Transit

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TTC Surface Route Stats 2019-2024

The list of surface route operating statistics for 2024 recently appeared on the TTC’s Planning webpage. This article consolidates data for the years 2019 (the last pre-pandemic year) to 2024.

Values included in the TTC files are:

  • Weekday passenger count
  • Weekday vehicle hours
  • Weekday vehicle klometres
  • AM peak vehicles
  • PM peak vehicles

Derived values included in this article:

  • Passengers (boardings) per vehicle hour
  • Vehicle kilometres per hour
  • Recovery rates relative to 2019

Pages for each set of stats are included in the detailed part of the article, and a PDF containing all tables is linked at the end.

In a future article, I will refresh a previously published table comparing service levels on routes in September 2025, when this information is available, with prepandemic conditions.

A basic message of both articles is that the TTC trumpets a return to former service levels, but the metric they use, vehicle hours, misrepresents the level of service provided. Buses and streetcars travel more slowly now than they did in 2019, and they have more generous recovery times at terminals. These combine to make a vehicle hour less productive in the amount of service it provides than in past years, and so 100% of former hours does not produce the same service. That is separate from other factors such as a decline in reliability, bunching and gaps which compound the less frequent scheduled service.

The problem is particularly bad on streetcar routes where a combination of factors including understaffing, budget constraints, and operating practices that slow service, lead to considerably less “recovery” to former service levels. In turn, this hurts service quality and blunts ridership recovery.

Crowding conditions are not addressed by these stats, and this is difficult to extract from TTC tracking data due to the coarse-grained nature of reported loads. TTC does not publish numeric vehicle loads, only broad light-medium-heavy loading indications. Although they report all-day ridership on each route, this is not broken down by time of day, location and direction, at least not for external consumption. TTC has crowding standards, but we do not know how well they meet them.

The number of peak vehicles is lower in 2024 than in 2019. This partly reflects limits on service growth, and partly the shift of demand into off-peak periods.

In the attempt to woo riders back onto the TTC, let alone to boost transit’s mode share for travel in line with City goals, the question of service level and quality is key. In theory, if demand actually sits below the historic level, then less service is needed to handle it. However, those who remember the condition of transit before 2020 will know that crowding was a pervasive problem and calls for better service were common. Only the March 2020 drop in demand saved the TTC from a capacity crisis.

Toronto must understand and commit the resources needed to achieve its transit goals. Just getting back to 2019 is no goal to aim at.

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35/935 Jane: Service Levels and Travel Times 2019-2025

This article is an update from a previous review of travel times on the Jane corridor which is currently under study in the RapidTO program. Red lanes are proposed between Eglinton and Steeles both ways. The southern limit is defined both by the change in roadway cross section in the older part of the city, and by the future split in bus service at Eglinton to feed into Line 5 Crosstown.

Scheduled Service and Ridership

A common claim by the TTC and City is that service on the bus network is restored to or better than pre-pandemic levels. This is not true.

The measurement used is bus hours, but actual frequency of service is the metric riders experience. Total bus hours might be “back to normal”, but these are distributed differently now than in 2019 with some of the restoration going to longer travel and recovery times. These might contribute to service reliability, but with lower scheduled capacity (buses/hour).

Service in November 2019 compared to February 2025 (the schedule in effect in August 2025) was generally better than it is today.

Buses / Hour
L Local
X Express		2019.11
M-F		2025.08
M-F		2019.11
Sat		2025.08
Sat		2019.11
Sun		2025.08
Sun
AM Pk M-F12.9L 8.0X10.0L 5.0X
Midday MF8.6L 6.3X8.0L 4.0X
PM Pk M-F12.0L 6.2X10.0L 5.0X
Early AM
S-S		7.1L 6.0X6.0L2.0L3.0L
Late AM
S-S		6.0L 6.7X6.0L 6.0X6.0L 6.7X6.0L 6.0X
Afternoon
S-S		8.0L 6.7X8.6L 8.6X6.0L 7.1X7.5L 7.5X
Early Eve6.9L 6.7X8.0L 4.0X8.6L 6.7X7.5L8.6L7.5L
Late Eve6.7L6.0L7.1L6.0L6.3L6.0L

