Compiled by Jeffrey Kay
Map by John Calnan
January 6, 1975
The MAPLE LEAF service is one of two new experimental services using Rek Vee mini-buses in a residential area of North York (the other being GLENORCHY through the Bridal Path neighbourhood, a precursor to today's 162 LAWRENCE-DONWAY. MAPLE LEAF buses operate from an on-street loop in Weston (via south on Rosemount, west on John, north on Weston Road and east on King) via north on Rosemount, east on Church, east on Maple Leaf and south on Culford, looping south of Lawrence via east on Flamborough, south on Keele and west on Gulliver. No route number was officially assigned to this new service. The new route operated from Eglinton Garage.
M A P L E L E A F |
Monday to Friday, rush hours and midday. |
January 30, 1978
Coincident with the opening of the SPADINA SUBWAY, full size buses are used over an extended route. From Lawrence West station buses run via west on Lawrence, north on Culford, west on Maple Leaf, west on Church and south on Weston Road, looping east on John, south on South Station and west on Lawrence. Service south of Lawrence is now provided by a new branch of the 52 LAWRENCE route. The number 59 is officially assigned to this route at this time. It is likely that this is also the date for the transfer of the route from Eglinton Garage to Wilson Garage. The route is confirmed to be at Wilson Garage by June 1978.
MAPLE LEAF |
59 |
W E S T O N R D. |
Monday to Friday, rush hours and midday. |
February 8, 1982
Evening service is introduced Monday through Friday.
June 27, 1983
A new rush hour branch is introduced to serve the Gray Drive area. Buses run from Lawrence West station buses run via west on Lawrence, north on Culford, west on Maple Leaf, and west on Church to just west of Jane, then via north on Pine, west on Woodward, north on Dalbeattie, west on Gary and west on Oak to Weston Road. Buses loop on the west side of Weston Road via Cardell and Fairglen. Operation of the route is transferred from Wilson Garage to Davenport Garage.
MAPLE LEAF |
59 |
W E S T O N R D. |
Monday to Friday, 18 hours a day | ||
M A P L E L E A F |
59A |
W E S T O N R D. |
Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
November 25, 1984 or earlier
59A buses now run via Uphill and Pelmo between Church and Gary Drive.
January 11, 1986
Saturday daytime service is introduced on the main branch.
April 20, 1987
59A buses now loop east of Weston Road via east on Pellatt and south on Sainsbury. At a later date these streets were combined and renamed Knob Hill Drive.
November 20, 1988
Operation of the route is transferred from Davenport Garage to the new Arrow Road Garage.
January 13, 1990
Saturday evening service is introduced on the main branch.
October 13, 1991
Saturday evening service (after 8PM) discontinued.
November 25, 1991
Gary Drive rush hour service extended north to provide a new service into the Tandridge Cres area. Buses run from Lawrence West station over the regular 59A to Weston & Oak, then run north on Weston, northwest on Albion, and east on Arcot, looping clockwise via Tandridge Cres. Buses return via Arcot, Albion, Weston, Oak and Gary, etc to Lawrence West Stn.
MAPLE LEAF |
59 |
W E S T O N R D. |
Monday to Friday, 18 hours a day | ||
M A P L E L E A F via GARY DR. & ALBION |
59B |
TANBRIDGE CRES |
Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
January 3, 1993
The destination Sign on the main branch now includes "Via Church" to distinguish it from the "A" branch. Also on this date, the route is transferred from Arrow Road Garage to Wilson Garage. This is the day Davenport Garage closed, and many route assignments have been altered.
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, 18 hours a day |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO TANBRIDGE CRES |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
February 13, 1994
Service to Tandridge Crescent is replaced by a new branch of the 96-WILSON route. Rush hour service on Gary Drive once again terminates at Weston Road, looping west on Oak, north on Weston, and east and south on Knob Hill Drive.
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, 18 hours a day |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
February 18, 1996
As part of a system-wide reduction of services resulting from the elimination of provincial subsidies to public transportation midday and evening service (after 7 pm) Monday through Friday, and all Saturday service is eliminated from this route. Buses on both branches operate rush hours only.
