September is on the calendar and that means that summer is ending and classes at secondary and post-secondary schools are starting. And, people are returning to workplaces after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to work from home — or not work at all.
All of the transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area are making changes to their services over the next few days — some of them, including the TTC and York Region Transit, are making fairly extensive changes. That requires us at Transit Toronto to put together a lot of information during a short time.
We’ve decided to temporarily publish only highlights of the changes so that readers can receive information while it’s still timely. Shortly afterward, we will fill in the details for each post so you can get our usual extensive look at the various changes the agencies are making.
The TTC is increasing service and taking steps to improve security and cleanliness as it prepares to welcome more passengers next week.
Although TTC ridership throughout the summer has been in the 55 - 60 per cent range, it says that current models predict that it will increase a further 10 to 15 per cent during the next few weeks and months, barring any new pandemic restrictions.
It also explains that “Service will be increased on bus, streetcar, and subway routes compared to summer service levels. In this board period, bus, streetcar and subway will operate at 97%, 84% and 92% of budgeted levels of service investment, respectively.”
Construction projects end
The TTC and the City of Toronto are ending several projects that have recently impacted TTC services:
- Replacing the curves, switches and tracks at the intersection of King Street East with Sumach Street continues. (Readers tell us the last day of construction is Wednesday, September 7.)
- Streetcars along the 503 Kingston Rd route resume service along King East east of Parliament Street.
- Streetcars along the 504 King route resume service along King East east of Parliament and along Sumach and Cherry streets between King and Distillery Loop.
- Streetcars along the 505 Dundas route again operate to and from the terminal.
- buses again operate in both directions along the 42 Cummer route.
Construction projects continue
The TTC and City continue projects that impact TTC services:
- Replacing the curves, switches and tracks at the intersection of Carlton Street with Church Street continues.
- Buses along the 306 Carlton overnight route and streetcars along the 506 Carlton route continue to detour off Carlton and College streets east of Parliament Street.
- Replacing the curves, switches and tracks at the intersection of Queen Street West / King Street West / The Queensway / Roncesvalles Avenue until late 2022.
Buses replace streetcars along the west ends of the 501 Queen and 504 King routes.
Streetcars along the 501 Queen route detouring; operate only east of Dufferin Street.
- Shuttle buses along the 501L **Queen route operate only west of Dufferin.
- Streetcars along the 504 King route detouring; operate to and from Exhibition Loop.
- Shuttle buses along the 504C King route operate through the intersection and along King Street West west of York Street.
- Streetcars along the 503 Kingston Rd route continue detouring.
- Buses along the 31 Greenwood route detouring from Greenwood Station to Coxwell Station.
- Buses along the 56 Leaside and 83 Jones routes detouring.
- Installing an elevator at Rosedale Station, blocking a single bus platform.
- Buses along the 82 Rosedale route are dropping off or picking up passengers on the street.
- Buses along the 29 Dufferin, 104 Faywood, 160 Bathurst North and 929 Dufferin express routes divert to a temporary bus terminal.
- Buses along the 172 Cherry Beach route detouring.
New construction projects start
The TTC and City are starting new projects that impact TTC services:
- Replacing the tracks at the intersection of Adelaide Street West with Charlotte Street.
- Streetcars along the 503 Kingston Rd route detouring; operating to and from Wolseley Loop on Bathurst Street north of Queen Street West.
- Replacing the tracks on College Street between Manning Avenue and Bay Street.
- Buses along the 306 Carlton overnight route and streetcars along the 506 Carlton route continue to detour off Carlton and College streets between Parliament Street and Ossington Avenue.
- Shuttle buses operate between Castle Frank and Ossington stations.
- Replacing the tracks and upgrading the water main at the intersection of King Street West with Shaw Street.
- Streetcars along the 504 King route detouring; operate to and from Exhibition Loop.
- Shuttle buses along the 504C King route detour around the work zone.
- Buses along the 63 / 363 Ossington routes detouring.
- Upgrading streetcar stops on Roncesvalles Avenue between Howard Park Avenue and The Queensway / Queen Street West.
- Streetcars along the 504 King route detouring; operate to and from Exhibition Loop.
- Shuttle buses along the 504C King route detour around the work zone.
Revising or extending routes
- Buses along the 65 Parliament and 365 Parliament overnight routes operate to and from George Brown College’s Waterfront campus.
