26 Dupont

 Hi guys! Today's route is the 26 Dupont, which operates with one branch:

• 26 Dupont: Jane Stn to St George Stn

The route was formerly the 4 Annette until 2001, but otherwise has not had any significant changes since 1968! Let's get into it.

The Route

Westbound 26 Dupont buses leave St George Stn bus terminal (located directly behind OISE) via north on Bedford. Bedford is entirely single-family homes. Buses then head west on Dupont. For the length of Dupont to about Symington, Dupont has single-family homes on the south side, and industrial on the north side, adjacent to the Midtown rail corridor. At Spadina, there is an on-street connection to Dupont Station. West of Dufferin, is the Galleria Mall, which is soon to be redeveloped into a high-rise community. 

Beyond Symington, Dupont is lined by single-family homes on both sides. After crossing the (slightly) confusing intersection with Dundas, buses proceed onto Annette, which continues the theme of single-family homes. Buses turn south onto Jane, providing extra service for the 35 Jane and 55 Warren Park, and end their trips in Jane Station.

Sights to See

• Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
• University of Toronto St George Campus
• Varsity Stadium
• Galleria Mall

Subway Connections

• St George
• Dupont
• Jane

Frequency and Ridership

Generally speaking, the 26 Dupont is a low frequency and low ridership route despite its proximity to downtown.

On weekdays during the daytime and early evening, the 26 runs around every 24' minutes, and every 30' in the late evening. Saturdays are the same, except service is every 30' in the early morning. Sunday service is every 24' during the daytime, and 30' at all other times.

Weekday ridership is 3,800, Saturday ridership is 2,200, and Sunday is 1,900 passengers.

Thoughts

This route operates so close to downtown, but is never frequent and never busy. Although it terminates at basically UofT, very few students would take this route, as they have both Line 1 and Line 2 from the same station. Ridership is not helped by the Midtown rail corridor that parallels the route. There is minimal ridership draw from the north, and the 127 Davenport (which operates north of the line) has minimal draw to the south. So instead of one relatively busy route, we are left with two low-ridership routes. In addition, because Dupont parallels Line 2 so closely, it is infinitely faster to travel on a north-south route, then transfer to the subway. 

The main comment I have about the 26 is its routing via Bedford. Because Bedford has traffic lights at Dupont, the left turn is easy. However, preferable routing would be via St George, as St George has a number of apartment towers, yet no traffic signals are provided here. The TTC is fully aware that the preferred route is via St George. As far back as the 1996 Service Plan, the 26 Dupont (then called the 4 Annette), was to operate via St George once signals were installed at Dupont. When it became clear that these were not going to be installed, the 2001 Service Plan amended the northbound route to travel via St George, Bernard, and Spadina Road to reach Dupont. These service plans state the clear benefit of this revised routing, but I have no idea as to why it was never implemented. The only thing I could see is that the sixty-or-so people who transfer between the 6 Bay and this route at Bedford and Davenport would have a walking transfer instead, but I resolve this by extending the 6 to the base of Casa Loma. 

Future

Besides number and name, the route has remained unchanged for 52 years. The only change I see happening concerns the new condo development at Dufferin and Dupont that will be built on the Galleria Mall grounds. The TTC has said they may divert a route through the development due to its size, and the 26 Dupont is the obvious choice: I cannot see the 29 Dufferin running through.