October 6, 1996
Monday through Friday midday service is restored as an extension of the old 52C LAWRENCE WEST "Culford" branch. The new 59C route operates from Lawrence Station via west on Lawrence, through Lawrence West station, west on Lawrence, south on Benton, west on Colville, south on Sheffield, west on Ingram, west on Gulliver, north on Culford, west on Maple Leaf, west on Church and south on Weston Road. There is no route 59 service on Lawrence between Culford and Benton at these times.
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, all day except midday |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59C |
MAPLE LEAF |
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59C |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD |
TO LAWRENCE STN |
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Monday to Friday, midday only |
September 3, 2000
The base for this route is moved from Wilson Garage to Arrow Road Garage.
January 08, 2001
The route is be changed, at all times, so that buses operate over a large on-street loop at the west-end of the route. Buses alternate over two routings, so that buses that operate west via Church Street will return from Weston Road east via Gary Drive, and buses that run west via Gary Drive will return from Weston Road via Church Street. This provides a new midday service on Gary Drive. Service is removed from Weston Road between Church and Lawrence and from Knob Hill Drive.
During rush hour westbound buses are marked "59A to Weston Road via Gary" or "59B to Weston Road via Church". All eastbound buses are marked "59 to Lawrence West station". During the midday hours westbound buses will be marked "59A to Weston Road via Benton/Culford and Gary Drive" or "59B to Weston Road via Benton/Culford and Church". All eastbound buses will be marked "59C to Lawrence Station via Culford/Benton, plus "via Gary Dr." or "via Church".
WESTBOUND |
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EASTBOUND |
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59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO WESTON RD. |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
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TO WESTON RD. |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59C |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE STN |
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Monday to Friday, midday |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59C |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE STN |
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Monday to Friday, midday |
September 7, 2004
Midday service that operates via Culford, Gulliver, Ingram, Sheffield, Colville and Benton will only run east to Lawrence West station rather than Lawrence Station.
WESTBOUND |
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EASTBOUND |
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59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO WESTON RD. |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO WESTON RD. |
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Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
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59C |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, midday |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59C |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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Monday to Friday, midday |
September 4, 2005
The route is transferred from Arrow Road Garage to Wilson Garage.
November 23, 2008
As part of the system-wide increase in service resulting from the Ridership Growth Strategy, service on this route is extended so that buses operate seven days a week until 1 a.m. This means that new service is added during the evening Monday through Friday and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. During the extended periods of operation all trips operate on the 59C routing via Benton and Culford both ways. Also on this date operation of this route is switched from Wilson Garage to the newly opened Mount Dennis Garage.
May 8, 2011
Service is removed in the late evening on Sunday (after 10 PM) due to low ridership.
August 2, 2011
This route is be designated as an Accessible service, operating with Orion VII Next Generation hybrid electric vehicle low floor buses. These modern buses are also bike rack equipped.
September 2, 2012
Operation of this route is switched from Mount Dennis to Arrow Road Garage.
November 18, 2013
West of Jane, service loops in one direction only, via Gary Drive and returning via Church, due to construction delays caused by Metrolinx construction. This diversion is expected to last until the summer of 2014.
March 30, 2014
As part of a reorganization of services on 52 LAWRENCE WEST, all service on Culford is provided by 59 MAPLE LEAF. The 59C branch designation is discontinued with this change.
WESTBOUND |
|
EASTBOUND |
||
59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE WEST STN |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
September 6, 2015
Late evening Sunday and holiday service is restored. Buses now operate at intervals of 30 minutes or better whenever the subway is open.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Due to renovations shutting down the Lawrence West station bus terminal, all service that terminated at the station is extended east to Lawrence station. Buses are added in order to maintain service frequencies. This temporary extension is expected to last until early October.
WESTBOUND |
|
EASTBOUND |
||
59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE STN |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
|
59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
TO WESTON RD. |
TO LAWRENCE STN |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
March 28, 2021
Operation of this route is switched from Arrow Road to Wilson Garage. On this day, McNicoll Garage begins operation, affecting the base routes throughout the system.
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Due to the closure of the Lawrence West station bus terminal as a result of construction, service on this route is extended to Eglinton West station, diverting south from Lawrence and Dufferin via south on Dufferin, east on Glencairn, south on Marlie and east on Eglinton.
WESTBOUND |
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EASTBOUND |
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59 |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO EGLINTON WEST STN |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
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59A |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO WESTON RD. |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
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59B |
MAPLE LEAF |
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TO WESTON RD. |
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7 days a week, 18 hours a day |