7 Bathurst

 The next route we are looking at is the 7 Bathurst bus! This route operates with one branch:

• 7 Bathurst: Bathurst Stn to Steeles

Additionally, some garage run-ins operate on a shortened branch:

• 7S Bathurst: Bathurst Stn to Wilson

This is the first mainline route we will be taking a look at. The route is very busy, but suffers greatly from speed, which we will speak about later.

The Route

Northbound buses depart from the Bathurst Station bus terminal by turning right. Most mainline routes do not turn at all, and the 7 is no different. The 7 has a large loop just south of Steeles, looping clockwise via Fisherville, Carpenter, Steeles, Village Gate, and Greenwin Village. Buses wait for their time at Greenwin Village/Bathurst, before continuing back south on Bathurst Street.

Sights to See

• TTC Hillcrest Complex
• Cedarvale Ravine
• Kay Gardner Beltline Trail
• Baycrest Hospital
• Little Manila (Bathurst and Wilson)
• Earl Bales
• Hinder Property
• Holocaust Museum
• Esther Shiner Civic Stadium

Subway Connections

• Bathurst
• St Clair West (walking transfer)

Frequency and Ridership

During weekday peaks, buses on the 7 operate around between every 6' and every 6'30. Midday and late evening service is every 10', and early evening service is around every 6'. Weekend service ranges from as frequent as every 7'30, to as infrequent as every 10'. As the route operates every 10 minutes or better at all times, it is part of the 10-Minute Network.

Route 7 Bathurst has very high ridership. Weekday ridership is 26,700 people, with Saturday ridership being 19,400 and Sunday ridership being around 18,900. While the route is far longer than the previous two, the ridership numbers also reflect, broadly, very strong demand. 

from Jelo Gutierrez Cantos

Thoughts

The 7 Bathurst is a useful route. It connects to a variety of other bus routes and runs from pretty much downtown all the way to York Region. It's long, but this also promotes unreliability. 

Some of the busiest stops on any mainline route are at transfer points, this is a given. However, the 7's transfer points seem to be far more busy than other routes. I believe this is because the vast majority of the route operates directly between the two sides of Line 1's 'U' (although the University side widens), and so travelling the entire way to Bathurst Station is significantly slower, unlike other routes where this is commonplace, like the 24 Victoria Park or the 45 Kipling. As a result, many people travel from Line 1 using east-west routes, then transfer to the 7 in order to reach their destination. This would mean a large number of trips on the 7 are below two kilometres in length. There used to be a 7B branch that ran from St Clair West Stn to Wilson Stn, which provided shorter and more direct trips to the subway. While it doesn't quite fit a strict grid, it did get decent ridership.

This route seems to be really slow. I'm not sure what it is. The stops aren't particularly close to each other, and the traffic isn't the worst traffic ever. With 6' peak headway, converting half of the service to express service would be of significant disadvantage on a route with very localized demand. Nevertheless, I feel like a local bus every 7 minutes and an express bus every 7 minutes would not only make service more frequent but broadly improve it. My suggestion for stops on a 907 Bathurst Express route would be:

• Bathurst Stn, Dupont, Bridgman, Davenport, St Clair, Claxton, Eglinton, Roselawn, Glencairn, Lawrence, Fairlawn/Prince Charles, Neptune, Wilson, Invermay, Bainbridge, Sheppard, Ellerslie/Carscadden, Finch, Drewry/Don Lake Gate, Greenwin Village, and Steeles.

This would mean that stops are less than one kilometre apart on average, while still making service quicker along the route. This also ensures transfers to every intersecting route that the 7 meets.

The loop near Steeles is large. The diversion via Carpenter is to serve the large block of apartments just south of Steeles, but the 307 night service does not divert this way. The loop also serves Greenwin Village. The timepoint being a block south of Steeles does not allow for ease of transfer for those coming off the 60 Steeles West or YRT's 88 Bathurst route. This section serves the tower blocks at Village Gate and Steeles. The other issue with the route is an inconsistent boarding place at Steeles southbound. The 160 Bathurst North stops on Bathurst just south of Steeles. A passenger who wishes to travel to a destination north of Wilson has to decide where to wait for the bus, or they risk missing the first bus to depart. The only way to resolve this would be to divert the 160 via Steeles, Village Gate and Greenwin Village, which is a tad bit annoying. 

The Future

With the construction of Line 5 Eglinton, opening in 2022, a new station named Forest Hill will be built at Bathurst and Eglinton. This will reduce the amount of time it takes to access a subway station, so people may be willing to travel on the 7 for a longer distance. This also removes the need to ever have the 7B branch return. 

The 2021 TTC service plan mentions two new express routes, but neither are on Bathurst. This may be something that is developed when Line 5 opens.