at least to Earlscourt Loop (Lansdowne) remains to be seen. (I will inquire about this.)

Although bus service is expected to resume at Broadview Station in November (8 Broadview, 62 Mortimer, 87 Cosburn and 100 Flemingdon Park), the streetcars will not return until mid-February 2024. In the interim, the familiar 504/505 shuttle to King & Parliament will operate. The 72 Pape will resume its normal routing, and the interline with the 100 Flemingdon Park will be dropped.

Broadview Station Construction Ends

With the reopening of Broadview Station and surrounding streets, the temporary routes of many buses will switch back to their normal configurations, in most cases.

From the state of construction on Broadview as I write this on November 12, it is clear that routes will not return to normal on November 19. The TTC has not yet issued an update clarifying how service will operate in the interim.

  • 8 Broadview:
    • The interline with 62 Mortimer will be dropped, but the extension to Warden Station (replacing the 70C O’Connor) is now a permanent change.
    • This route will remain assigned to Birchmount Division.
    • With the break of the interline, service will be reduced during many time periods.
    • Sunday early morning service added.
  • 62 Mortimer:
    • The interline with 8 Broadview will be dropped.
    • Service will run less frequently weekdays from 3-10pm, Saturdays from 8am-7pm and Sundays from 12-7pm.
  • 70 O’Connor:
    • 70C branch to Warden Station permanently replaced by 8 Broadview.
  • 72 Pape:
    • The extended service to King/Parliament will end, and will be replaced by the 504/505 shuttle bus.
    • The interline with 100 Flemingdon Park will end.
  • 87 Cosburn:
    • Buses will return from Pape Station to Broadview Station.
  • 100 Flemingdon Park:
    • Buses will return from Pape Station to Broadview Station, and the interline with 72 Pape will end.
    • This route will remain at Birchmount Division.
  • 121 Esplanade-River:
    • Buses will officially return to their normal loop serving Bridgepoint Hospital. They will operate both ways via River and Gerrard rather than looping via Dundas, Broadview and River. (This change is already in effect.)
  • 504/505 King/Dundas shuttle:
    • The temporary shuttle from Castle Frank Station to Broadview/Gerrard will be replaced with the familiar bus route from Broadview Station to King/Parliament replacing the 72A Pape.
  • 322 Coxwell and 324 Victoria Park Night Buses:
    • The interline between these routes at Bingham Loop will be broken to improve reliability.
    • 322 Coxwell will return to Broadview Station from Pape Station.
  • 504 King:
    • There will be no change to the service between Distillery Loop and Roncesvalles/Dundas West Station.
  • 505 Dundas:
    • The service diversion via Gerrard, Coxwell and Queen to Woodbine Loop will continue.

Lawrence Station Bus Loop Closed for Accessibility Upgrades

Reconstruction of Lawrence Station for accessibility cannot be done with the bus loop remaining active. The following route changes will occur:

  • 52/952 Lawrence:
    • Branches that now end at Lawrence Station will be extended south and east via Avenue Road and Eglinton to Eglinton Station. The 52 buses will make all local stops on Avenue Road and Eglinton Avenue. The 952 buses will run express with no stops over this section of the route.
  • 162 Lawrence-Donway and 124 Sunnybrook:
    • Routes extended west and north via Lawrence and Avenue Road to Roe Loop.

Correction: The provision of Bay 1 for 97C Yonge was originally described here as being for all branches. In fact 97C is the only branch that will stop here, and this is an infrequent peak-only service.

Streetcar Service Returns to Long Branch

The 501 Queen and 508 Lake Shore cars have been operating west of Sunnyside Loop for a few weeks, but this operation is now officially in the schedules. Service from Humber to Long Branch will be provided by the 507 Long Branch car that will operate every 10 minutes during almost all service hours. After about 9pm, the 501 service will be through routed to Long Branch similar to a manner to a service design decades ago before route 507 disappeared.

An important factor in providing separate service west of Humber is to maintain reliability in recognition that there is a local demand on Lake Shore that deserves its own service, not the leftovers from the 501 and its disruptions downtown. The real challenge will be to ensure that the 501 cars actually get west of Sunnyside Loop so that a reliable connection to the 507 cars at Humber is maintained. Operations to date seem positive on that count.

The travel times for 508 Lake Shore cars will be adjusted to match the times allocated for the shared segments of other routes. In the AM peak, the 508 cars will leave Long Branch Loop three minutes ahead of 507 Long Branch cars rather than half way between the 10 minute service of 507s.