The tables below are taken from the November 2019 and July 2025 TTC Scheduled Service Summaries show the corresponding service designs. Within each group, the fields are:

  • Number of assigned vehicles
  • Frequency of service
  • Travel time
  • Terminal recovery time
  • Scheduled speed (km/h)

Changes in service levels are affected by scheduled speed, frequency and recovery time. Note that recovery times in 2025 are more generous than in 2019, and travel times have also increased with a corresponding drop in scheduled speeds. In some cases, the number of buses (and hence bus hours) goes up, but the level of service goes down because of slower operation.

RapidTO plans for Jane seek to shorten travel times between Steeles and Eglinton, but the benefit varies. Terminal departures are irregular, although much of that variation is permitted under the Service Standards. RapdTO’s supposed contribution to regularity is that buses will be able to stay more or less “on time”, but unless departures at terminals are better managed, service will still begin trips irregularly. On the current 6′ peak headway, the standards allow a 50% fluctuation from 3-to-9 minutes, and this can make a huge difference in wait times and vehicle crowding.

All-day ridership reported in past years is summarized below. As of Fall 2024, ridership was still well below the 2019 level.

All-day Riders201920202021202220232024
35 Jane31,08526,08220,33424,84028,80825,820
935 Jane Express13,7497,96510,64510,03411,644
Total44,83426,08228,29935,48538,84237,464
Source: TTC Planning Web Page

We do not know how much ridership growth might be constrained by service capacity and reliability, as opposed to changes in actual demand. The TTC projects large growth from improvements in travel time and reliability with RapidTO, but with no commitment to increased capacity. This claim is difficult to believe.

I asked the TTC for the methodology behind its calculation of RapidTO ridership growth on July 28, but have received no details as of August 11. (The request was for Dufferin and Bathurst corridors where the TTC makes similarly optimistic projections, but the same issue applies to Jane.)

The remainder of this article updates previously published data about travel times on Jane starting just before the pandemic in November 2019 up to July 2025.

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Travel Times on Bathurst/Dufferin Part III: 511 Bathurst

This is the third part of a series showing details of travel times in the Bathurst and Dufferin corridors.

For introductory remarks and a discussion of general issues, please refer to Part I.

The main part of this article contains the charts for the streetcar service on 511 Bathurst. Note that data for any bus extras has been omitted from these charts to ensure a presentation of streetcar-only speeds. Data from October 2024 and July 2025 are shown here to be outside of the period when the line was rerouted around construction at Fleet and Bathurst with buses operating a south-end shuttle service.

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Travel Times on Bathurst/Dufferin Part II: 29/929 Dufferin

This is the second part of a series showing details of travel times in the Bathurst and Dufferin corridor.

For introductory remarks and a discussion of general issues, please refer to Part I.

The main part of this article contains the charts for the local and express bus services on Dufferin Street in June 2025.

Although the focus of recent debates about transit priority for Dufferin was from Eglinton south, data here show that there are issues with extended running times, particularly in the afternoon, over the full route with northbound trips taking the lion’s share of the delay. Express trips are faster than local trips, but by varying amounts over the route. The least benefit is on the southern portion of the route where red lanes will be installed, and where staying in those lanes could prevent express buses from leap-frogging the locals.

There are some areas where traffic slows in advance of an intersection, but more common is a general slowing down of bus speeds over the route representing overall traffic speed and longer stop service times when the route is busy.

Data shown here are from June 2025 with both the local 29 and express 929 services plotted together for comparison. In many times and locations their speeds are comparable, while in others the express buses have higher speeds than the locals.

The main article contains all of the charts including PDFs with all day sets.

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Travel Speed and Time on Bathurst/Dufferin Part I: 7 Bathurst

In recent discussions of the Bathurst and Dufferin transit priority schemes, a major issue is the degree to which various parts of the routes contribute to slower operation by time-of-day and direction. In this article and two to follow, I will review the actual behaviour of these routes to provide both a basis for discussion of expanding the priority schemes, and as a “before” reference for comparison after they are implemented.

