The TTC will modify service on many routes effective Sunday, February 18, 2024. Several of these changes involve “reallocation” of service between routes and time periods, and overall there will be a small decline in scheduled vehicle hours.
One concern about this process is that the TTC has stated that it would only impose the new, more crowded, off-peak loading standards when changing schedules, but would not retroactively cut service based on the 2023 management-imposed values. With many routes seeing service trimmed, we do not know what the new target crowding level will be because the TTC has not published this information for several years.
There will also be some adjustments for service reliability. These generally involve giving vehicles longer travel times with resulting wider headways on affected routes. In some cases, service does improve because extra time that had been allocated for construction effects is removed.
The table of construction projects affecting transit service is shown below. This does not include ongoing works on the subway system and slow orders for which there is no scheduled provision.
The major project beginning with this schedule period is the reconstruction of water mains and track on King Street West. This is the subject of a separate article:
The new service designs for 504 King, 501 Queen and 63 Ossington are included in the spreadsheet listing all changes below.
The configuration of the streetcar network is shown below.
Scheduled vehicle hours will decline slightly with these changes in part to correct for an overage relative to budget in January. A small increase is planned for the schedule change in late March, and a large one in September. The drop shown for December is the usual effect of the holiday break and the removal/reduction of school services.
Streetcar Service Changes
With the restoration of streetcar service to Broadview Station, the allocation of tracks between 504 King and 505 Dundas will be reversed. Most recovery time for 504 King will be scheduled at Humber Loop, and it will use the outer track at Broadview Station which can only hold one car. The 505 Dundas service will shift to the inner track which can hold two cars.
During the reconstruction of Russell Carhouse and yard, there is a shortage of overnight storage space. Service will be improved to every 20 minutes on 304 King and 306 Carlton.
- 501A Queen service (McCaul Loop branch) is reduced by 1-2 minutes in the AM and PM peak, weekday midday, Saturday-Sunday morning, afternoon and early evening. All 501A trips operate to Dufferin Loop. 501A pull out/in trips from Roncesvalles Carhouse operate via King Street to Dufferin.
- No change to the 501B Bathurst-Broadview bus shuttle, the 501C McCaul-Long Branch late evening service, nor the 501D York-Neville service.
- 504 King returns to Broadview Station. Service levels are unchanged over the revised route.
- 304 King Night service will operate with streetcars, and is improved to every 20 minutes.
- 505 Dundas returns to Broadview Station, but service levels are unchanged.
- 306 Carlton Night service is improved to every 20 minutes.
- 512 St. Clair bus operations formerly split between Eglinton and Queensway Divisions will now operate from Eglinton and Wilson Divisions.
Bus Service Changes
Kennedy Station
Due to Scarborough Subway construction work at Kennedy Station, the north side of the terminal will not be available and the arrangement of bus bays will change. Here is how the TTC describes the change:
Bus bay assignments at Kennedy Station will be adjusted to accommodate Scarborough Subway Extension construction. With this change, bus bays on the north side of Platform A will close, and new bus bays on the east side of Platform B will open for service.
All routes servicing Kennedy Station Platform B will also be adjusted to service a new drop off only platform, located immediately to the east of Transway Crescent between Platforms A and B. This includes all routes that were extended to Kennedy Station in November 2023 as part of the Line 3 Bus Replacement Plan. This adjustment will reduce the amount of time required for customers to transfer to Line 2 Bloor-Danforth from connecting bus routes at this station.
New traffic signals will be installed on Transway Cres at the roadways exiting from Platform A and the new drop off only platform. When crossing at these locations, customers should follow pedestrian safety signals and stay within the marked crosswalks and waiting areas.
There will be no change to scheduled service levels resulting from this adjustment.
Source: TTC February 2024 Board Period Memo p. 19
600 Series “Run as Directed” buses are scheduled both for use as extras to fill gaps in day-to-day service and to operate shuttles around planned and unplanned closures. The chart below shows the weekday allocation of vehicles.