The service linking Marine Parade to Humber Loop via the 501L bus will be discontinued.

Service on 66 Prince Edward will be improved on weekdays in the peak periods and early evening.

St. Clair Construction Projects

The 90 Vaughan bus will be rerouted so that it operates northbound via Vaughan Road without the current dogleg along St. Clair from Bathurst to Vaughan. It will serve the northbound farside stop at St. Clair. The crew change/break point will shift from St. Clair and Vaughan Road to Bathurst Station.

The westbound stop now at Old Weston Road will be shifted east one block to Cloverdale Road. A curb cut in the streetcar right-of-way will allow buses to use the streetcar lane between Cloverdale and Keele Street. Buses will exit from the streetcar lane at Keele with a new transit only signal phase.

Operation of the 512 St. Clair bus route will be split 70% to Eglinton Division and 30% to Queensway Division. Crew changes for Queensway Division buses will occur at St. Clair West Station.

Miscellaneous Changes

  • 506 Carlton:
    • Weekday midday and Saturday afternoon service will be improved from every 10 to every 9 minutes to handle increasing demand.
  • 509 Harbourfront:
    • Schedules will be adjusted to modify travel time allocations, but with no change in frequency.
  • 21 Brimley:
    • Late evening service will be improved from every 30 to every 22 minutes 7 days/week.
    • The northbound stop at Ellesmere and Brimley will be shifted to the southeast corner of the intersection to remove conflicts with the Line 3 replacement buses.
    • The route will be moved from Malvern to Birchmount Division.
  • 31 Greenwood:
    • The loop at Queen and Coxwell will be formally changed to operate via Coxwell, Queen and Eastern Avenue. A new stop will be added westbound on Eastern at Coxwell.
  • 37 Islington:
    • Service improvements to reduce crowding on weekdays from 9am to 10pm, weekends from noon to 10pm.
  • 43 Kennedy:
    • The northbound stop at Ellesmere and Kennedy will be shifted to the northeast corner to remove conflicts with the Line 3 replacement buses.
  • 48 Rathburn:
    • School trips from Michael Power St. Joseph High School will now depart at 2:35 and 2:40pm to better match the school’s schedule.
  • 50 Burnhamthorpe:
    • Weekend service will be improved during all hours with one vehicle added to improve reliability.
  • 53 Steeles East:
    • Articulated buses added to this route in Spring 2023 will be reassigned to the 903 Scarborough Express service.
  • 77 Swansea:
    • AM peak service will be improved to reduce crowding.
  • 78 St. Andrews and 115 Silver Hills will be moved from Wilson to Arrow Road Division.
  • 97C Yonge:
    • The 97C peak period service will serve Eglinton Station at Bay 1 (the very south end of the platform).
  • 122 Graydon Hall will be moved from McNicoll to Malvern Division.

Run As Directed Route “600”

The TTC now publishes the allocation of RAD buses as a chart rather than as a table to show the changing number of vehicles through the day. Only weekday allocations are shown.

Fleet Allocation

The tables below show the peak allocation of the streetcar and bus fleets to service.

Budgeted and Scheduled Hours of Service

This table compares the original budgeted level of service to the actual scheduled and operated values through the year. The planned service in the November and December periods is just under 2% above budgeted levels.

Total service hours decline in November because reduction in extra service to cover construction projects is greater than the additional regular service. In December (which covers the holiday season only) there is the usual seasonal cutback in school trips as well as further reduction in construction-related service.

Over the year, much of the service added from January to November was due to construction while regular service improved only slightly, and then only starting in October.

32 thoughts on “TTC Service Changes Effective Sunday November 19, 2023”

  1. Why the hell they reduce 129A service on Sundays? I’ve taken that route many times during that time and it was indeed crowded.

    Steve: I’m not sure if you mean only the service north of Steeles, or over the whole route.

    On Sunday morning, service south of Steeles improves from 10′ to 9′, but north of Steeles gets worse because on the new schedule only 1 bus in 6 goes to Major Mac, not 1 in 5, and so the headway changes from 50′ to 54′.

    On Sunday afternoon, service both north and south of Steeles gets worse, while in the early evening, service north of Steeles improves.

    These are described as “reliability” improvements, and are typical of cases where TTC tweaks the headways to make schedules work better rather than adding vehicles.