Reviews by time-of-day are useful not just to spot peak period issues, but also as a reference for what might be achieved. At the beginning and end of service hours on most routes, there is no traffic congestion and lighter passenger demand reduces stop service time. Bettering travel times from those periods would be challenging.

Travel times are affected by many factors including:

  • Interference from other traffic on the road, and the degree of congestion for traffic generally.
  • Absence of signal priority and “priority” signals that do not adequately reflect actual operating conditions.
  • Stop service time including both the penalty for stopping, starting and rejoining the traffic flow; and passenger boarding times which depend on the volume of riders and crowding conditions.
  • The proportion of riders with large objects such as bicycles, baby carriages, shopping carts, luggage, scooters and wheelchairs. This affects not just boarding times, but also the ability of passengers to move within vehicles, particularly buses.
  • Slow driving speeds induced by a desire to avoid running early when scheduled times exceed what is actually needed.
  • Posted speed limits.
  • Weather conditions.

Express services have fewer stops and therefore lose less time on that account, but this is only one of many possible factors.

A further consideration is that for the transit vehicle, we generally talk about point-to-point times, but for a rider, “travel” includes access time to and from stops at their origin and destination. Removing stops might speed up buses, but at the cost of longer access time. This is a balancing act depending on local geography, the location of signalized intersections and major trip generators.

Travel Times and Ridership

The relationship between travel times and demand is not exact, and depends on various factors:

  • A substantial reduction in a long trip is more noticeable than a small reduction.
  • For short trips, an improvement in scheduled service and reliability will improve wait times possibly by more than the saving for in-vehicle time. This is compounded by riders experiencing wait time as longer than in vehicle travel time.
  • Comfort is important for longer trips where standing in a packed bus is no fun. For short trips the inability to board is a disincentive to ride. Speed is only one measure of attractiveness.
  • If service is changed, or stops are removed, in parallel with the reduction in travel time, it is not clear which factor influenced ridership the most.

The origin and quantity of any new riders can vary and will depend greatly on both the latent demand and the perceived improvement for travellers. Would-be riders who now drive require a substantial inducement to change modes especially if their trip would involve multiple routes of which only one was improved. Some riders may shift from nearby routes as happened with the King Street corridor, but this is very specific to local routes and riding patterns, and it does not represent net new transit users.

Any analysis is complicated by the events of 2020-25 and a major shift in overall travel including the stronger recovery of off-peak as compared to peak period demand. If transit priority only yields its greatest benefit in the peak, a large part of the travel market sees little change.

The TTC projects substantial ridership increases on Jane, Dufferin and Bathurst through the proposed transit priority schemes, and this implies both a major improvement in perceived service quality and a latent demand for better transit. However, they do not explain how they reach this conclusion nor the methodology behind their claims, nor the amount of extra service, if any, that will be fielded in anticipation of growth.

Looking at the Whole Route

The Council debate concerned only the section of 7 Bathurst and 29/929 Dufferin south of Eglinton, and of 511 Bathurst from Bloor to Fleet. An inordinate amount of time was spent on a short section of Bathurst south of Dupont. For both corridors, much work was done by local Councillors, their communities and Transportation Services to fine tune the design. This should have occurred earlier in the process.

The larger question, however, is not just the installation of transit priority over a portion of these corridors, but the routes overall and the service they provide. The TTC loves to point to external factors like traffic congestion as their rationale for irregular service, but they do not manage the service they already have as I have shown in numerous articles. Moreover, the standard on which they base reports of “reliability” is very generous for routes that only run every 10 minutes allowing a deviation between 5 and 15 minutes in vehicle spacing.

If one were to say “make it tighter”, I expect the first response would be “oh, we cannot possibly do that” even though the same standards set a tighter deviation for more frequent routes. If it is possible to manage to a six minute window on a 6 minute service, it should be possible to manage to this on a 10 minute service. TTC Service Standards excuse poor service rather than demanding excellence.

