28 thoughts on “TTC Service Changes Effective July 27, 2025”

1. Hey steve do you know when the 22/92 interline will come back??

   Thanks

   Steve: It’s described as a seasonal service, but I think it was primarily intended for fireworks displays at Victoria and Canada Day. So next year, if they thought it worked well.

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2. No wonder the 102 Markham Road is one of TTCs fastest growing route with many riders using this route to get to the Amazon fulfillment centre and travelling across Steeles with the one fare program.

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3. Steve, in the spreadsheet with the changes for routes 84/98/185/385/984 it says “Service reverts to Sheppard West Station” -> Should be “Sheppard Yonge Station”.

   Steve: Fixed. Thanks for catching that.

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4. Thanks for this Steve, and commenters. This isn’t related to any of the changes, but I’ve noted that the Ossington bus stop north of Queen, is very north of Queen, almost to the next block, and there’s often people making a mad dash to try to get their connection. Are there standards for having a close-to-corner stop? Going north on the east side, there’s a corner store, maybe a bank building once, then a newer building now a Games shop, then two old houses, now a bar and a coffee place, then a wider driveway to a storage place/parking lot, and then the bus stop. All told, maybe 50M?, and I should check.

   Perhaps because the buses need to swing quite wide to make the turn from Queen means some distance is required, but overall it’s a(nother) imposition.

   Steve: Looking at Google Maps, it’s almost 70m from the NE corner at Queen up to the stop’s location. Street View going back to 2007 shows the stop in that location, so this is not a recent decision. There is a lane half way along that could have been a reason for putting the stop further north to be both away from Queen and clear of the lane. There is no standard for this sort of placement.

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5. Every time they add new trips on the 102 to deal with demand, you can’t help but wonder if night service solve some of the problem…

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6. I find it odd that the scheduled service is apparently higher than budgeted, in a year in which a material increase was approved, yet my anecdotal experience is that crowding is up significantly…… and the TTC is not reporting that ridership is skyrocketing publicly. There seems to be a disconnect here somewhere.

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   As example, I rode a bus I rarely do yesterday, Sherbourne 75 from King to Bloor. The crowding was severe. Dwell times at stops often exceeded 2 minutes do the difficulty of passengers getting on or off the bus.

   Yet, apparently it is not getting even temporary relief.

   Steve: There is a disconnect between reported and actual conditions. Some of this is uneven service (Sherbourne is notorious for this), but some is simply not enough.

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7. The TTC have been putting in an elevator at Spadina and Lowther for 3 yrs now (eye roll). Originally construction was posted with a completion date in 2024, but that sign was removed and construction continues. Is there any word on when that will be done or what on earth they are actually doing – I have a hard time believing an elevator would take this long?

   Steve: According to the TTC’s website, the delay is a combination of covid-era effects and unexpected conflicts with utilities where the elevators are being installed. Completion is now targeted for “late 2026”. See the Spadina Station page on the TTC site.

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8. The TTC could have started up the 164 CASTLEFIELD bus today. However, I’m guessing there is no bus bay available at Cedarvale Station for the 164 bus to use, I mean the Eglinton West Station. Also the bus bays at Keelesdale Station cannot be used until they actually remove the fences and allow the TTC to use the bus bays to grant passengers access by walking to the corner bus stops at Keele & Eglinton for transfer purposes.

   I do remember seeing King Streetcars using the Dundas West Station loop BEFORE the Bloor-Danforth (now Line 2) opened for business. So they could have started the 164 CASTLEFIELD bus route.

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9. So … I follow this blog, but I don’t live in the 416 or anything near it.

   Looking at the list of construction projects the one ending this board stuck out … how does it take a year and a half to do “station pavement rehabilitation”? Yes, this is a bus terminal and whatever the surface is there, it will take a beating.

   But ~18 months?? Are they digging down to bedrock?

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10. I ride the 75 – mostly in daytimes – and it certainly gets VERY crowded at certain times and/or days. The route is not helped by fact it seems to serve a high percentage of people in wheelchairs and walkers so loading/unloading can be slow too.

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11. What are the service improvements such as for the 54 and 996?

    Steve: There is no change in service on 54 Lawrence East nor 996 Wilson Express.

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12. Hi Steve any idea with respect to Don Mills route (to which division) how many electric buses there are there ? Are these diesel free?

    Steve: There is no info on the assignment of buses to routes. You can use some of the transit apps to get a list of buses on a route.

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13. Steve: There is no change in service on 54 Lawrence East nor 996 Wilson Express.

    I think Kai’s question arose because both of those routes were listed in the Temporary Service Improvement section but weren’t in the spreadsheet. Does that mean that improvements to those routes are more in management of existing resources rather than adding new ones?

    Steve: As I said, these are not formal schedule changes and they’re based on availability of spare operators. The TTC published no specifics as this is a day-to-day change. However, the practice does indicate that they are aware some routes have problems, but don’t want to or cannot make a permanent improvement due to budget restraints. If an operator is spare, they are already being paid and might as well be driving, but making a permanent change is a longer-term commitment. The situation arises from the late opening of Lines 5 and 6.

