34 Eglinton East

 So I was going to skip this route. Like its western counterpart, it is a busy and complicated route. However, I take the 34 much more than the 32, so I felt comfortable talking about it. 

The 34 currently operates with three branches:

• 34A Eglinton East: Eglinton Stn to Kennedy Stn
• 34B Eglinton East: Don Mills & Wynford to Kennedy Stn
• 34C Eglinton East: Eglinton Stn to Flemingdon Park (Grenoble/Spanbridge)

Let's get into this mainline route that will soon be replaced by LRT!

The Route

I will be explaining the route branch-by-branch. To preface, across the board, there is lots of construction.

The 34A is simple: it's a straight shot from Eglinton Station to Kennedy Station along Eglinton. The route is high-density between Yonge and Bayview, with it becoming single-family homes past then. Laird has a commercial and industrial area, with the route diving near Sunnybrook Park beyond Brentcliffe. Don Mills is an empty intersection, and there is a high-density node near Wynford. Sloane has low-rise apartments and industrial space. Beyond Victoria Park, and to Birchmount, the route is very much big-box commercial and industrial, as the route travels through the Golden Mile. The last stretch from Birchmount to Kennedy has a number of apartment buildings.

The 34B duplicates the 34A from Don Mills east. It serves the office park on Wynford, as well as the towers at Concorde Place, as well.

The 34C duplicates the 34A from Eglinton Station to Don Mills. It turns and serves the office park on Wynford and the towers on Concorde and Wynford. It wynds down one-way St Dennis and Grenoble, with the time point on Spanbridge east of Grenoble. On the way back, the route serves Linkwood Lane, and its townhomes and apartment buildings.

Sights to See

• Yonge and Eglinton
• Talbot Park
• Sunnybrook Park
• Serena Gundy Park
• Wilket Creek Park
• Ontario Science Centre
• Aga Khan Park and Museum
• East Don Trail
• Centennial College Ashtonbee Campus
• Flemingdon Park Golf Course

Subway Connections

• Eglinton
• Kennedy

Commuter Rail Connections

• Kennedy

Frequency and Ridership

This is only slightly confusing. Be warned!

During peaks, the A branch operates every 6', and the C operates every 12'30, combining to about every 4' west of Don Mills. Midday service is every 12' each, combining to every 6'. During weekday early evenings, As operate every 7', Cs every 16', combining to every 4'52. During late evenings, As operate every 11', Cs every 22', combining to every 7'20.

During Saturday early mornings, As run every 10', and Cs every 15', combining to every 6'. Daytime service is every 9' and 18', respectively, combining again to every 6'. Early evening service is every 10' and every 18', combining to every 6'30. Late evening is every 10'30 and every 22', respectively, combining to every 7'. In addition, the B operates every 17' during the early morning and morning, and every 20' in the afternoon, in order to provide extra service east of Don Mills. 

On Sunday mornings, As operate every 10' and Cs every 17', combining to every 6'18. Afternoon headway is every 8'20 and every 18', combining to every 5'42. Early evening is every 9' and every 17', producing a combined 5'53, with late evening being every 10'30 and 21', combining to every 7'

The 34 is technically part of the Ten-Minute Network, however, due to extra running time required due to the construction of Line 5, it has been removed from it during the late evenings, all days of the week, east of Don Mills.

In terms of ridership, the 34 is very busy. Weekday ridership is 23,300, Saturdays are 11,300, and Sundays carry 13,100. This is not the whole picture, however. West of Laird, the 34 is duplicated by the 51 Leslie, 54 Lawrence East and 56 Leaside routes. The 54 effectively doubles the headways during most periods alone, and a large amount of the ridership is likely there. It is estimated that this stretch of Eglinton has between 80,000 to 100,000 passengers passing through during weekdays.

Thoughts

To be honest, as unreliable and awful as the route is, being a straight line, it does its job exactly. The 34C is a bit of a mess, but I will discuss that in the next section. I do have issue with the 34B from experience. While I appreciate the extra service on Saturdays, buses are regularly taken off this branch and put on the 34A. The problem is, for passengers who want it on Wynford or in Concorde Place, that 17' headway quickly becomes every 34'. Therefore, its not really a reliable branch that passengers can actually depend on. 

Future

If it wasn't clear, the 34 will be duplicated entirely by Line 5 when it opens, with a number of stations along the route. As a result, this route will be changed entirely. The new 34 Eglinton will duplicate Line 5 between Mount Dennis and Science Centre (Don Mills) Stations, providing local service for those distances from stops. It will no longer operate east of Don Mills, as, for the most part, the stations are close enough together (I do have some concerns, but not for this post). As a result of the new routing, the 32 will be cut back to Mount Dennis Station in the east, with the 34 replacing it. The headway will likely drop to around every 15 minutes with this major change. The new 34 will feature another commuter rail connection, at the Barrie Line's Caledonia Station.

In addition, the 34C branch, which was temporary anyways, will be reintegrated back into the 100 Flemingdon Park route, with service on Linkwood Lane being resumed in a bidirectional pattern. The 34B will be cancelled.

In terms of development, a new, high-density neighbourhood will be constructed at Don Mills and Eglinton, on the old Celestica site. This may increase ridership slightly, especially if the 34 is routed through the neighbourhood, but most traffic will gravitate to Science Centre Station. High-densities are also planned in the Golden Mile, however, the 34 will no longer serve this, so it is not important for this post.