    Like

  2. I knew the 8 Broadview extension to Warden would be made permanent given how well it’s been going for nearly half a year. I don’t mind this change but with that, it pretty much eliminates proposals for the 2022/23 service plan as the 8 was originally supposed to extend to Coxwell station and a new route, the 114 St Clair East would’ve replaced the 70C. I guess the 8 extension is better. A few questions regarding this topic, will the 70 main branch to Victoria Park/Eglinton drop the A since it’s just one single service?

    Steve: The service is still referred to as “70A” in the service memo. We will see what shows up on the buses.

    Also why is the 100 remaining at Birchmount and not moving back to Eglinton? It doesn’t make sense given how far buses from Birchmount have to dehead, and that Birchmount already has too many routes.

    My last question is, why are the 78 and 115 moving to Arrow? It really doesn’t make sense at all given how far they are from Arrow and basically won’t change anything. That’s how I look at it.

    Steve: TTC says that they shuffle routes around based on operator and vehicle availability. I’m not justifying it, just reporting what they plan to do.

    As to your multiple posted comments: Note that all comments here are moderated and your comment will not be visible until I approve it.

    Like

  3. Easy to claim you are running 99% of pre-covid service (service hours) when you replace 5 SRT trains with 40-60 buses, and ignore the rest of the network. Subway service at 3-5 pm on Line 1 north from Union Stn to Bloor is abysmal with anything from 3 – 11 minute headways, and yet still no improvements. Sheppard West had the 984 weekend service taken away, and as a result the 84’s are overloaded, and I have had to let 3-4 vehicles go by (most running my stop) until I can get on… I filed a complaint on the website, and am waiting over 30 days for a response (excuse being several departments haven’t got back to us yet). I asked if they expect anyone living within 1 km of a subway station to walk there instead of taking a bus that we pay a monthly pass for – I was told don’t be ridiculous – I asked really ?????

    Like

  4. Dumb question Steve..

    The routes that are being extended from STC to Kennedy, will they be running local or express between the two points?

    Steve: Express.

    Like

  5. Today was the first time (in the 2 years living in the area) that I was ‘stuck’ behind a streetcar at Park Lawn/Lakeshore. I was in partial disbelief.

    Like

  6. What is needed is the return of the Coxwell 22 bus evening and weekend service from Coxwell stn. to Bingham loop. This much needed service has been running since at least the late 1970s. Streetcar service only on this route is unreliable on cold and dark evenings.

    Like

  7. Have they (the TTC) seen the Line 2 from 3-8pm, it’s constantly packed heading westbound to Kipling from Yonge. Plus many bus routes I’m on in the west end are packed. This seems like a giant shell game going on.

    Like

  8. Why the routes 78 & 115 are moving to Arrow Road and the route 122 to Malvern?

    Steve: TTC claims that they reallocate routes from time to time to balance vehicle and operator needs.

    Like

  9. Hi Steve,
    Just wondering if the 52 and 952 will serve stops on Avenue and Eglinton, or just run express to Eglinton Stn. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some confusion with this, even between operators.

    I also just wanted to thank you for all your hard work. I and I’m sure others as well always enjoy your analysis!

    Steve: According to the TTC’s detailed service memo, the 52 Lawrence buses “will service local stops along revised route”. However, “952 Lawrence West Express buses will make no stops on Avenue Rd or Eglinton Ave W between Avenue Rd at Lawrence Ave W and Eglinton Station.” I will add this info to the article.

    And you’re very welcome!

    Like

  10. Thank you Steve!

    Given that the 129 will run to Kennedy, I am surprised they did not just combine the 129 and 16 so that the 16 runs to Major Mack.

    It would be no different than than the 102 or 68 both of which run from Warden Station to Major Mack.

    Like

  11. As weekend service is being improved for 50 Burnhamthorpe.

    I don’t understand why this route has worse headway on the weekdays compared to the weekends?
    The service level was slashed last summer with 20 minute headway for both mid-day and pm rush on the weekdays with only two buses.

    I am wondering if it is a mistake? I think it is the weekday which this route needs desperate service level increase. Since its headway got slashed, the PM rush on the route became disastrous and the service is being increased on the weekend instead of the weekdays.

    Looks like the TTC’s service management is completely broken.

    Like

  12. I mean the service north of Steeles. Fare integration is expected to come in February 2024 which would result in overcrowding on bus routes that crosses the border including 129A.

    Like

  13. 52 Lawrence West making a return to Eglinton Stn., after -what- some almost 50 Years? Too bad there’s no Platform 10 anymore. I also remember some runs cheating and using Duplex Ave. all the way to Lawrence instead of Yonge St., even though they weren’t supposed to!

