33 Forest Hill

 Hi everyone! It's been quite a while. I got bored of the blog, school was a lot and uhh seasonal depression, and so that's why I haven't been posting. But, now that the temperatures have passed 5 degrees, and I feel like I've taken a party drug, I'm back! Today we're working on the 33 Forest Hill route. I skipped the 32 because it would have been a lot of work, and I am lazy.

The 33 operates with one branch:

• 33 Forest Hill: St Clair West Stn to Eglinton (Roselawn)

This is one of TTC's lowest ridership routes. Let's get into it!

The Route

Northbound buses depart St Clair West Station via the eastbound streetcar ramp. They turn left from the right-of-way onto Spadina Road. The route travels north on Spadina Road until Eglinton. Due to Crosstown construction, the current loop is clockwise via Eglinton, Mayfair, Shallmar, Bathurst, Roselawn, Chaplin and Eglinton. The regular loop is counterclockwise, but does not regular detour via Mayfair and Shallmar. When Line 5 opens, the route may revert, but we do not know for certain.

The entire route is low-rise, with a small commercial area at Lonsdale, and apartments on Roselawn, in the loop. From experience, the bulk of ridership is on Roselawn. 

Sights to See

• Forest Hill Village
• Memorial Park

Subway Connections

• St Clair West

Frequency and Ridership

The 33 operates on a simple schedule: every 30 minutes, at all hours. 

The 33 is one of the few TTC routes with ridership below 1000 people on a weekday: it carries 930. On Saturdays, ridership is 380, while Sunday is 250. 

Thoughts

This route does its job, and I think ridership growth is very limited. When it ran a zig-zag route through Forest Hill between St Clair and St Clair West Stations, ridership was much higher. While I think the route would get more riders this way, the twisted route would be both unreliable and slow, and require a second bus. 

Future

When the Crosstown opens, stations will open on Eglinton at Bathurst (Forest Hill) and Chaplin. This route will serve both, but only in one direction each, yet the order and route is still unknown. 

This is one of the most expensive TTC routes to operate, and, as a result, there have been long standing plans to cut service during late evenings. I wouldn't be totally shocked if it become a peak-period only route, as much as I would not want this to be the case. I actually think this route will have less ridership when the Crosstown opens. As mentioned, Roselawn is the where the bulk of traffic is sourced, and those passengers ride right to the station. However, with a station at Bathurst and Eglinton, I can see most passengers just walking there, and, if they can't, they will probably gravitate to the more frequent 14 Glencairn bus and ride it to Chaplin Station. A route study will have to be done next year because of this, for sure.