Other Bus Service Changes
- 10 Van Horne: The 3:00pm trip leaving Don Mills Station will be changed to 3:03pm to serve students from Don Valley Middle School.
- 15 Evans: AM peak service reduced.
- 17 Birchmount: PM peak and early evening service reduced.
- 29/929/329 Dufferin:
- Saturday afternoon service reduced, Saturday evening service improved on 29 local service.
- Saturday morning and afternoon travel times reduced on 929 express service. No change in morning frequency, but afternoon service reduced.
- 329 overnight service to Princes’ Gate restored.
- 33 Forest Hill & 126 Christie (interlined routes): Due to the end of Metrolinx construction at Eglinton, service is improved during some periods through reduced round trip times, reduced in the AM peak.
- 33 Forest Hill route changed at Eglinton (see map following this table). This change was implemented informally in late 2023 and is now scheduled.
- 34 Eglinton East:
- Saturday service reallocated: 34C Flemingdon Park branch service reduced. Minor improvements to 34A and 34B services to Kennedy Station.
- 35/935 Jane: Saturday afternoon service improvement.
- 38/938 Highland Creek: Service reduced weekday midday, PM peak, early evening; most Saturday periods.
- 39 Finch East: A 39B Old Finch & Morningside trip added every day at 2:20am to carry riders arriving on the last Line 1 train northbound at Finch Station.
- 41 Keele: Service reallocated with reduced service weekdays before 7am, improved weekday and Saturday evenings, and Saturday afternoon.
- 42 Cummer: Service reduced in PM peak and weekday evenings.
- 43 Kennedy: Service reduced Saturday evenings on 43A Steeles branch.
- 45/945 Kipling: Service reallocated to interline local and express services to Steeles. Schedules have been adjusted to evenly space buses on 45A/945 north of Belfield Road and 45A/B south of Belfield.
- 46 Martin Grove: Service reduced in peak periods.
- 51 Leslie: Service reduced in peak periods and weekday midday.
- 53 Steeles East: Service reduced Saturday late evenings.
- 59 Maple Leaf: Service reduced in the PM peak.
- 63 Ossington: See streetcar section re route extension through Liberty Village and Parkdale. Service improved weekday midday and early evening, and Sunday early morning. Service reduced Sunday late morning.
- 68/968 Warden: Service reduced in peak periods and on Saturday late morning.
- 84C Sheppard West: The end-of-line for westbound trips will move to Signet Drive at Steeles. This has no effect on service levels.
- 90 Vaughan: Service reduced in peak periods.
- 91D Woodbine: Service reduced in peak periods.
- 106 Sentinel: Service reduced in the AM peak and on Saturday afternoon.
- 109 Ranee: Service reduced in the PM peak.
- 110 Islington South: Service reduced on weekday midday, Saturday late morning and afternoon.
- 111 East Mall: Service reduced on Saturday afternoon.
- 124 Sunnybrook: Service reduced in the PM peak.
- 125 Drewry: Service improved on weekday midday.
- 127 Davenport: Reliability changes bring less frequent service during most periods on weekends except Saturday early morning and afternoon.
- 130 Middlefield: Service reduced in peak periods.
- 132 Milner: Service reduced in peak periods.
- 161 Rogers Road: Service reduced weekday early mornings, AM and PM peak.
- 900 Airport Express: Service reduced in the PM peak.
- 905 Eglinton East Express: Weekend trips scheduled with articulated buses to correct a previous error where standard-sized buses were specified.
- 960 Steeles West Express: Service improved weekday midday and early evening.
- 989 Weston Express: Service reduced in PM peak.
“New” north end route for 33 Forest Hill:
Streetcar and Bus Allocations
Steve Munro 
With not much increases and some reductions, expect crowding on many TTC routes when the one fare program which effectively removes double fares between the TTC and connecting agencies comes in effect in two weeks.
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Steve,
You have no clue about the operation and mismanagement of TTC.
Steve: Just because every paragraph is not dripping with invective does not mean that I buy into what the TTC is selling. This article is primarily about service changes, and the fact that when we are supposed to be “recovering”, we are still retrenching. The question is how long can TTC management pull the wool over the Mayor’s eyes.
