Compiled by Pete Coulman

November 1, 1926

After reaching an agreement with the Village of Forest Hill, service begins on a new bus route operated by the Toronto Transportation Commission. FOREST HILL starts life as an upside-down Y-shaped route fanning out from a common starting point. One bus starts from Eglinton Avenue and Spadina Road and operates via south on Spadina, southeast on Forest Hill Road, south on Russell Hill Road, southeast on Hillholme Road, south on Dunvegan Road and west on Heath Street to Spadina. A second bus operates from Eglinton Avenue and Spadina and runs south on Spadina to St. Clair, looping clockwise via west on St. Clair, north on Walmer Road and east on Heath to Spadina, returning via the reverse route. Both branches share the same rollsign exposure.

As service was entirely outside the boundaries of the City of Toronto, it was not a part of the TTC fare system, and passengers had to pay an additional fare to continue their journey downtown. While the service was technically in the Township of York, no connections were available to other Township of York services like the OAKWOOD and ROGERS ROAD streetcars, so no transfers were issued on this route, or accepted from other routes.

February 20, 1927

Buses heading north on Spadina Road now loop at the northern terminus via northwest on Forest Hill, east on Eglinton and south on Spadina.

November 15, 1928

Scholars tickets are now offered for sale on this route.

August 15, 1932

The route changed from “Y” to a “U” configuration. Buses start from a clockwise loop via west on St. Clair, north on Walmer and east on Heath before runnin gnorth on Spadina, west on Elderwood, north on Rosemary, north and west on Rosemary Lane, north on Bathurst, east on Eglinton, south on Spadina, southeast on Forest Hill, south on Russell Hill, southeast on Hillholme and south on Dunvegan, looping clockwise via west on St Clair, north on Warren Road and east on Lonsdale Road. No change to destination signs.

December 9, 1935

Route extended during Monday to Saturday rush hours via west on Eglinton, north on Rosebury (now Allen Road), east on Wembly Road, south on Old Park Road and east on Eglinton to the regular route.

October 15, 1936

The launch of the EGLINTON WEST bus route on this date replaces FOREST HILL service on Eglinton west of Vesta Drive. Service now operates from St. Clair and Spadina (looping via St. Clair, Walmer and Heath) via north on Spadina, west on Elderwood, north on Vesta Drive, east on Eglinton, south on Spadina, southeast on Forest Hill, south on Russell Hill, southeast on Hillholme and south on Dunvegan, looping clockwise via west on St Clair, north on Warren and east on Lonsdale. Transfers are issued and accepted from the EGLINTON WEST bus route.

December 1, 1938

Transfers are granted to and from the new BATHURST via the EGLINTON WEST bus.

April 17, 1947

A standard transfer ticket replaces the universal one.

October 3, 1951

The St. Clair/Walmer/Heath looping is replaced by an extension along Lonsdale. Buses now operate from Lawton loop at Yonge Street via north on Lawton, and west on Lonsdale to Dunvegan Road. Then every second bus loops clockwise via west on Lonsdale, north on Spadina, west on Elderwood, north on Vesta, east on Eglinton, south on Spadina, east on Forest Hill, south on Russell Hill, southeast on Hillholme and south on Dunvegan to Lonsdale. Every other bus reverses this looping arrangement.

July 1, 1954

The zone fare boundaries are shifted so that FOREST HILL now operates within the central fare zone. The service is rerouted to operate out of Rosedale station on the YONGE SUBWAY via north on Yonge, east on Pleasant Boulevard, looping through St. Clair station, west on Pleasant, north again on Yonge, northwest on Lawton Boulevard, west on Lonsdale, and north on Spadina to loop via west on Elderwood, north on Vesta Drive and east on Eglinton to Spadina, returning via the reverse route.

Note, this disagrees with the TTC map of the time which says that, after Lonsdale, buses operate via north on Dunvegan, west on Kilbarry and north on Spadina, to loop via west on Ardmore, north on Bathurst and east on Elderwood to Spadina, returning via the reverse route. This was an error in the public map, however, and a correction was issued three weeks later.

September 13, 1954

In conjunction with the elimination of the HILL COACH, service on FOREST HILL is rerouted. Buses now operate out of Rosedale station via north on Yonge, east on Pleasant, thorough St. Clair station, then west on Pleasant Boulevard, north on Yonge, northwest on Lawton, west on Lonsdale, north on Spadina, west on Elderwood, north on Vesta Drive to Eglinton. Buses return via east on Eglinton, south on Spadina, east on Forest Hill Road, south on Russell Hill, southeast on Hillholme, south on Dunvegan and east on Lonsdale, southeast on Lawton, south on Yonge and east on Pleasant Boulevard to St. Clair station. Every second bus reverses this arrangement.

