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TTC Service Changes Effective September 30, 2026 — Scarborough Busway Opens

The Scarborough busway using the former Line 3 Scarborough RT right-of-way will open on September 30. Most routes now using Midland and Kennedy to reach Kennedy Station will switch to the new busway. Affected routes are 38 Highland Creek, 129 McCowan North, 131 Nugget, 133 Neilson, 154 Curran Hall, 903 Kennedy Stn-Scarborough Express, 904 Sheppard-Kennedy Express, 938 Highland Creek Express & 939 Finch Express.

Buses will stop enroute at the former Ellesmere and Lawrence East stations, as well as a new stop at Tara Avenue midway between Lawrence and Eglinton.

Lawrence East Station will also be served by the 54/954 Lawrence East bus services as shown below. The station building will not be open, but riders can transfer via a walkway at the south end of the platform to the busway station.

Scheduled service levels and travel times remain the same on September 30 because this is a mid-board period change. The next board period with an opportunity for changes begins on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The TTC has not yet announced plans for schedule updates to take advantage of faster travel times on the busway.

I have been collecting tracking data on some routes using Midland and Kennedy for historical comparison, and will review actual operations in November once the October data are available.

11 thoughts on “TTC Service Changes Effective September 30, 2026 — Scarborough Busway Opens”

  1. Why reopen the Lawrence and Ellesmere buys bay/terminal but not the station, for easier access to the street and the other side of the station?

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  2. Thanks for this Steve. TTC’s map shows an error with 154 serving the entire busway when it should only go to Lawrence East. I’m curious as to why they didn’t find a way for it to serve Bay 4 at Lawrence East, given it will also provide local service east on Lawrence.

    The stop at Midland will be maintained which is good for transfers to the 95, although the southbound stop will have to be relocated as it is presently on Midland.

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  3. I hope the Scarborough Busway, and the entire route to Scarborough Centre Station, will receive the same treatment as the 900 Airport Express on the TTC’s Subway, Light Rail and Streetcar Map.

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  4. Maybe I’m missing something but these maps make it look like route 154 is going to run to Scarborough Centre? How will it access the busway from Lawrence? 154 doesn’t even have a bay at Lawrence East according to that map.

    Steve: Yes, the map is wrong, as a previous comments notes. I have alerted the TTC to this.

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  5. I haven’t kept up with the once-glorious “ICTS” line other than to remember that TTC didn’t seem to understand the long-term maintenance needs of LIM tech so it all eventually broke. I mean, the Commission isn’t always great with 200-year-old rail-on-tie infrastructure, either, so throw in that reaction rail or whatever it was called and, well …

    So have they just done like all car people believe should be done and paved over the tracks? Was the track structure retained for future use or is this just Ottawa South?

    Steve: This was a complete rebuild. The tracks and power distribution system was removed.

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  6. Do you know if they tested and approved artics on the busway? Just curious with 939 now being the only artic route until it’s discontinued from Kennedy Stn.

    Are they going to continue using the current Ellesmere Rd northbound stop they built at Midland Ave beside the dental clinic? Will they then use the 95/995/996 westbound stop for going southbound at Midland Ave or build a stop on the west side by Starbucks to differentiate the busway service routes?

    What happens to the interm stops built on Kennedy/Midland? Perhaps a reuse for Northside/Southside stops of 43/57 in future board periods rather than tearing them down?

    Steve: I have not seen any details on what happens to the existing infrastructure once routes shift onto the busway. As for artics, I will have to find out from TTC, although it would surprise me if they built in a constraint like that.

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  7. My question RE the 154 (might be worth an ask?) is there even going to be an exit onto Lawrence from the busway? Or once you get on are you stuck on till Ellesmere station? Map doesn’t show a rendition of that either. That station building is in the way and it’s a pretty big drop from Lawrence down onto the busway.

    Steve: Lawrence Avenue connects to the bus loop at the former RT station at the west end of the overpass. A link from the south end of that loop connects to the new busway.

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  8. That is good news because sometimes the buses take about 20 minutes during rush hour and it also makes good use of the old LRT route rather than sitting like an ancient relic. Looks like someone made good use of their brains at the TTC. Too bad we cannot have at least one direct express bus route from Point A to B without stoppages. Seems to me that more people travel from Kennedy to STC and vice versa to warrant that idea……gee now it seems that Im using my brain!!

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  9. I am very disappointed with the Scarborough busway and the Scarborough subway, what I wanted to see in Scarborough was maglev like they do in China but Downtown would not allow it.

    Steve: Downtown has nothing to do with it. Maglev technology is useless for short haul runs, especially with stations 2km apart.

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  10. What happened to the express busses like 903 or 131 that used to stop at Brimley and Lawrence. The express bus from stc to Kennedy or Kennedy to stc in 2 stops? We need more express buses for local roads like Brimley.

    Steve: The 903 and 131 did not stop at Brimley & Lawrence, only at Midland & Lawrence SB and Kennedy & Lawrence NB. These buses now run via the new busway.

    Even with the new brt it’s harder and slower to take the 21 all the way to Kennedy when you can take 154 that hasn’t been seen since the new brt opening.

    Steve: The 154 uses the busway. It is supposed to stop on Lawrence at all local stops to Midland, including Brimley, and then go onto the busway stopping at Lawrence East Station.

    As well as where are the station stops? I took the 54 today to Lawrence station and did not see any of the new buses and do they even take you to Kennedy? If you’re at a station, do the buses go both to the destination you want and also the station? If I took 38 from Lawrence station are they 2 types of 38? One that goes Kennedy and the other that goes to Highland Creek?

    Steve: All of the buses southbound at Lawrence East Station go to Kennedy Station. At Lawrence East there will be both southbound 38s to Kennedy Station and northbound 38s to Highland Creek. There are two branches of the 38, as there always are, with the 38A going to Rouge Hill GO, and the 38B to UTSC. This has not changed.

    The 54 Lawrence East loops through the station stopping at the old bus bays used when the RT was running. You have to walk south a short distance to the stop on the busway to transfer to other routes.

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  11. I noticed there are some increase in ridership for 43 and 57 in Lawrence/Kennedy and Midland today. Probably because of the relocation of stops, especially in Lawrence/Midland, where people used to take the RT buses are now asked to cross the road, go over the GO tracks and walk into the RT station only to access the new bus stop.

    With the rumors being the bus way in Kennedy and Midland would be removed eventually, would there be a comparing analysis in terms of speed or any changes made to these two local routes?

    Steve: I have been collecting data for operations in the pre-busway configuation and plan to get at least a month post-busway for comparison.

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