17 Birchmount (including YRT 17 Birchmount)

 Hey hey! Today's route is the 17 Birchmount. This mainline Scarborough route operates with three branches:

• 17A Birchmount: Warden Stn to Highway 7
• 17B Birchmount: Warden Stn to Steeles via Wintermute
• 17C Birchmount: Warden Stn to Steeles and Warden

Trust me, this route is way less confusing that the 12 Kingston Rd.

The Route

All 17 branches leave Warden Stn via Warden and St Clair. Buses travel east on St Clair for a short time, before turning north onto Birchmount. The route has a variety of functions. It is mainly single-family homes on the west side for this stretch, with the east side flanked by the large Pine Hills Cemetery. When the bus passes Comstock, the west side becomes industrial, with the east side being single-family homes. For the most part, this is the case the entire way up to Highway 401, besides a few high-rises near Eglinton and Lawrence.

North of Highway 401, the area is entirely single-family homes, but with high-density pockets near Sheppard and Finch and a handful of small plazas. There are large swaths of open land as well. The divergence of route happens just south of Steeles. During peaks, the 17B loops clockwise via Wintermute, Mountcastle, Steeles and Birchmount, whereas the 17A continues into York Region, looping clockwise via Rougeside, Uptown, 7, and Birchmount. Outside of peaks, all buses, on the 17C branch, turns west onto Steeles and north on Warden, to loop through Warden/Steeles Loop. This odd branch arrangement will be explained later.

Sights to See

• Warden Woods
• the Meadoway
• Tam O'Shanter Golf Course
• L'Amoreaux Park
• Scarborough Hospital Birchmount
• Kidstown Water Park
• Clark Young Woods
• Downtown Markham 

Subway Connections

• Warden

Frequency and Ridership

During peak periods, the 17A is blended into the 17B headway. For example, morning peak service is every 8'33 on the 17B, with every fourth bus operating as a 17A, producing a 34' headway. During afternoon peak, service is every 10', with every third bus operating as a 17A, producing a 30' headway. 

The 17C operates at all other times. During the midday, the route operates every 16'30, every 13' during the early evening, and every 25' during the late evening. On Saturdays, frequencies range from every 15' to every 22'. On Sundays, this range is 18' to every 30'.

In terms of ridership, 10,900 use this route on a weekday, 4,900 on a Saturday, and 4,100 on a Sunday.

Thoughts

I use this route regularly, as I sometimes work at Birchmount and Sheppard. My first comment related to frequency, as I find outside of peak, it is way to infrequent. Sure, it doesn't have the highest ridership for a mainline route, but at the same time, headway may be pushing that down. The bus is never not busy. I think it should be bumped up to 15' headways on weekdays and 20' headways on weekends as a maximum, especially with the connection to Line 5 coming in the next few years. 

My next comment is on the branch system. It is easy to understand that peak service is 17AB, and off peak is 17C, but I'm not sure three branches are required. As part of the new Remington Mall development across the street from Milliken GO, there may be a bus-only roadway constructed to the mall, allowing for off-street looping for the 43 Kennedy, 57 Midland, and YRT's 8 Kennedy. I think combining the 17B and 17C into one branch that operates to this loop at all hours would be of benefit. It would provide a new connection to the GO train. However, there would be a loss of service to the large plaza at Warden and Steeles, but frequent 53 Steeles East service can offset this loss.

Lastly, I discuss the 17A. This is a YRT service contracted to the TTC, but I will include it here. This branch only used to run the 14th Avenue, but was extended a few years back to reach Downtown Markham and new developments on Highway 7. However, because YRT did not provide extra money, the TTC had to stretch the headway out, which meant a reduction in frequency. Currently, being peak only and being so infrequent, the branch is useless. When I want to go to Downtown Markham, VIVA Purple is virtually the only way there. So I suggest a few changes. Firstly, YRT should provide funding so that the route can be every 30' at most during peaks. This is TTC standard, but it also just makes the route somewhat worth waiting for. In addition, I think midday service would be beneficial, maybe every 45', and a trial for Saturday service at every 60' would be worth piloting. Next, I would extend the route to Angus Glen via Village Parkway and Warden. This would allow for new connections to a number of new YRT routes, namely: 68 Warden, 16 16th Avenue, 25 Major Mackenzie East, and 18 Bur Oak. Personally, if these changes were introduced, I would actually use this route... even on Saturdays!!!

Future

A station on Line 5 will be built at Birchmount and Warden, named (fittingly) Birchmount. 

The only change I can see is YRT operating the 17A branch, maybe from Don Mills Station.  YRT has plans to eventually takeover all TTC-contracted services. However, I am concerned with this branch, as it is both very short and at limited headway, so I would not be surprised if the taken over route had a headway of every 70' during peaks, or if it was cancelled outright, which is definitely not a course of action that should be taken.