TTC improving bus, subway and streetcar service from Sept. 1

As students head back to school next week, the TTC is making improvements to service levels starting Sept. 1 and they say service hours will increase to 97 per cent of pre-pandemic levels across the transit system.

The TTC says the changes will “increase frequency, improve reliability, and strengthen connections throughout the city.”

With students in mind, more than 100 extra scheduled bus trips will be restored and route adjustments will be made to facilitate students boarding at various locations surrounding schools.

A year-long pilot program is also being launched to provide free transit for field trips for students in grades 7 to 12 in partnership with Toronto’s public, Catholic and French school boards.

Other improvements to bus service

The TTC says when all the proposed improvements to bus service go into effect by the fall, the bus network will have more service hours than were in place pre-pandemic.

Six new and revised routes are to provide better connectivity in areas of Scarborough and Etobicoke.

The new bus routes are:

• 154 Curran Hall – This route will provide an additional direct connection between Kennedy Station and the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus and aims to improve service on Lawrence Avenue East and in the Curran Hall neighbourhood, as well as offer a new connection to Ellesmere Road.
• 185 Sheppard Central – This route will run between Sheppard-Yonge and Don Mills stations and is meant to simplify navigation for customers with distinct routes east and west of Don Mills Station.
• 904 Sheppard-Kennedy Express – This route will replace the 985A Sheppard East Express and aims to clarify routing for customers travelling between Kennedy and Don Mills stations as part of the Line 3 Scarborough Bus Replacement Plan.

Revisions have been made to the following routes:

• 54 Lawrence East – 54B Lawrence East buses will extend service to Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue. The aim is to bring 10-minute network service to this intersection.
• 85 Sheppard East – Adjustments are being made to the 85 Sheppard East route for better service between Don Mills Station and Rouge Hill GO Station, with additional connections for customers transferring between the TTC and Lakeshore East GO trains.
• 80 Queensway – Service on this route will better connect Mimico GO station to the Queensway corridor and the Humber Bay Shores community. The 176 Mimico GO is being replaced by an 80B route, which will operate weekdaysduring morning and afternoon peak hours. Service will also be improved on The Queensway west of Royal York Road and 80 Queensway service will be adjusted daily, across the day in efforts to improve reliability.

Streetcar service improvements

Overnight streetcar service is being expanded on some routes.

There will be more frequent trips on the 312 St. Clair and 306 Carlton routes.

A new 303 Kingston Road overnight service is being introduced to provide more transit options for customers between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. daily.

Subway service improvements

To address crowding and shorten wait times during the busiest hours, subway service on Line 1 Yonge-University will be increased.

On weekday morning and afternoon rush hours, trains will arrive every two to three minutes and in the early afternoons and evenings between 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. they will run every four to five minutes.

This new schedule is meant to shorten wait times by up to approximately one minute.

The TTC says extra trains will add more “demand-responsive service” to Line 2 Bloor-Danforth with more increases planned in October.

Click here for a complete list of service changes.