    Like

  14. For all the routes being extended from STC to Kennedy, will they also go S/B on Midland and N/B on Kennedy? Also wondering if they are stopping at Ellesmere and Lawrence as the 903 does or will the just run straight to Kennedy after STC? It would really bother me seeing all those buses go by and still only be able to take a 57 or 903 haha.

    Steve: Southbound on Midland and northbound on Kennedy, just like the 903 and making the same stops. See the map in the article.

    Like

  15. With the 52/952 heading to Eglinton Station, this would be terrible for those coming to the north and arriving at Lawrence Station. There is some demand for riders heading west to Bathurst. I wonder why they wouldn’t just extend the 124/162 to Lawrence West and save everyone the headache or at least to Bathurst since they are going 1km to Roe Loop anyways. The 124/162 isn’t really frequent anyways.

    Like

  16. I guess Chow and Leary were not telling the truth when they promised service improvements in October and November. Some streetcar service was reduced in October, and this wasn’t reversed in November. They can’t be anywhere near 95% of pre-Covid.

    Am I reading this, and the October CEO report correctly? Ridership is now (just a bit) higher than budget. But service hours are lower than budgeted??

    And again the 31 Greenwood route at the south terminus is changed. Seems to have had a change for several boards in a row now. What next, Woodbine Beach Loop. Hmm, a combined 31/92 route …. hmm.

    Steve: I believe that the Mayor was probably misled, and expected this all along. as for service hours, look at the table at the end of the article. They are above budgeted level, but there is no big jump.

    There is a procedural problem here. Although they used unspent line 5 money to fund replacement RT service, that extra cash runs out at year end. Increasing service in November without a guarantee of funding in January actually goes against Council budget rules introduced back in the David Miller era to prevent Adam Giambrone from committing the TTC, and hence Council, to fund changes that had not yet been approved.

    Also be careful of citing figures in the CEO’s report as some of them only go to the end of August, others to September.

    The 31 Greenwood change is quite logical as the originally proposed loop at Queen and Coxwell was unworkable, and was used if at all only briefly.

    Like

  17. PS. I’m not sure why stopping 52/952 short of Yonge and going down Avenue. I’d have thought most passengers would have preferred to just get off at the corner of Lawrence of Yonge. Than they could run the bus down Yonge (or even Mount Pleasant) to Yonge if they really wanted a bus loop. This doesn’t seem to be customer service-oriented.

    Steve: Lawrence Station is not an accessible transfer point, and that’s why the buses come south to Eglinton.

    Like

  18. Between the Kennedy/Midland pair and Scarborough Centre station, why would the 903 (and to-be-extended routes) take Brimley-Ellesmere route? Even the (unfunded) SRT-Busway project chooses the same route.

    The current (interim before Nov 19th) Borough Dr-Progress Ave route seems to make more sense, as it seems a less busy road that primarily goes through industrial areas. Also there’s no red lanes on the short Brimley section. And why in the SRT-busway design the east-west bridge is abandoned either? Is a stop on Ellesmere particularly important?

    Also, marketing-wise, it seems wrong to emphasize the 903 (as currently in announcements at all subway stations), since soon part of it (how large a part?) would be replaced by other extended-to-Kennedy routes.

    Like

  19. Also why the 8 Broadview service to Warden Station was made permanent? I actually like that arrangement better than having the 70C branch.

    Steve: You seem to like it, and obviously the TTC thinks other riders do too.

    Like

  20. Thanks Steve for all that you do!

    I expressed my concerns in the consultations in 2021 about the routes 985A & 939A/B being extended. Now those routes, especially 939B, will be even more long which I feel will worsen issues of reliability and bunching along the lines. We know these routes suffer from bunching – 985A is horrendous on weekends. A lot of 939s are stuck west of Yonge in traffic during rush hour. Now extending it further to Kennedy Stn, I feel will worsen reliability along the entire route.

    Also, riders who use 939 or 985 could just get off at Vic Park, Warden, Birchmount, Kennedy or Midland and use one of those corridors to connect to line 2. If I were at Agincourt Mall (for example) and needed line 2, I wouldn’t use 985A to go back east to STC, then go back south to Kennedy Stn. It would be going in a circle/a waste of time to do that. I’d just get the 17 or 43 and take the one bus southbound to Kennedy Stn. If I were at Midland and Finch – same thing! Just take 57 straight down rather than take 939 to go in a circle. It will be interesting how this all plays out.

