31 GREENWOOD transfer Monday, December 7, 1981

Compiled by Peter Coulman
Additional information by Mike Vainchtein

February 26, 1966

Coincident with the opening of the BLOOR-DANFORTH SUBWAY, service begins on a new route on Greenwood Avenue between the Danforth and Queen, including the Greenwood subway yards. Buses operate from Greenwood station via west on Strathmore and south on Greenwood to loop at Queen via west on Queen, north on Hiltz and east on Dorothy to Greenwood, returning via the reverse route (via east on Strathmore and south on Linsmore to enter Greenwood station, looping clockwise). Service operates seven days a week, 18 hours a day.

April 23, 1967

Operation transferred to Danforth garage.

April 1, 1973

As a result of complaints from local residents, service removed from Strathmore Avenue. Buses now depart Greenwood station via south on Linsmore, west on Danforth and south on Greenwood to route. Northbound buses turn east on Danforth and north on Linsmore to enter Greenwood station. Service on Strathmore and Greenwood north of Danforth discontinued.

January 1, 1978

A new evening hours only extension launched to serve the new South Central Postal Facility on Eastern Avenue. Buses operate from Greenwood station over the regular route to Queen and then loop via west on Queen, south on Leslie, east on Eastern, north on Woodfield and west on Queen to Greenwood, returning via the reverse route. These buses do not serve the lone stop on Dorothy.

No change to the route signs. Service identified with the use of ‘EASTERN” window cards.

May 31, 1980

Service begins on a new summer (weekends and holiday) extension serving Tommy Thompson Park. From Greenwood station, buses operate over the regular route to Queen and then via west on Queen and south on Leslie past Commissioners to the end of the Leslie Street Spit. While fares were charged and transfers accepted outside the park, the City of Toronto and the Toronto Harbour Commission requested that the TTC offer free rides within the park itself. To pay for this, the City of Toronto gave the TTC a subsidy of $2,000.

October 13, 1980

Last day of operation on the 31A “Harbour Headlands” branch. Service next year would be operated by a one-bus operation named AQUATIC PARK running hourly from Queen and Leslie to Tommy Thompson Park and return. Ironically, 31A exposures remained on GREENWOOD signs into the early 1990s.

The “Eastern Avenue” branch designated as 31B on this date.

Between March 1993 and March 1, 1994

The entrance to Greenwood station is renovated to move the bus loading area within the fare paid zone. Passengers can now connect between the subway and 31 GREENWOOD buses without showing a paper transfer.

March 31, 2002

Coincident with the closure of Danforth garage, service on this route is transferred to Birchmount garage.

March 30, 2003

Four round trips changed from 31 “Queen” to 31B “Eastern” during the afternoon peak period and one round trip changed from 31 to 31B on Saturday morning.

Service on the 31B branch will operate from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Monday to Friday, and from about 6:00 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. on Saturdays. In the afternoon, the service will change from every 8 minutes headways to every 10 minutes.

May 8, 2006

A new earlier northbound trip operated from Monday to Friday on the 31B branch. The new trip will depart from Eastern Avenue at 5:30 a.m. and will arrive at Greenwood Station at 5:45 a.m.

June 22, 2008

New accessible service established using Orion VII low floor buses. Not all stops on this route as accessible.

June 22, 2014

As part of a system-wide reorganization of route branch designations, southbound buses to Queen are redesignated 31A. All northbound buses to Greenwood station retain the regular 31 GREENWOOD destination exposure.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Due to renovations to improve access to Greenwood Station, the bus terminal at the station is closed for approximately one year. Buses on 31 GREENWOOD are diverted away from this station via east on Danforth and north on Coxwell to turn through Coxwell Station for the duration of this closure. Buses serve Greenwood Station via stops at the intersection of Danforth Avenue and Linsmore.

Minor service improvements will be made in most time periods. The time between buses during these periods will decrease by approximately three to five minutes.

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Due to construction suspending service on 22 COXWELL, service on 31 GREENWOOD is altered to extend buses east on Eastern Avenue and Kingston Road to Woodbine Loop. This extension removes service on Hiltz Avenue and Dorothy Street.

Sunday, July 30, 2023

The diversion to Woodbine Loop is made permanent, with service operating 18 hours a day via west on Danforth Avenue, south on Greenwood, west on Queen, south on Leslie, east on Eastern and northeast on Kingston Road into Woodbine Loop. This change expands service on Eastern Avenue, and was likely installed ahead of planned service on the proposed 150 EASTERN route. The 31A Queen branch is discontinued. Service continues to extend to Coxwell Station at the north end, while work on Greenwood station’s accessibility renovations contnues.

31 Greenwood Image Archive

	An official TTC map of the 31 GREENWOOD route, effective July 30, 2023, showing the extension via Eastern to Woodbine Loop.
	A photograph of a Danforth Division side-rollsign, circa 1986, showing the 31 GREENWOOD exposures. This photograph was taken by James Bow and the rollsign is from the Rob Lubinski collection.
	L. Swanson took this photograph of a sign in Greenwood station, advertising 31 GREENWOOD's service to the Harbour Headland on September 6, 1980. Image courtesy the John Knight collection.
	An official TTC map of 31 GREENWOOD operations, effective January 3, 2011
	TTC New Flyer D-40-90 bus #6567 seen here southbound on Route 31 GREENWOOD at Greenwood Avenue at Felstead Avenue in May 1995. Photo by Robert Lubinski, courtesy of BARP.ca.
	TTC GM New Look bus Route 7101 takes a layover at Queen and Greenwood at the bottom end of the 31 GREENWOOD route in the summer of 1980. Photo by Pete Cox.
	TTC GM New Look bus #7551 prepares to turn from Linnsmore onto Danforth after leaving Greenwood subway station in service on 31 GREENWOOD on April 4, 1991. This was one of the last TTC buses to operate in the old red and cream paint scheme. Photo by R. Lubinski.
	TTC Orion V bus 7721 operating short-turn on 31B GREENWOOD route has just picked up a passenger at Woodward Avenue and Queen Street East. This photograph was taken by Roman Fomin during morning rush hour on February 18, 2014.
	TTC Orion VII bus #7824 pulls out of Greenwood station on a 31 GREENWOOD run to Eastern Avenue. This view was captured by Google Streetview in August 2017.
	TTC Orion VII bus turns from Queen Street onto Hiltz Avenue, as part of the southern loop of 31 GREENWOOD. This photo, snapped on November 22, 2013, was taken by James Bow.
	Roman Fomin caught this Orion V bus 7871 turning left from Eastern Avenue onto Woodward Avenue on February 18, 2014.
	TTC Orion VII "Next Gen" bus #8193 lays over at Greenwood station on an "Eastern" run of 31 GREENWOOD on the afternoon of November 14, 2017. Photo by Marcus Danchuk.