38 Highland Creek

 Hey friends! Today's route is the 38 Highland Creek, which operates in east Scarborough. The route operates with one branch:

• 38A Highland Creek: Scarborough Centre to Rouge Hill GO Stn

In addition, a second branch exists, but is currently suspended due to lack of pandemic traffic to UofT Scarborough:

• 38B Highland Creek: Scarborough Centre to UofT Scarborough

Let's get into it!

The Route

Eastbound buses depart Scarborough Centre via the east entrance and McCowan, and head east on Ellesmere. For much of this stretch, they complement 95 York Mills, 133 Neilson and 995 York Mills Express service. The buses branch off Ellesmere by heading southeast on Military Trail, past UofT Scarborough, before heading east on Old Kingston. They cross over Highway 2A via the Highland Creek Overpass, and head east along Lawson. At Port Union, they travel south, before turning east onto Lawrence to reach Rouge Hill GO Station.

The route along Ellesmere is a mix of apartments and condos, townhomes, single-family homes, light industry, commercial areas, and institutional uses, so there is a lot to serve. Besides UofT Scarborough, the route beyond Ellesmere and Military Trail is nearly entirely single-family homes, aside from the Highland Creek Village Commercial Area (food recommendations: Ted's and Shamrock Burgers). 

Sights to See

• Scarborough Town Centre
• Botany Hill Park
• Highland Creek
• Centenary
• Ellesmere Ravine
• Morningside Park
• Centennial College Morningside Campus
• UofT Scarborough
• Colonel Danforth Park
• UTSC Valley
• Port Union Village Commons

Subway Connections

• Scarborough Centre
• McCowan

Commuter Rail Connections

• Rouge Hill

Frequency and Ridership

On weekdays, the 38 operates every 12'30 during morning peak, every 12' during the midday, every 11' during afternoon peak, every 9' during early evening and every 18' during late evenings. On Saturdays, buses operate every 12' during early mornings, every 10' during mornings, every 9' during the afternoon, every 10' in the early evening and every 13' in the late evening. On Sundays, headways are every 12' in the morning and early evening, 10' in the afternoon, and 13' in the late evening.

Ridership on weekdays is 11,000 people. Saturday ridership is 4,500, and Sunday ridership is 4,800. A few comments about this:

1. As much of the route duplicates the 95/133/995, the ridership does not reflect the whole along this corridor.
2. Weekday ridership is much higher than weekends, influenced by the demand for UofT Scarborough.
3. This data is pre-COVID, and ridership has likely fallen significantly due to no in-person schooling. From personal experience using this route, this is true.

Thoughts

This route was originally a branch of the 95, but I'm glad it's separate now, as the direct trip to Scarborough Centre is worthwhile. Looking at the timetable, it is quite clear that the headways fluctuate for what appears to be no reason. I would attribute this to duplicating other routes: this route is scheduled to fill the gaps, and so may be more frequent than otherwise needed. I would like for through service on Port Union, but I also don't think that it's a huge loss, either.

I love this route. I have a close friend on Lawson, so I have reason to use the route, but even still, Lawson is very pretty during fall times with all the trees. It's also the fastest route for me to get to the waterfront in those ends, where I like to sit and just relax.

Future

Should in-person schooling return, the 38B likely would have made a comeback as well. However, in their East Scarborough Service Plan in the 2021 ASP, they propose a new route: the 938 Highland Creek Express. This route would operate to UofT Scarborough east in the morning peak, and west in the afternoon peak. Stops are not known, but I would assume at least Markham and Morningside. I think this is a good idea overall. I think it would be better if this route operated the entire length of the route. In this case, the 38 would not run eastbound in mornings and westbound in afternoons, and just the 938 would run in these times, with local service being operated east of UofT Scarborough. This plan will not be implemented until likely Fall 2021, and is contingent on return to classrooms in fall, so these plans are subject to change.