The so called CEo is not transparent.
Steve: I never said that he is, and have published many critiques of his self-serving ways. Other issues such as personnel problems I cannot write about here for legal reasons. My recent article detailing the SRT derailment reports shows there are deep problems. Nobody else covered this because the reports were posted in an obscure corner of the TTC’s site with no publicity.
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Steve, you need to do a meeting with Chow or schedule a press conference to show what the TTC and Leary is doing.
I cannot believe they’re cutting service again like we’re in the middle of the pandemic.
Someone needs to call out Leary and his staff.
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I’m assuming the 91 is still split up with clockwise in the am and counter clockwise in the pm? I operated this route in December during construction when we were clockwise am and pm.
Clockwise is far better than the counter clockwise at any time. Counter clockwise is problematic mostly due to that treacherous and time consuming left turn from Valleywoods to York Mills. Many operators, including myself; expressed the need to keep the clockwise direction to our manager. He said he will send an email to planning regarding the suggestion.
Steve: There is no mention of ay change in the route’s operation, only of the revised headways and running times.
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I have said this time & time again, for several years..
TTC is yet again screwing over people with physical disabilities, with the loading standards & yet still shoving the epic failure, ‘Family of Services’ at the most disabled people in Toronto..
I can tell you from lived experiences, that it makes travelling on the conventional system, extremely difficult & anxiety inducing, especially with the games some operators play on a daily basis & the very fact that ppl in most cases, won’t move for people with disabilities, drivers refuse to enforce the ‘first on/last off’ policy for people in mobility devices & instead leave it to them to literally beg/fight their way onto buses..
I have it on very good authority from several divisional trainers, that new operators are coming into the job with bad attitudes & with the changes in training protocols, this isn’t being addressed, at all.
I can also attest to the very fact that more & more, bypassing of people in mobility devices is already happening & is only going to get worse..
Wheeltrans is NOT the answer, less contracted Accessible Vans & far smaller Wheeltrans Buses, added with the fact that many more ‘ambulatory’ customers are being put in the buses, instead of minivans or sedan taxi’s, makes it far harder for people in mobility devices to get rides.
On the topic of Rick Leary, I won’t make any comments because I don’t have much to say in public.
I am so frustrated by the changes to express routes in the west end, 989 & 929, in particular, these routes are desperately needed, are already crushloads, yet continue to get cuts..
The TTC is circling the drain..
Since Andy escaped, it’s gone to hell.
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It’s a little bit disappointing to see that Broadview Station Loop still accomodates only one streetcar at a time. I was hoping that the loop restoration would parallel Dundas West Loop, with it having space for both the 504 and the 505. Are there any complications that prevent such a project from happening?
Steve: The “complication” is that the local BIA and Councillor oppose the loss of parking from a loop extension into the parking east of the loop. This was all set to go, but was spiked.
Also, while the TTC is promoting better bus service, they’ve basically reduced service inside Etobicoke with the Martin Grove and Islington South cuts and I’m not sure why. I have some worries with the Martin Grove cuts specifically due to the Eglinton Crosstown construction, potentially making it a choke point for poor service when entering the intersection.
Thank you again for your article. It’s another great breakdown.
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I am not quite sure where they are getting their information from but the 17 Birchmount is always fully loaded in the PM peak.
Last night, the 5:36 PM bus out of Warden Station was overloaded and people were left on the platform. This is not the first time this has happened recently.
This morning I took the 17 Birchmount from just north of St Clair Ave East around 7:40 and the bus was bursting with passengers.
This is a change I can see being reversed shortly after it is initiated.
Steve: As always, the fact that the TTC does not publish its loading stats or make them available on a granular basis leaves us on a “trust us” basis about the appropriateness of cuts.
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SHAME! When I lived in Malvern (I moved out of the area in 2017), 132 Milner ran every 12 mins during rush hour as I used it all the time. Now it’s every 18 mins and next week they will reduce it to every 22 mins?! It’s almost double time waiting of what it was before yet the population of the city is increasing. So many routes are crushloaded! This is so unacceptable as well as the 10km/hr restricted speed zones! TTC is becoming unusable. Leary, management and the city need to be held accountable!
