Compiled by Peter Coulman
With assistance from Jeffrey Kay, Jelo Gutierrez Cantos*Angelo Orion, *Mike Vainchtein, and Scott Haskill
Map by John Calnan

Background (See scanned report)

In the mid to late 1970s, urban development continued to spread through the Borough of North York. High density residential development in the form of high-rises and townhouses sprang up in the area around the Don Mills “peanut” (also referred to as the Don Valley Village). As this development continued, the borough felt there was a need for transit service within this area, bounded by Leslie, Finch, Victoria Park and Sheppard. When the newer portion of Van Horne Drive (between Leslie and Don Mills) opened for traffic in early 1978, North York formally requested that service be provided on Van Horne.

Initially the TTC proposed a new route running from Finch Station via east on Finch, south on Leslie and east on Van Horne to loop at Victoria Park. By 1980 it was felt that an express route would be possible by running every fourth bus from Sheppard Stn to veer north on Don Mills Rd and provide service on Van Horne to the east of Don Mills Rd. This routing would provide express service from the Yonge Subway to the busy Don Mills / Sheppard intersection. Leslie Street, it was felt, did not have the ridership to justify addition service. A the time, most 51 LESLIE buses turned at Thorney Vineway, south of Van Horne, and the section of Van Horne between Leslie and Don Mills was not sufficiently built up.

On April 20, 1980, Service began on the 85D SHEPPARD EAST branch, operating from Sheppard station via east on Sheppard, north on Don Mills and east on Van Horne to loop via south on Victoria Park, west on Pleasantview and north on Brian. Buses operated rush hours only, with buses running express between Sheppard station and Don Mills Road. The service was a success, with frequencies increasing from every 20 minutes to every 10 minutes on September 8, 1981, and from every 10 minutes to every 7-8 minutes on January 3, 1983.

Due to the confusion over the many branches that operated under the 85 SHEPPARD EAST banner, it was proposed that the 85D SHEPPARD EAST branch be broken off into its own route and, on April 17, 1989, this is what happened.

April 17th, 1989

Service begins on the new 10 VAN HORNE rush hour bus, replacing the 85D SHEPPARD EAST branch, without any change in routing, or express service. Service is provided by articulated buses, with frequencies lengthened to reflect the additional capacity of the new buses.

• Scan of timetable from the day, announcing renamed service, page 1
• Scan of timetable from the day, announcing renamed service, page 2

May 13th, 1991

New midday and early evening “local” service added operating every thirty minutes, midday between the rush hours and during the evening, running local between Sheppard Stn and Victoria Park. Rush hour service is doubled westbound in the morning and eastbound in the afternoon rush by 167 CONSUMERS ROAD buses operating on their “return” trip.

November 24, 1991

Articulated buses removed from this route.

September 4, 1992

Last day of late evening service. The following Tuesday (after Labour Day), service ends after 10 p.m. Rush hour interlining with 167 CONSUMER ROAD is discontinued as the route is discontinued.

June 15, 1998

‘Express’ buses are redesignated 10E, while the ‘local’ branch retains 10A.

March 12, 2001

New stop added on the 10E express branch (westbound to Sheppard Station) on the east side of Yonge at Sheppard.

September 8, 2001

Afternoon peak service on the route was reduced to reallocate the bus to another route (service became every 7 minutes instead of every 6 min 18 sec.

October 14, 2001

Extra buses that had been allocated to the route due to construction on the Sheppard subway are removed. As a result, service during the afternoon rush hour is every 7.5 minutes.

November 26th, 2002

In conjunction with the opening of the new SHEPPARD SUBWAY, 10 VAN HORNE service cut back to Don Mills station, operating north on Don Mills and east on Van Horne, looping via Victoria Park, Pleasantview and Brian. 10E “express” and 10A “local” branches disappear as they are obsolete.

May 10, 2004

Service cut in morning rush to every 10 minutes so that resources can be allocated elsewhere.

June 19, 2006

Service currently operates Monday to Friday only, from 5:46 a.m. to 10:46 p.m., every 10 minutes during rush hours, and every half hour during the midday and during the evening. Peak service reduced to every 15 minutes during the summer.

November 23, 2008

As part of the TTC’s Ridership Growth Strategy, service on Van Horne is increased to operate at all times that the subway is open, seven days a week. To accomplish this, all 10 VAN HORNE service outside of rush hour is combined with the 169A branch of HUNTINGWOOD.

Buses on the 169A branch operate eastbound from Don Mills station via north on Don Mills, east on Van Horne, south on Victoria Park to the rest of the Huntingwood route to the Scarborough Town Centre. Westbound buses operate along Huntingwood, then north on Victoria Park to west on Pleasant View and north on Brian Drive to Van Horne, following the 10 VAN HORNE route back to Don Mills station.

Coincident with the opening of Mount Dennis garage, service is reassigned to Wilson garage.

November 22, 2009

Service made accessible using low floor buses. Bike rack service offered on this date as well.

May 8, 2011

Service reduced due to budget reallocations. Service on Huntingwood is eliminated Mondays through Fridays after 10 p.m., Saturdays after 7 p.m. and all day Sundays. During these periods, service on 10 VAN HORNE is restored, except after 7 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, when no service is operated on Van Horne at all. The restored service is operated out of Eglinton (Comstock) garage.

September 4, 2011

All service on this route is assigned to Eglinton (Comstock) garage.

September 2, 2012

Service transferred from Eglinton (Comstock) garage to Wilson garage.

September 6, 2015

With the restoration of weekday late evening, Saturday evening and all day Sunday service on Huntingwood using the 169A HUNTINGWOOD bus, service on 10 VAN HORNE is cut back to rush hours only. At all other times, the route is served by 169 HUNTINGWOOD.

March 29, 2021

Service transferred from Wilson garage to the newly opened McNicoll garage.

10 Van Horne Image Archive

	A map of 10 VAN HORNE operations, effective July 2010.
	A shot of rebuilt TTC GM "New Look" 2845 from a distance. Photo by Jonathon Markowski.
	A rebuilt GMC "New Look" fishbowl 2845 poses on Sheppard Avenue near Don Mills station, while serving passengers on route 10 VAN HORNE. Photo by Jonathon Markowski.
	TTC Orion VII bus 7672 drops off passengers at Don Mills station at the western end of the 169 HUNTINGWOOD route. Just before the afternoon rush hour, it's arrived via Van Horne. This photo was taken on June 1, 2011 by James Bow.
	Orion VII bus #8327 runs along Don Mills Rd East in the evening peak preiod. This photo was taken by Roman Fomin on June 20, 2013.
	TTC Orion V CNG #9371 is seen on rt. 10E VAN HORNE EXPRESS, passing the busy intersection of Sheppard and Bayview during the afternoon rush hour. Photo taken by Felix Tse on June 10, 1999.
	Jelo Gutierrez Cantos supplied this photo fo TTC Orion V (ex-CNG) bus #9433 awaiting its departure from Don Mills station on the 10 VAN HORNE route on September 29, 2015.
	An official TTC map of 10 VAN HORNE operations, effective March 8, 2001.