- The TTC is revising the on-street loops for buses serving passengers travelling to and from the Amazon Fulfillment Centre near Passmore and Morningside avenues, affecting service along the 53B Steeles East, 102B Markham Rd and 953B Steeles East express routes. (The changes to the 53B and 953B routes are in effect starting Sunday, October 9.)
- Southbound buses along the 35B Jane (“via Hullmar”) branch no longer operate along Peter Kaiser Gate. Instead, buses operate along Hullmar Drive between Jane Street and Peter Kaiser. Northbound buses continue to operate along their regular route.
Improving services
- The TTC is increasing the frequency of service for subway trains along Line 1 Yonge - University and Line 2 Bloor - Danforth. Trains operate every three minutes or better Mondays to Fridays during rush hours.
- The TTC says “Compared to the May 2022 schedule, the following routes have increased service investment, either through additional resources to improve on-time performance or to provide additional periods of service, new service, or better frequency of buses and streetcars”:
- 26 Dupont;
- 38 Highland Creek;
- 44 Kipling South;
- 100 Flemingdon Park;
- 102 Markham Rd;
- 123 Sherway;
- 131 Nugget;
- 134 Progress;
- 511 Bathurst; and
- 512 St Clair.
Improving the reliability of services
- The TTC’s program for continuously monitoring and improving schedules “to better match operating conditions” result in new schedules for these routes:
- 44 Kipling South
- 45 Kipling
- 47 Lansdowne
- 84 Sheppard West
- 123 Sherway
- 131 Nugget
- 944 Kipling South Express
- 945 Kipling Express
- 984 Sheppard West Express
Resuming service along routes that the TTC temporarily cancelled
It has cancelled one route since the start of the pandemic and the other since the end of the winter / spring term at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus:
- 176 Mimico GO shuttle; and
- 938 Highland Creek express.
Ending seasonal services
Summer service ends and regular service resumes along these routes:
- 30B High Park: extra service into High Park.
- 92 Woodbine South: more frequent service Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
- 174 Ontario Place - Exhibition: Thursday, August 18 — before the start of the Canadian National Exhibition — was the last day that buses operated along the route.
Continuing seasonal services
The TTC continues to operate extra services to and from attractions along these routes through September and early October:
- 86 Scarborough: Shuttle buses to and from the Toronto Zoo continue to operate during the Zoo’s opening hours.
- 175 Bluffer’s Park.
Resuming seasonal services
The TTC adds more service along these routes for passengers travelling to and from colleges:
- 75 Sherbourne (to and from George Brown College’s Waterfront campus)
- 102 Markham Rd (to and from Centennial College’s Progress campus).
Restoring or adjusting extra services to and from high schools
The TTC is restoring extra service to accommodate passengers travelling to and high schools. It’s also adding some new service.
It’s scheduled:
- A total of 112 school trips, starting Tuesday, September 6.
- Four of these trips are new, compared to the May 2022 schedule, resulting from reviewing previous school trips and crowding on regular-service trips, and responding to passengers complaints.
The TTC has modified 51 trips to align with information from the school boards about school start and dismissal times.
It’s restoring or adjusting high-school services along these routes:
- 11 Bayview;
- 12 Kingston Rd;
- 15 Evans;
- 25 Don Mills;
- 44 Kipling South;
- 45 Kipling;
- 48 Rathburn;
- 50 Burnhamthorpe;
- 51 Leslie;
- 56 Leaside;
- 68 Warden;
- 70 O’Connor;
- 84 Sheppard West;
- 91 Woodbine;
- 95 York Mills;
- 106 Sentinel;
- 111 East Mall;
- 112 West Mall;
- 161 Rogers Road;
- 165 Weston Rd North; and
- 167 Pharmacy North.
Due to fewer riders boarding buses resulting from social distancing and lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, the TTC continues to suspend service along these express routes:
- 141 Downtown / Mt Pleasant express;
- 142 Downtown / Avenue Rd express;
- 143 Downtown / Beach express;
- 144 Downtown / Don Valley express; and
- 145 Downtown / Humber Bay express.
The TTC also continues to suspend service along this route due to the pandemic:
- 508 Lake Shore.
The TTC continues to suspend service along this route due to Metrolinx construction of the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit line:
- 103 Mt Pleasant North.
As a pilot project, the TTC continues to combine route 503 service with the former 502 Downtowner route, as it has since September 9, 2019.
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