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14. Southbound Ossington bus at Queen has to turn left onto Queen, hence has to get itself into the left-turn lane after letting everybody out at that stop.

    Northbound, the turn is almost as tight as it is at Davenport onto Oakwood; bus drivers invariably make it an alternate turn, hence it takes almost a full length of the bus to line up again in the curb lane.

    Certainly these two stops could be bumped down a couple of feet, but that wouldn’t change the underlying geometry.

    The Christie bus continues to have the absolute worst turns in the entire surface system. Ossington is almost a straight shot by comparison.

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15. What will the names of the 74, 103, and 171 routes be changed to, and what will the new destination signs display for the routes that are getting it changed?

    Steve: The “Mt.” is being changed to “Mount” in all three cases.

    New signs for 74:

    • 74 Mount Pleasant // to St Clair Stn
    • 74 Mount Pleasant // to Doncliffe
    • 74S Mount Pleasant // Short Turn // to Eglinton

    For 103:

    • 103 Mount Pleasant North // Eglinton Stn
    • 103 Mount Pleasant North // Doncliffe
    • 103S Mount Pleasant North // Short Turn

    For 171:

    • 171 Mount Dennis // Jane
    • 171 Mount Dennis // Industry

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16. Unrelated question : do you see TTC will one day stop the split of Don Mills Route 25C & B?

    Steve: The map of proposed route changes for the opening of Line 5 Crosstown show the 25 and 925 in gray (unchanged), so I suspect the split at Don Mills Station will continue.

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17. What will be the new destination signs for 13, 75, 116, 203, 302, 332, 924, 929S, and the 960?

    Steve: For 13, existing signs showing “Avenue Road” will change to “Avenue Rd”.

    For 75, “via South Drive” is added to the southbound sign.

    For 116: The info in the service change memo is incomplete and shows many existing signs deleted with no equivalent replacement, so I don’t know what’s up there.

    For 203: The two exposures are changed to:

    • 203 High Park // to High Park // via West Road
    • 203 High Park // to High Park Station // via Colborne Lodge Drive

    For 302: “Kingston-McCowan” is replaced by “Kingston Rd-McCowan” in all signs.

    For 332: A spelling error “Eginton” for the 332S is corrected.

    For 924: The route name is changed from “Victoria Park” to “Victoria Park Express”.

    For 929: A new 929S variant is added for a short turn at Dufferin for CNE service.

    For 960: A spelling mistake “Steeeles” is corrected.

    Note that much of this information is included in the spreadsheet linked from the article.

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18. “Steve: The map of proposed route changes for the opening of Line 5 Crosstown show the 25 and 925 in gray (unchanged), so I suspect the split at Don Mills Station will continue.”

    I could see the 25 bus cut back to Don Valley Station while the 72/81 could take over service south of Eglinton. Once the Ontario Line opens, 925 is cut back to Don Valley Station.

    Steve: I think that a split at Don Valley station would make sense only after the Ontario Line opens and siphons off the through traffic bound for Line 2 today

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19. The 924 change is puzzling because the route has been named “Victoria Park Express” since the 900-series numbers were introduced. Certainly that name has existed in the Service Summary since the 924 replaced the 24E in October 2018, and it shows up that way on destination signs already.

    Steve: I think only some exposures which are currently missing the express moniker are being updated.

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20. Steve: For 13, existing signs showing “Avenue Road” will change to “Avenue Rd”.

    Rhetorical question: What’s the difference between the two? Instead of wasting time on such superficial changes, why doesn’t the TTC make meaningful changes? Reminds me of 2014 when the TTC numbered the lines even though that we had only 4 lines or two and a half + half to be more exact. Why? Because the TTC wanted to make the Wynne government support the Downtown Relief Line but of course, no such relief would come until the election of Premier Ford. After three successive majorities, Premier Ford is more popular than ever. That’s a real leader who actually builds transit and other infrastructure while the Liberals spent 15 years only talking about the same.

    Steve: We won’t say anything about the utterly pointless renaming of GO Stations and other superficial, politically motivated efforts, nor the huge reported liabilities Metrolinx faces from lawsuits over its projects, nor the giveaways like the Spa and the destruction of the Science Centre. Corruption is rampant, and you’re worried about changing route signs?

    I agree that it’s a rather trivial change but it costs almost nothing to reprogram the displays. The numbering of the subway lines had nothing to do with the Relief Line and provincial support.

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21. Huh, I thought that the Long Branch car (aka 507) was part of the 10 minute network. And except for Sunday AM, it would be. Sounds like a move of convenience by the TTC.

    Looks like Queensway division has a few spare ops, given the number of Queensway routes that will be getting random extra buses.
    