September 12, 1955

Service between Rosedale and St. Clair station is eliminated. All buses now operate out of St. Clair station.

September 21st, 1956

Assigned route number 33.

February 26, 1966

Coincident with the opening of the BLOOR-DANFORTH SUBWAY, rollsigns are altered to differentiate between subway stations. 33 FOREST HILL signs are altered accordingly.

March 31, 1973

Coincident with the extension of the YONGE SUBWAY to York Mills, service is revised to operate between St. Clair and Davisville subway stations. Buses operate from St. Clair via west on Pleasant Boulevard, north on Yonge, northwest on Lawson, east on Lonsdale, north on Spadina, west on Elderwood, north on Vesta, east on Eglinton and southeast on Chaplin to Davisville station, returning via the reverse route. Alternate buses operate from St. Clair via Pleasant, Yonge, Lawson, and Lonsdale to Dunvegan and then north on Dunvegan, northwest on Hillholm, north on Russell Hill, west on Forest Hill, north on Spadina, west on Eglinton and southeast on Chaplin to Davisville station, returning via the reverse route.

March 3, 1974

Service on Chaplin Crescent is replaced by an extension of 14 GLENCAIRN. Instead of operating southeast on Chaplin Crescent, buses continue east on Eglinton to Eglinton subway station, returning via the reverse route. Buses operate every 12 minutes in rush hours and every 30 minutes at all other times (6 minutes and 15 minutes on the combined portions, respectively).

A 33 FOREST HILL transfer, circa 1985

January 28, 1978

Coincident with the opening of the SPADINA SUBWAY, service is rerouted to connect with the subway at St. Clair West station. All buses now operate from St. Clair station via west on Pleasant Boulevard, north on Yonge, northwest on Lawton, west on Lonsdale, north on Dunvegan, northwest on Hillholm, north on Russell Hill Road, west on Forest Hill Road, north on Spadina, west on Eglinton, south on Vesta Drive, east on Elderwood, south on Spadina and west on St. Clair to St. Clair West station, returning via the reverse route.

May 12, 1991

Service is extended south of St. Clair Avenue to serve Casa Loma. After following the regular route to St. Clair West station, buses return east on St. Clair and south on Spadina, west on Austen Terrace, south on Walmer to Davenport Road. Buses loop via south on Kendal, east on MacPherson (one block north of Dupont Street), north on Spadina and west on Davenport to Walmer Road, returning via the reverse route to St. Clair West station and then on to St. Clair station. Service is provided 7 days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 12:00 midnight.

September 5, 1992

Service south of St. Clair is discontinued due to low ridership. The 33 main branch is restored.

February 18, 1996

As a result of system-wide service cuts resulting from the elimination of provincial subsidies for public transit, most service is cut on this route. Buses now operate rush hours only along a shortened route operating from St. Clair West station via east on St. Clair and north on Spadina Road, looping via west on Elderwood, north on Vesta Drive, east on Eglinton and return south on Spadina Road. Service from St Clair Station via Lonsdale, Dunvegan, Hillholm, Russell Hill and Forest Hill Road discontinued.

November 17, 1996

Looping at Eglinton revised to run via Spadina, Old Forest Hill, Vesta, Eglinton and Spadina.

February 15, 1998

Midday service is restored, Mondays through Fridays over the current route. Buses now operate from 7:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. At some point before this date, the looping of Elderwood, Vesta, Eglinton and Spadina is restored.

October 16, 2005

The northern loop is revised for a trial period. Buses now turn around using Old Forest Hill Rd instead of Elderwood Drive and part of Vesta Drive Service is now removed form Elderwood and the portion of Vesta Drive south of Old Forest Hill Rd.

May 8, 2006

Trial service via Old Forest Hill ends. Service is restored to the previous routing of west on Elderwood, north on Vesta, east on Eglinton and south on Spadina.

October 16, 2006

Service is extended north of Eglinton. Instead of looping via Elderwood and Vesta, buses operate north on Spadina to Eglinton and then loop via east on Eglinton, northwest on Chaplin, west on Roselawn, south on Bathurst and east on Eglinton to Spadina, returning south on Spadina to St. Clair and west to St. Clair West station. Service frequency is extended from 20 minutes to 30 minutes.