    On a side note, I really hope they have signal priority in place for Eglinton as it took my 903 8 minutes just to exit Kennedy Station and get on the bus lane on Kennedy Road around 4 pm a few weeks ago. In that time on the RT, I’d be at Midland RT station, 2 minutes from STC.

    Steve: There is a general problem with some bus routes becoming very long. 996 Wilson Express is another example. I plan to review the operation of the extended routes after they have been running for a few months.

    As for Kennedy Station, this is precisely the problem advocates for the SRT busway raised, and the foot-dragging about implementing the new roadway has been very frustrating.

    Like

  21. Steve, you wrote that the 97 would loop through Eglinton Station but it only shows 97C in the platform layout. That’s the current downtown rush hour service terminating there. The GTFS schedule includes a list of stops does not show the other 97 Yonge branches looping through the station.

    Steve: Although the map shows 97C, the Service Memo (which the map came from) makes no distinction of which branch will stop there. It turns out that, yes, only this branch will serve the station because that is the terminus for 97C. Thanks for catching the GTFS info. I have updated the article.

    Like

  22. Why would they reduce service on the 8 Broadview? It’s the best way to get from East York to Scarborough (other than subway) and it’s not like line 5 is going to open anytime soon (making 70 more viable). Classic TTC disappointment.

    Steve: The service was improved when 8 Broadview was interlined with 62 Mortimer because that route has a higher service level. With that link broken, the 8 drops back to less frequent service.

    Like

  23. Putting 60 buses on the 903 while every other route is packed full doesn’t mean you’ve returned to 99% of pre-covid service levels…

    Service WILL NOT be increased this November as it used to be before COVID as many routes like the 935 still hasn’t had it’s late evening service restored, 984’s weekend service, 943 still rotting in its grave, 995 still only getting every 20 minute service while local branches are packed like sardines, etc…

    Not to mention routes that used to have 20 minute service daily (like the 122) still having its reduced 30 minute headways during off-peak times…

    Another disappointment from Chow on the transit front, she is being easily misled by Leary, and Myers is staying silent also…

    Steve: I plan to update the table I published some time ago comparing pre-pandemic and current service levels. For the record the actual average weekly service hours in February 2020 was 186,448. In November 2023, the scheduled value is 175,534, or 94% of the pre-pandemic level. That is across all modes.

    The planned service hours by mode comparison is shown below. These values do not include extra service for construction.

    Note that the 2020 data below are the planned levels, while the total cited above is the actual value. The streetcar numbers look odd. The peak streetcar count in 2020 was over 160, but it now sits around 140. I will chase this discrepancy with the TTC.

    The big drop in the subway number is from the combined effect of reduced service and from the move to one person operation on Line 1.

    Mode         Feb 2020     Nov 2023     Ratio
             Planned      Planned
Bus          145,356      143,191       98.5%
Streetcar     18,874       19,436      103.0%
Subway        21,683       12,908       59.5%
SRT              634            0
Total        186,546      175,534       94.1%

    Liked by 1 person

  24. shentron on November 14, 2023 at 12:14 am
    Also why the 8 Broadview service to Warden Station was made permanent? I actually like that arrangement better than having the 70C branch.

    Steve: You seem to like it, and obviously the TTC thinks other riders do too.

    Replacing the 70C with the 8 doesn’t make much sense to me. I live at Rexleigh and St. Clair, and until the office moved to near the airport and I started driving, would take whichever came first: the 23 to Main, or the 70 to Coxwell. Occasionally the fastest option was to walk to O’Connor and take the 91, or get a 70 coming down from Eglinton.

    Most of the passengers were going to EYCI, who now have to walk the 1 block down to Plains Rd. or transfer to a 70 coming down from Eglinton; the hospital/ medical building, who now have to transfer; or the subway, who now have a longer ride to Broadview or a transfer.

    Were there really that many people transferring between the 8 and the 70C?

    Steve: I don’t know what the demand patterns were/are for the kind of trips you describe. The original plan a few years ago was for 8 Broadview to run south on Coxwell to the subway, but that was replaced with the reroute to Warden. The TTC never explained why they did this.

    Like

  25. Hey Steve,

    I’m a little bit confused on something and I hope you can clarify this for me. The current 939B Westbound is from Finch West to Scarborough center station. But going eastbound it’s 939A.

    In the new routing, are the B and A branches are going to be separate? So, one branch only operates from Finch West all the way to Kennedy as 939B (both west and east) And then the other branch only operates from Finch to Kennedy as 939A both west and east?