    Steve: Not sure what you’re driving at. It’s the same Sunday schedule as in June. Yes, there are some exceptions to the 10 minute network. From the Service Standards:

    3.1.1 Frequent Network – “Ten Minute Network”

    The TTC’s frequent network, known as the Ten Minute Network, is a network of rapid transit, streetcar and bus services that operate every ten minutes or better from approximately 6:00 am to 1:30 am from Monday to Saturday and from approximately 8:00 am to 1:30 am on Sundays.

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22. Two questions regarding the 503/504 diversion.

    What’s the official reason as to why the 504 diverts via Shaw while the 503 is able to run on King all the way to Spadina? My assumption is to avoid too many cars turning along Spadina and creating a backlog affecting the 501 Queen and 510 Spadina, but is there a different reason?

    Steve: Yes, the idea is to limit the turns onto and off of Spadina which were creating backlogs.

    And the other question, why can’t the 503 divert eastbound along Adelaide from Spadina, rather than go up to Queen and down York? I thought those tracks were active again?

    Steve: Yes, they are, but the idea is to maintain the connection both ways at Osgoode Station for all eastbound services.

    Thank you.

    Steve: You’re welcome!

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23. In the latest service summary, 507 Long Branch is not in the list of 10 minute routes. This seems to be the case even going back a few years. It’s the only regular streetcar route not on that list. It could so easily be on it.

    Steve: The Long Branch service was restored in November 2023. Prior to that time due to the KQQR project it had operated with buses as part of 501 Queen and had a 10 minute maximum headway. When the 507 was restored, the service memo stated “Streetcars and buses will continue to arrive every 10 minutes or sooner”. However, the detailed service plan in that memo showed that service would be every 12 minutes in the early Sunday morning period.

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24. Pg 4 in the Jun 22 service summary says that all streetcar routes operate at 10min in early morning on Sundays, but the detailed routes summaries on pg 6-8 show that 503 (14min), 507 (12 min), 509 (12 min), 510 (15min), 512 (11 min) operate less frequently than 10 min. Is this the case of TTC counting over night service in with the day service and calling it every 10 min in the high-level summary?

    Steve: I think this is a left hand, right hand problem in definitions of time periods. There have been many adjustment to blend the day and night schedules over past months, but I suspect still more to go. A good chunk of this is, I suspect, the use of two different route numbers and hence two separate schedules which are not necessarily in alignment, especially when one changes and the other does not.

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25. Hi Steve,

    What are they building at Finch in the hallway that leads to the York region bus terminal?

    Steve: I don’t know. Maybe another reader who uses that station regularly might be able to comment.

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26. This is the only source I can find on the south entrances of Lawrence station opening in September. Are there no other TTC communications on this? I’m not a regular reader of this blog, so a bit confused on the exact source of the table mentioning this bit of information about Lawrence Station.

    Steve: The table comes from the TTC’s Service Planning memo detailing scheduled changes effective July 27. I checked the Lawrence Station page for the Easier Access program, and it still says the entrance “will be closed until mid-2025 for the next phase of Easier Access work to install elevators at the southwest main entrance”. A bit later on that page, they say “Construction at Lawrence Station is scheduled for completion by mid-2026.”

    This implies an interim condition where the entrance reopens, but the elevator work will not yet be finished. Service Planning must be expecting to restore normal bus operations in September (details of that round of changes has not come out yet).

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27. The Eglinton streetcar fleet is aging, any word on when the replacement streetcars will be ordered? Has the TTC budgeted for shuttle buses to replace the Eglinton streetcars until a new streetcar fleet can be delivered for Eglinton? As you know, the Eglinton streetcar line is the signature line of David Miller’s Transit City plan and of the first wave of Dalton McGuinty’s BIG MOVE plan.

    CITY TV Report

    Steve: The fleets for Lines 5 and 6 are the responsibility of the province, not the TTC. The design life for the cars is 30 years, although with their first decade mainly spent sitting in the yard, they should last longer. Problems were reported a few years back with the quality of maintenance they received from staff hired by the P3 contractors for the carhouses. Unlike the TTC who have a long-standing maintenance history and a variety of senior and junior staff, the P3s were starting from scratch. Problems with these projects are all thanks to Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario and the badly design contractual relationship with the builders of the lines.

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28. Steve, how long will the “503 Kingston Road” streetcar route extension to the Dufferin Gate loop last until (estimated date)?

    If the “503 Kingston Road” streetcar extension to Dufferin Gate loop proves to be popular, could it be made permanent?

    It’s intended to be a temporary set-up,for the duration of construction at King Street East and Church Street, which includes water main work on Church Street between King Street and Wellington Street and track work on King Street East.

    Steve: I don’t know, but it will become a bus in September running only to Joe Shuster Way due to intersection reconstruction at Dufferin. During planned water main work on King West in 2026 it will still be a bus running to Dufferin Loop. It appears that it will be a bus operation for some time along with parts of 504 King. The proposed construction diversions will be unveiled soon.

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