The main part of this article presents speed profiles showing details over 7 Bathurst by hour. Within these, one can see locations where transit vehicles have slow operation over extended distances, notably on approaches to intersections. These are key sites for any focus on speeding up transit service.

As a reference, the travel times over each segment, broken down by hour, are also included to show the variation over the day, and the degree of variation (standard deviation of values).

There are many charts, but only a sampling is included inline here. PDFs with full day sets are linked for those who are interested.

I will cover 29/929 Dufferin and 511 Bathurst Streetcar in Parts II and III.

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TTC Updates Reduced Speed Zone Info

The TTC maintains a list of reduced speed zones on its website, and this constantly changing list is tracked in a previous article here showing how long some restrictions have been in place.

The format of the TTC page has been changed to include not just a map showing where the zones are, but why they were created and, in most cases, a target date for remediation.

The current map and table of repair targets, as of July 31, 2025, are shown below. Note that some of the items on the map are not included in the detail (e.g. Warden to Kennedy eastbound), and the table includes entries that are not reflected on the map (e.g. Sheppard West to Wilson). This does not speak well of the TTC’s ability to communicate consistent, accurate information.

Updated August 1, 2025 at 9:10am: The TTC has updated their page so that the map and tables are now in sync with each other.

Most of the zones listed here are scheduled for removal by early September with only a few continuing into the Fall or beyond (“TBD”). This list will bear watching for additions, and for removals of cleared sections within the expected time frame.

Original July 31 versions:

Revised versions:

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TTC Service Changes Effective July 27, 2025

The TTC will make a few service changes effective July 27, 2025 as well as a number of route name and signage modifications.

The changes including before and after service designs are in the spreadsheet linked below.

(The spreadsheet has been corrected to refer to Sheppard Yonge rather than Sheppard West Station for bus looping changes.)

Construction Projects

The only change in the construction project list is that paving work at Sheppard Station bus loop is complete, and buses will move back into the loop. There is no change in service on affected routes.

The bay allocation at Sheppard Station is shown below.

Temporary Service Improvements

With a surplus of operators, service will be improved to address crowding and service resiliency on many routes. These are not formal schedule changes.

504 King
20 Cliffside
32 Eglinton West
37 Islington
44 Kipling South
45 Kipling
54 Lawrence East
63 Ossington
66 Prince Edward

67 Pharmacy
68 Warden
80 Queensway
86 Scarborough
89 Weston
90 Vaughan
110 Islington South
111 East Mall
118 Thistle Down

119 Torbarrie
123 Sherway
124 Sunnybrook
125 Drewry
126 Christie
161 Rogers Rd
929 Dufferin Express
960 Steeles West Express
996 Wilson Express

Destination Sign Changes

Signs on many routes will change for standardization including:

  • 13 Avenue Rd
  • 30 High Park North (Branch letters removed)
  • 75 Sherbourne
  • 116 Morningside
  • 203 High Park
  • 302 Kingston Rd-McCowan Night
  • 332 Eglinton West Night
  • 924 Victoria Park Express
  • 929S Dufferin (new Dufferin Station short turn for CNE service)
  • 960 Steeles West

Routes renamed:

  • 74 Mount Pleasant
  • 103 Mount Pleasant North
  • 171 Mount Dennis

Streetcar Service Changes

301 Queen Night

Two early morning trips extended west from Roncesvalles to Humber Loop to improve the transition to 501 daytime service.

504 King

Official route standardized to operate via Queen and Shaw. This has been in place since May 2025, but the schedule change will also allow trip prediction apps to “see” cars on the route they are actually using.

Bus Service Changes

22 Coxwell / 92 Woodbine South

The holiday interline at the south end of the routes will be discontinued.

72 Pape

The 72C Commissioners service will be extended on weekends except late evenings to serve Biidaasage Park. The service will operate westbound via west on Commissioners Street to north on Ookwemin Street (formerly Old Cherry Street). Eastbound service will run from Ookwemin Street east on Villiers Street, u-turn to west on Villiers Street, south on Ookwemin Street, east on Commissioners Street

100 Flemingdon Park

Weekend service revised for reliability.

