Day: February 17, 2025

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Queens Quay East Bus Lane Proposal

Updated Feb 18, 2025 at 12:55pm: A TTC report with more extensive information about the proposal was posted today as part of the Board’s agenda for February 24. Information from that report has been merged into this article.

In the long wait for any kind of transit improvement for the eastern waterfront, the City of Toronto and TTC now plan to install reserved bus lanes on Queens Quay between Bay and Parliament Streets. A short stretch is also proposed for Front Street between Bay and Yonge Streets eastbound.

The proposal would add red lanes:

  • eastbound on Queens Quay from Jarvis to Parliament,
  • westbound on Queens Quay from Parliament to Bay, and
  • eastbound on Front from Bay to Yonge.

The Martin Goodman Trail (cycling) will not be affected. A new westbound right turn lane will be added on Queens Quay at Jarvis. Parking spaces will be removed on Front east of Bay Street.

Updated Feb. 18, 2025: Maps of the proposed changes to Queens Quay and to Front Street are included in the TTC report.

There is more reservation westbound on Queens Quay than eastbound, and that is the direction with the worst congestion problems. The south side offers less space for creation of a bus lane, and in some cases there might be lane narrowing to free up space for the north side.

The reserved lane westbound is generally in the curb lane, but between Sherbourne and Jarvis it will be the second from the curb. The curb lane will be dedicated to right turns given the high demand for this at Jarvis. With this change, the westbound stop at Richardson Street will be removed. The lane disappears between Cooper and Yonge Streets due to space constraints, but reappears west of Yonge in an area now used for Motorcoach loading.

On Front Street, although this is a “red lane”, the intent is for storage of up to five buses, not for speedy travel. Moreover, the bus stop will be shifted further east adding to the walking distance for riders to Union Station.

The accessible loading zone will shift west behind the bus layby. The layby area is now occupied by ten parking spaces which will be removed. This area will be shared by 114 Queens Quay, 19 Bay and 202 Cherry Beach.

For further details on the proposal, please see the TTC Report at pp 12-15.

[End of Feb. 18 update]

The area is now served, albeit infrequently, by a mix of routes that can often be snarled in traffic. The intent is to save up to five minutes travel time between Bay and Parliament. The reserved lanes will also host future improved service to developments on the eastern waterfront pending construction of the planned, but long-delayed Waterfront East LRT.

  • In May 2024, 114 Queens Quay replaced the southern end of 19 Bay which now terminates at Front Street. From a loop via Front, Yonge, Wellington and Bay it runs south on Bay then east on Queens Quay into the Port Lands. The 114 operates every 10 minutes in peak periods, 12-15 minutes at other times. This is the primary route serving waterfront developments.
  • 202 Cherry Beach (summer months only) runs from the same downtown loop as the 119 and follows its route as far as Parliament where it shifts north to serve the Distillery District. The 202 then turns south via Cherry Street to a loop at Cherry Beach. In summer 2024, this route operated every 20-30 minutes with no service in the AM peak.
  • 75 Sherbourne has a south end loop via Sherbourne, Queens Quay, Jarvis and The Esplanade. It operates every 6-8 minutes during weekday daytime, and 20 minutes or more during most other periods.
  • 65 Parliament loops at the George Brown Campus on Queens Quay. (This loop was the former eastern terminus of 19 Bay). It operates every 8-9 minutes during peak periods, 13-15 minutes at other times. Overnight service is provided every half hour by 365 Parliament.

The service between Union Station and the waterfront on 114 Queens Quay is not on a par with other routes that have dedicated lanes, and real improvement in accessibility of the waterfront will only come with much better service and eventually the LRT link via the Bay Street tunnel. A recommendation and decision on staging of the LRT should come to Council and the TTC later in 2025, but the project is not funded.

Public consultation will be held via a survey that is active until Thursday, February 20, and via three sessions:

  • Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. This session was held via webex.
  • Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at the George Brown Waterfront Campus:
    • 3 – 5 p.m. A pop-up event will occur in the main lobby.
    • 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. An in person session in the 2nd floor main auditorium, room 237.

This page will be updated when more information is available.

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Streetcar Reduced Speed Zones

The TTC has added a section for streetcars to its list of speed zone restrictions. As of February 17, TTC claims that there are only five of them.

LocationAffected Routes (per TTC)
Dundas St. at the DVP Bridge505
Bathurst St. at Bridgeman Ave. (*)511
King & Church Intersection503/303, 504/304
Queen St. E. & Degrassi St. (*)501/301
Queens Quay from York to the Harbourfront Tunnel (*)509
(*) Seasonal restriction during winter.

This table is inaccurate on so many counts it is embarrassing.

  • Bridgman (the correct spelling) actually refers to the underpass north of Dupont Street at the CPR. This is non-revenue trackage used primarily by 512 St. Clair cars entering and leaving service. The 511 Bathurst car does not run this far north.
  • King & Church also hosts the 508 Lake Shore car and 501 Queen cars when they cannot divert via Richmond/Adelaide.
  • Queen & De Grassi (the correct spelling) is near an overpass on the GO Lake Shore East corridor. The 503/303 services also operate here, not to mention carhouse trips to Leslie Barns for other routes.
  • Queens Quay is also used by 510/310 Spadina when the route operates with streetcars.

After repair work on Dundas Street, the slow order was lifted but has mysteriously returned.

Updated Feb. 17/25 at 6:20pm: I have been advised by a reader that the Dundas slow order is due to noise complaints from a neighbouring resident, not due to track conditions, and that the complaint came via the local Councillor. Streetcars have operated here for over a century. If there is are issues with rough track or broken joints causing new noise, then fix them.

This may seem as if I’m quibbling, but there is a much longer list of permanent speed restrictions in effect:

  • All facing point switches have a mandatory stop to check their setting.
  • All special work (switches, crossings) are operated at low speed until the rear of the car clears the junction.
  • All underpasses are operated at low speed. This is a holdover from trolley pole operation lest a dewirement damage the car and/or overhead.
  • In theory, streetcars are not supposed to pass at junctions lest one of them derail and strike the other. In practice only junior operators following all of the rules observe this.
  • Where reserved lanes cross roads such as on The Queensway, streetcars are to operate at low speed lest an auto make a left turn in front of them.

These practices have accumulated over time in the name of safety, a TTC watchword that in at least some cases is a cover for lack of maintenance.

Problems with misbehaving electric switches go back three decades to controllers installed to deal with streetcars of different lengths (CLRVs and ALRVs). These were always problematic, and the TTC is only now working through their replacement. That capital project has been on the books for years.

The track at Church & King is long overdue for replacement and this is finally scheduled for 2025. There have been enough intersections with problematic trackwork that a blanket slow order is easier to implement than an ever-changing site-specific list. This affects streetcar service everywhere because the TTC network has so many crossings.

Some errors in the TTC’s list are trivial, but they show that whoever built it does not know the system. The obvious concern is the accuracy of other defect lists for TTC infrastructure and vehicles. The SRT derailment and various subway incidents revealed issues with rapid transit inspection and maintenance. Why can the TTC not accurately report the condition of their own system? They have a substantial “Enterprise Asset Management System”, but this is only as good as the information fed to it.

The City and TTC seek a new CEO for our transit system. One early job for the “lucky” candidate will be to look under a lot of rocks to see just what the state of the system is, and how much has been missed or hidden from sight.