November 23, 2008

As part of the TTC’s Ridership Growth Strategy, service is increased on 33 FOREST HILL to operate 7 days a week, whenever the subway is open.

May 8, 2011

As part of a system-wide series of service cuts resulting from a cut to city subsidy, all evening service and all service on weekends and holidays is eliminated. Buses now operate weekdays only, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

September 6, 2015

Late evening weekday and all day weekend and holiday service restored. Buses now operate at intervals of 30 minutes from 7 a.m. in the morning (9 a.m Sundays) until the subway closes.

June 24, 2018

Due to ongoing construction of the 5 EGLINTON-CROSSTOWN LRT, the loop at the north end of this route is revised and reversed to operate from Spadina via west on Eglinton, north on Mayfair, west on Shallmar, north on Bathurst, east on Roselawn, southeast on Chaplin and west on Eglinton back to Spadina.

33 Forest Hill Image Archive

	An official TTC map of 33 FOREST HILL operations effective June 24, 2018. The loop has been reversed due to construction on the 5 EGLINTON-CROSSTOWN LRT.
	A map of the northern loop of the 33 FOREST HILL route, highlighting the reversal of the loop during EGLINTON-CROSSTOWN LRT construction, effective June 24, 2018.
	A side rollsign from a bus operating out of Davenport Garage circa 1988, showing 7 BATHURST, 100 FLEMINGDON PARK and 33 FOREST HILL exposures. Image donated by Pete Coulman.
	An official TTC map of 33 FOREST HILL operations effective June 1, 2013.
	An official operators' map of the TTC's 33 FOREST HILL operations, effective July 1, 1954.
	The outside of an official TTC Timetable describing 33 FOREST HILL operations effective July 2, 1957.
	An official map of the TTC's 33 FOREST HILL operations, effective January 1, 1958.
	The outside of an official TTC timetable describing 33 FOREST HILL services effective October 15, 1974.
	A TTC advertisement announcing the launch of 33 FOREST HILL service to Casa Loma in 1991.
	On March 1, 1933, the TTC snapped this picture of TTC bus #565, bearing a FOREST HILL exposure. Bus #565 was one of only four vehicles the TTC purchased from REO Motors Inc., of Lansing, Michigan. REO was the maker of a number of cars, buses and trucks from 1905 to 1975, including the REO Speed Wagon that was immortalized by an American rock group in the late 1960s.
	TTC Twin Coach 23-R Bus #571 is shown on Dunvegan in operation on FOREST HILL on June 18, 1936. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives.
	TTC Twin Coach 23-R bus #571 operates on the FOREST HILL route at Dunvegan and Frybrook on June 18, 1936. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives.
	Another view of the TTC's Twin Coach 23-R bus #571 in operation on FOREST HILL on June 18, 1936. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives.
	TTC Orion VII "Next Gen" bus #1344 lays over at St. Clair West station in 33 FOREST HILL service on the afternoon of March 10, 2017. Photo by James Bow.
	TTC GM TDH 4512 "Old Look" bus #1984 rests at Davenport Garage in June 1977, bearing a 33 FOREST HILL rollsign. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy the John Knight Collection.
	TTC GM "New Look" bus #3564, in service on 33 FOREST HILL in September 1970, departs St. Clair station and passes TTC's work truck #148. Photo by L. Swanson, from the John Knight collection.
	TTC GM New Look bus #3974 pauses northbound on Yonge at St. Clair in service on 33 FOREST HILL on August 31, 1981. The photo is by L. Swanson and is from the John Knight collection.
	TTC Orion I bus #8731 was part of the second order of this model, and bore the final paint scheme. It's seen here at St. Clair station in service on 33 FOREST HILL on November 6, 1982. Photo by Kevin Nicol.
	TTC Orion I bus #8738 leaves St. Clair station in 33 FOREST HILL service on October 1, 1982. Photo by Edward Wickson, courtesy the John Knight collection.
	TTC Orion I bus #8739 is seen here operating eastbound on St. Clair Avenue, about to turn north on Spadina Road, in service on 33 FOREST HILL on May 14, 1983. The photograph was taken by Dave Chalmers and is courtesy the Pete Coulman collection.
	Orion V bus 9431 exits St Clair West Station onto the private right of way of 512 ST CLAIR streetcar. Photo by Roman Fomin on December 19, 2009.