15 Evans

 Two posts in one day! The second route today is the 15 Evans, our first Etobicoke route, which operates one branch:

• 15 Evans: Royal York Stn to Sherway

This short route serves as one of the few east-west routes in south Etobicoke.

note: the 315 extension to Islington was temporary, and the route has returned to regular routing.

The Route

Westbound buses operate south on Royal York, supplementing 76 Royal York South service. This stretch is mainly single-family homes, besides a few apartments just north of Norseman. Buses then head west on Evans. Until Islington, the road is lined with single-family homes, then it becomes industrial on both sides, including TTC's Queensway Garage. Beyond Bellman, the north side has industrial sites, whereas the south side is single-family homes. The route loops clockwise to Sherway via Evans, the West Mall (serving Trillium Health Queensway), Sherway Drive, Sherway Gardens Road (stopping at the mall terminal), and Sherway Gate.

Sights to See

• Trillium Health Queensway
• Sherway Mall

Subway Connections

• Royal York

Frequency and Ridership

On weekdays, the 15 operates every 13' during morning peak, every 25' in the midday and afternoon peak, and every 20' during the evening. On weekends, service is every 30', when it is interlined with the 48 Rathburn.

Ridership is on the low end, with 2,800 passengers on weekdays, 1,200 on Saturdays, and 920 on Sundays.

Thoughts

This route is so helpful for me. I find, when trying to get to Kipling Station, it is often faster to take the 15 (if it's there), and transfer to the 44 at Kipling than it is to wait for the 123 to come up Browns' Line. The route does its job well, but ridership is low and is often on service cut lists for Sunday late evenings. The 315 night route and the potential gap in service saves this route. In addition, it misses Mimico GO just slightly, unfortunately.

from Edward Brain

Future

While the route does its job, there has been some conversation about the TTC revising services throughout south Etobicoke to improve the network, like has been done with the Junction and is being done in east Scarborough. One of the main issues is that Evans ends too early at Royal York, meaning that there is only one east-west route that crosses the Humber River between the subway and the 501 Queen; being the 80 Queensway.