Service changes on almost 40 TTC routes set to take effect Sunday

The Toronto Transit Commission will adjust scheduling on almost 40 of its routes on Sunday as part of its plan to align service with demand.

As of March 26, the TTC says 37 daytime bus, streetcar and subway routes and two overnight bus routes will see “reliability improved and capacity will be matched to ridership demand, or both.”

The adjustments will also mean longer wait times for customers on 11 of the routes affected. Customers on 24 other routes will see shorter wait times in some periods of the day and longer wait times in other periods, while two routes will have shorter wait times overall.

The service reductions come into effect a little over a week before the TTC is set to increase fares for youth and adults by 10 cents.

However, a new study by Toronto Metropolitan University found the upcoming service cuts will disproportionately impact the city’s marginalized communities who often depend on public transit for their everyday needs.

The report – 2023 TTC Service Changes and Transit Equity in Toronto – notes that more than 80 per cent of the affected routes run through neighbourhoods with high poverty rates, high immigration and higher unemployment rates.

Last month, more than 100 researchers in the Toronto area wrote an open letter to the TTC, outlining that the proposed service cuts would lead to more congestion, a weaker economy, and poor environmental and health outcomes.

“At a time when all levels of the government are committing to address affordability and inequality, the proposed TTC service cuts are not justified,” say the authors of the report.

The TTC says a majority of the service reductions and longer waits will take place during off-peak times.

Both Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) and Line 4 (Sheppard) will see what the TTC calls adjustments at all times of the day to align with ridership demands. For Line 2, commuters will see wait time improvements during the Monday to Friday morning rush while all other day parts will see the same or longer waits.

On Line 4 all day parts have a proposed unchanged or longer wait times.

The TTC is not planning any scheduled changes to service on Line 1 (Yonge-University) or Line 3 (Scarborough SRT).

Preparation work for the decommissioning of Line 3 will also see changes to five Scarborough bus routes from March to November 2023. The routes affected include 9 Bellamy, 21 Brimley, 134 Progress, 913 Progress Express and the 985 Sheppard East Express.

???????? Update for Scarborough Centre Station customers:

Effective March 26, 2023, bus boarding locations will change due to construction work that will enhance station capacity for buses in anticipation of Line 3 decommissioning later this year. pic.twitter.com/WpHvFxNGT7

— TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) March 22, 2023

Overhead upgrade work will see streetcar service on King Street removed between Bathurst Street and Queen Street East. The 504 streetcar will operate primarily on Queen Street, from Dufferin Gate Loop to Broadview Station via Dufferin Street, King Street West, Shaw Street, Queen Street and Broadview Avenue. Buses will service King Street from Dundas West Station to Distillery (Front/Cherry) and from Strachan Avenue to Broadview Avenue at Gerrard Street East.

The TTC says it will continue to monitor and evaluate the effects of the changes on ridership throughout the year and make any necessary adjustments “should demand begin to exceed capacity on any of these routes.”

The move is expected to reduce operating costs by $50 million in 2023 as the TTC forecasts ridership increasing to 75 per cent of pre-COVID levels by the end of the year.

The changes were approved back on Feb. 28 and ratified as part of the TTC’s $2.4 billion operating budget by Toronto City Council.