102 Markham Road

Added trips on weekdays SB from Warden Station to Steeles at 4:47 and 5:13 am to reduce crowding.

Streetcar Vehicle Allocations

Streetcar Route Maps

Bus Vehicle Allocations

eBus Compatible Runs By Garage

Budget and Scheduled Service Hours

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TTC Board Meeting: July 17, 2025

The TTC Board met on July 17, 2025. Among the items on the agenda were:

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114 Queens Quay East and Its Red Lanes

On June 4, 2025, new reserved bus lanes were installed on Queens Quay westbound from Sherbourne to Bay, and eastbound from Jarvis to Sherbourne. The TTC projected travel time savings of up to 5 minutes, and more reliable service for riders using routes on this roadway including 114 Queens Quay East, 75 Sherbourne, 65 Parliament and 202 Cherry Beach.

Now that the June 2025 tracking data are available, this article reviews the actual change, if any, in travel times and headway consistency. For historic context, the data presented here go back to May 2024 when the 114 Queens Quay East route was split off from the south end of 19 Bay.

Here is a map showing the affected routes and location of the new red lanes.

Source: TTC

Over the period before red lane implementation, the 114 Queens Quay East service suffered from schedule problems with an unrealistic high scheduled speed. This was reduced in October 2024, and then raised again recently in anticipation of red lane benefits. The current scheduled speed is not as high as the original design in May 2024. Service frequency has also been changed from time to time mainly in response to seasonal fluctuation, but in some cases to “stretch” buses over a longer running time. (Details later in the article.)

The original eastern terminus was an around-the-block loop via Logan, Lake Shore and Carlaw to Commissioners. This was changed to Lake Shore Garage (the Wheel-Trans garage on Commissioners west of Leslie) to provide a better, off-street location.

Service until the October 2024 schedule change was extremely erratic, especially in the PM peak, as buses could not maintain the original running times. Since October, there has been little change at most times of the day including in June 2025 after red lane implementation.

There is a very strong day-of-the-week effect in the PM peak for westbound travel times on Queens Quay with midweek days being the worst. In June, the worst of the peaks are down from April levels, but that month was unusually bad. There is not yet enough accumulated data to establish whether there will be a permanent “shaving” of peak travel times through the red lane area.

There is an analogy here to the King Street project where the travel times under normal circumstances changed little, but the peaks on days when there was a disruption or special event were shaved off improving overall reliability.

Any analysis of the benefits of the red lanes must be careful not to cherry pick “good” and “bad” days for comparisons.

The data here provides mainly a “before” view of service on 114 Queens Quay East. I will update these charts in the Fall when full traffic conditions have resumed.

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Tracking Reduced Speed Zones

Since February 2024, I have tracked the TTC’s posted list of Reduced Speed Zones (RSZs) on subway lines 1 (YUS) and 2 (BD). A pattern has emerged that some RSZs are very long-lasting, others are brief, and some come-and-go.

Former Interim CEO Greg Percy claimed that we should expect about a dozen of these at any time, but the current total as of July 13, 2025, sits at 27.

Source: TTC Site July 13, 2025

If these zones came and went in short order as problems were discovered, one might tolerate a period of travel delay. My own recent experiences with glacial trips from Vaughan to St. George makes me thankful that I don’t take this route every day, but regular riders there have my sympathy.

Current reporting makes actual tracking of track defects difficult, and there is no sense of the underlying problems or limitations on performing repairs. Transparency demands that more information is provided for the status of RSZs, specifically:

  • Location
  • Date first reported
  • Defect issue(s)
  • Planned repairs
  • Projected date to completion
  • Actual date slow order is lifted

Whether this will speed repairs depends on available resources (capital, work equipment, crews) and conflict with other works along the subway lines, but at a minimum riders deserve to know when they can expect relief from slow orders. The TTC Board and Council deserve to know how deep-seated the outstanding problems might be, where they originated, and what will be required to fix them.

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