    Steve: The convention is to display the letter appropriate to the destination if all buses are going to the same place, in this case to STC eastbound. For scheduling purposes, the services are shown separately because typically there will either be buses dedicated to each branch, or they will swap western destinations on alternate trips (those show up in cases where the number of buses assigned to a route is fractional).

    Like

  26. Hi again Steve,

    There seems to be some confusion with what’s going on with the Lawrence Station diversion. I have attached a quote from the TTC’s website below regarding the 952.

    “952 Lawrence West Express buses will not serve Lawrence Station and will end at Eglinton West Station, due to Easier Access construction at Lawrence Station Customers can board a regular 52 Lawrence West bus at the temporary on street stop at Lawrence Avenue and Yonge Street, to travel to Eglinton West Station and transfer to a 952 Lawrence West Express bus at Eglinton West Station.”

    Any idea what’s going on here?

    Steve: The update regarding Lawrence Station as well as the combined Broadview/Lawrence news item show both going to Eglinton Station, and neither of them serving Yonge and Lawrence.

    The omnibus service change page that you are quoting from has it wrong. I will chase TTC about this.

    Updated 3:50pm November 16: The omnibus service page has been corrected.

    Like

  27. Will this be the “last hurrah” for the “501L Queen” shuttle buses travelling on the western stretch of this route to the Long Branch loop? This upcoming Sunday November 19, the “507 Long Branch” streetcar will be making its triumphant return after a 28-year absence. In 1995, the “507 Long Branch” streetcar route, which ran between the Humber and Long Branch loops, merged with the “501 Queen” route.

    Steve: The Last Hurrah until the TTC finds some other reason to bus the west end of the 501/507.

    Like

  28. It’s about time! An elevator is being built inside the Islington subway station, and construction will begin soon. The elevator will run between street/mezzanine level and track level. At track level, which is the platform between the tracks, part of the platform is now closed off but people can still walk around the closed-off area to embark and disembark trains.

    This subway station gets plenty of foot traffic, especially at weekday rush hours, and even on weekends. The office towers and shopping concourse is linked to Islington subway station.

    Like

  29. I just have a follow up question about something that you had in here. Not sure if you have any insight into it but I figured I’d try.

    “The westbound stop now at Old Weston Road will be shifted east one block to Cloverdale Road. A curb cut in the streetcar right-of-way will allow buses to use the streetcar lane between Cloverdale and Keele Street. Buses will exit from the streetcar lane at Keele with a new transit only signal phase.”

    Buses are actually diverting, turning right on Old Weston Rd, left on Rogers Road, left on Weston Road, right on Gunns Road to route.

    Nothing I can see on TTC website or Twitter. What’s your take?

    Also. I enjoy reading your posts and appreciate the time spent on this. Thank you!

    Steve: In what might be described as the best transit tradition, the infrastructure is not ready for a planned change, and a workaround is implemented. Thanks for the update.

    Like

  30. Steve: The following comment from “hllwylzjn22” was left in the wrong thread. I have moved it here.

    Dear Steve: I took a ride on the recently reinstated ”507 Long Branch” streetcar, from Lakeshore Boulevard and Islington to the Humber loop.

    It’s been a long wait, 28 years (not 28 minutes). In 1995, this route was merged with the “501 Queen”. Now for a fun fact.

    The “507 Long Branch”, which runs between the Humber and Long Branch loops, was the first to use the now-retired CLRV streetcars.

    Like

  31. Hi Steve, regarding 512 replacement bus, the westbound stop on old Weston has not moved and buses continue to get stuck in mixed traffic rather than using the right of way between old Weston road and Keele St. Could you update why the promised change didn’t happen.

    Steve: I will inquire of the TTC.

    Like

  32. Hi Steve, I just wanted to post this here after my experience with the Line 3 replacement bus yesterday.

    It’s great and convenient that at Scarborough Centre Station all the express buses going to Kennedy Station stop at one bus bay so a passenger can take whichever comes first. However, there is no similar service at Kennedy Station going to Scarborough Centre Station.

    While waiting at the Kennedy Station 903 bus bay last night, it was frustrating to see other express buses going to Scarborough Centre Station stop briefly at their bays to pick up passengers, leaving no time to get to those bays before they left. Now that the 903 bus has reduced service, the wait time at Kennedy Station has now increased.

    I wish the TTC would consolidate all express buses to one bay at Kennedy Station or increase the number of 903 buses going to Scarborough Centre Station.

    Like

Comments are closed.