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I wonder what rational TTC is using to call many of its changes as “Service Improvements” when, as you clearly point out for e.g. 989 Weston Express, it’s a service reduction.
From their service change page (seems like a generic URL and not for this specific new board period) https://www.ttc.ca/riding-the-ttc/Updates/TTC-service-adjustments:
989 Weston Express
Service on the 989 Weston Express from Monday to Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. will change from 13-14 minutes to every 15 minutes.
One may also wonder what sort of geographic rework can lead to:
39 Finch East
One additional northbound trip from Finch Station toward Old Finch and Morningview Trail, will depart seven days a week at 2:20 a.m.
Steve: It’s bad editing done at the last minute because the service change memo was released so close to the effective date. One other problem, of course, is that the info on the Updates page is not yet reflected on the actual Service Advisories page.
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So with the 505 returning to Broadview, that leaves just the 506 servicing Gerrard. And as it’s not unusual for the 506 to have 20 minute service gaps, things are going to seriously deteriorate.
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Since the publication of the TTC Annual Service plan last November – which recommended that the seasonal High Park 203 bus not continue – I have been watching and waiting for a response from city councilors. This week’s budget debate indicates that this is among the services that will not return. Question: Am I correct that this seasonal service is now gone?
Steve: Yes.
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Thank you. It seems hard to reconcile the city’s “High Park Movement Strategy” with transit reductions. I suspect that the TTC – as an agency – does not have to pay lip service to the clash that is coming over access to High Park.
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Other Bus Service Changes list – I counted 5 service no change, 11 service improvements, but 27 service reductions.
Steve: No, you have to get the lingo right. They are “adjustments” not reductions. You will never get a job in communications. 😉
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Oh, I apologise! I should have said “adjustments” not reductions, as it was written & explained. My bad. Speaking of “adjustments” to TTC service, are the ever more common conga lines of 3 or 4 buses all arriving together, Sherbourne and St. Clair just this past week, have got to be contenders for “Best Adjustments 2024” award.
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But, sometimes a bright spot. Friday morning I boarded a Wellesley bus to the subway, and the lady driver gave me a cheerful “Good morning!” When I disembarked I wished her a lovely day. I am noticing a lot more courtesy between passengers and operators.
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Are you kidding me? Reduce the Weston Road rush hour service? You have to wait 30 minutes at times for a Weston Rd bus! 5 Keele Street buses will go by, then 1 Weston Road bus already packed at St Clair Ave W! Unbelievable.
Steve: It is the 989 Weston Express that is reduced, not 89 Weston local service. That said, yes, reliability on the local service, especially in the afternoon, is appalling.
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Route 36 Finch West Service “Adjustment.”
Route 162 Lawrence-Donway service improvement.
Can I work for the TTC now?
Steve: For the benefit of readers, the service changes cited above are satiric, not real, but do echo the way the TTC spins changes to routes.
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GO Transit routinely announces train cancellations as “service adjustments”. E.g.:
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The service interruptions are non stop at KENNEDY station – now without an environmental survey you want to cram more buses onto Kennedy and kick people out the station for 3 years? ? ? how is this a viable solution? not only has east Scarborough been sucking down your street dust for over 10Yrs carving up the road – now you want to add to long waits and overcrowding by forcing passengers to contend with rain and snow while waiting on unreliable transit. TTC should be free until it is the better way to travel. Can’t even feel safe, don’t know where I am going 50% of the time with all the changes – this crosstown has been a nightmare.
Steve: Well, it’s not me who is cramming more buses into Kennedy Station. They are already there, and the proposed busway conversion is only a mechanism to get them out of traffic on Midland, Eglinton and Kennedy. I am working on a review of all of the routes that have been extended into Kennedy Station since mid-November to see how reliable, or not, their service is. TTC has a duty to make the best of the situation, and on some routes, that is certainly not what they are doing. Stay tuned.
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