For many, many years, there has been talk of expansion of the streetcar system into the eastern waterfront. The “Waterfront East LRT” would branch off of the Bay Street tunnel at Queens Quay and running east initially to Villiers Island and eventually link with a southern extension of Broadview via the new GO/Ontario Line station at East Harbour.

Anyone waiting for this service will age considerably before it opens at the now tentative date of 2036. This was supposed to be a “Transit First” neighbourhood, but the history mocks all the fine talk of “Transit Oriented Communities” we hear today. Meanwhile, any attempt to actually use transit to reach this area is, putting it mildly, challenging. A collection of overlapping bus routes with infrequent and irregular service fight their way through chronic traffic congestion.

The route structure changed on May 12, 2024 as shown in the TTC maps below from 2023 and June 2024.

• 19 Bay
  • 2023: From the central business district south on Bay and east on Queens Quay to loop at George Brown College near Sherbourne Street.
  • May 2024: Route shortened to loop via east on King, south on Yonge, west on Front and north on Bay.
• 72 Pape
  • 2023:
    • 72A service from Pape Station to Eastern.
    • 72B service to Union Station from Pape via Commissioners, Cherry, Lake Shore, Queens Quay and Bay. The route changed from time to time as the area was rebuilt to create Villiers Island.
    • 72C service from Pape Station to Commissioners Street peak periods only.
  • May 2024:
    • 72A service to Eastern peak periods only.
    • 72B replaced by 114 Queens Quay East.
    • 72C extended west from Pape to Saulter Street and operated as the all day route.
• 114 Queens Quay East
  • May 2024: New route from Union Station to Carlaw replacing the south end of 19 Bay and the west end of 72 Pape.

Two routes were not changed:

• 65 Parliament:
  • From Castle Frank Station south via Parliament and west on Queens Quay to George Brown College.
• 75 Sherbourne:
  • From Sherbourne Station south via Sherbourne and west on Queens Quay to Jarvis returning north via Jarvis and The Esplanade.

There is also the seasonal 202 Cherry from Union Station to Cherry Beach. Like the 72 Pape bus, its route has changed from time to time due to construction in the Villiers Island area.

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