This article continues a series of reviews of various routes in September 2024, and in particular the crowding conditions on buses.

The data for Wednesday, September 25 are reviewed in detail to show some of the factors that vanish in stats averaged at the level of a month.

Updated Nov. 4, 2024 at 6:45am: Charts have been added at the end of the article showing the combined local and express service on September 25, and comparing travel times over segments of the route.

General notes:

• Although the TTC Service Standards are based on the premise that vehicles leave terminals more-or-less “on time”, in practice there is a considerable variation that extends beyond the approved standard.
• Irregular vehicles spacing tends to grow along a route so that bunches and gaps become more accentuated. There does not appear to much attempt to regulate vehicle spacing enroute.
• Crowded buses are likely to appear after gaps in service, and loads on groups of buses are not evenly distributed. The average load measured over time might be within standards, but the load experienced by most riders is above that average.
• Both the local and express services suffer from irregular vehicle spacing. The express buses make the journey between King and Wilson about five minutes faster than the locals.
• Severe traffic congestion northbound near Yorkdale in the afternoon affects both the local and express buses.

This is a rather long article with a lot of charts to illustrate how vehicle tracking data can be presented in many ways.