More Thoughts on the TTC's 2023 Annual Service Plan

 Hey everyone! A few months ago I wrote a piece here about some of the changes that the TTC has planned for 2023, subject to feedback. The first round of consultation is now complete, and TTC has modified some of the proposals. Additionally, a number of area studies have been complete that hope to refine service on a larger scale, which was proven a success by the Junction study a few years back.

In this piece, I will outline my thoughts on these changes, and provide some of my opinions on what could change. I have submitted these comments to the TTC, and I hope that you submit some of your thoughts as well!

Some Notes

Just a few notes before I start. Firstly, the changes that will be coming with Line 5 are not featured here, and have for the most part been confirmed. I haven't spoken too much about it on here, but I am broadly supportive of the plan, albeit with a few issues around Laird and Science Centre Stations.

Secondly, the TTC has provided some information on hours of service for these proposals. This is a complaint many have had in the past: TTC proposes a change, but does not provide information about when it will run, or how frequent it will be. This is a welcome addition.

Part 1: Line 6 Surface Changes

With the anticipated opening of Line 6 next year, a number of routes will change. In my previous post, I expressed support of the proposed changes for the 101 Downsview Park and 107 York University Heights route. This plan only has a minor change, with buses on the 101 detouring through the loop at the east side of Downsview Park Station, in both ways. The big benefit here is a much shorter walk to GO's Barrie Line, which makes sense. Additionally, the 36 Finch West will be cancelled west of Keele, as anticipated.

Feedback on the previous proposal to extend 984 Sheppard West Express service through Emery Village was not positive. While I would like the 84 Sheppard West and 984 Sheppard West services to end at Emery Station, I think that the TTC was correct in removing the previous proposal. The new proposal would see the 119 Torbarrie have a new, rush-only branch, the 119B, run in a counter-clockwise loop via Fenmar and Milvan. The new 166 Toryork would run in a clockwise loop via Milvan and Toryork. My feelings on this are mixed. I think that the alternating loops allows for Line 6 to be taken full advantage of, and the routings allow for convenient transfers at both Emery and Milvan Rumike Station. That being said, I am not so enthusiastic on the routes themselves. I know the 166 Toryork is likely to replace the 60C Steeles West, but I just don't see the connection between these two initiatives, besides the fact that Emery Village passengers can now reach Steeles. Additionally, since the 119B will be peak-only, there will be a large area devoid of transit service most of the time. Since the 119 runs during middays now, I think this midday service should be extended northwards.

Part 2: Northeast Scarborough

As per the original ASP, five proposals were proposed to mitigate impacts of Line 3 closing. However, due to budgetary constraints, only three will be implemented:

• 902 Markham Rd Express extended to Steeles;
• 953 Steeles East Express will have a new stop at Milliken GO;
• 985C Sheppard East Express branch to Morningside Heights via Neilson.

I think this is fine. It isn't the overkill that the changes on the 39 Finch East and 905 Eglinton East Express proposed.

Some new changes are proposed, all interconnected to one another. Firstly, the 134B Progress branch will be cancelled. This branch has had issues for years, from trains blocking the level crossing on Tapscott to a very confusing routing, so the cancellation will hopefully improve service on the bulk of the route. The 42A Cummer will be extended on McNicoll past Maybrook to Tapscott and Steeles. This is good, as it finally allows for a proper connection between the 42 and 102 Markham Road, eliminating the walking transfer.

In order to pick up the slack on Passmore and Ironside, which lose 42A and 134B service respectivably, the TTC proposes creating a new 130C Middlefield branch. I'm not a huge fan of this. On one hand, I'm glad this area will be serviced. However, the 130 is not frequent at any period. What I think this means is that during rush, the 130B and 130C will alternate, providing service that likely is no more than every 25 minutes on each. Outside of peak, I don't see the 130C operating as it would force the combined 130 to have 15-minute service. This would be a net loss along Passmore, which currently has all-day, every-day service. Middlefield passengers heading towards Steeles would also have the ability to take every other bus, since the 130C turns east. Lastly, the TTC missed an opportunity to flatten the 130A and 130B into one branch, via Maybrook and Newmill. Maybe next year!

Part 3: East Scarborough

Some of the changes outlined here have been proposed since 1992, so it's nice to see some action being taken. 

The proposal with the 12 Kingston Road would be to replace midday 'C' service with 'D' service. This makes a lot of sense, and has my full support.

The other changes are connected. Firstly, the 54B Lawrence East will finally be extended to Morningside, which should have happened twenty years ago. This will remove 54 service from the Orton Park loop. In lieu, the new 178 Brimorton will operate between Scarborough Centre and Morningside and Lawrence, covering the lost service on Brimorton and Orton Park. The 178 is no longer proposed to replace the 86D Scarborough service to Beechgrove. On minor nitpick is that near Gander, the 178 gets very close to Ellesmere. I would prefer if the route went along Painted Post here, but this is not a huge deal.

When this was proposed a few years back, the main sticking point was the loss of service on Scarborough Golf Club. As such, the TTC has proposed a new 154 Curran Hall route between Kennedy Station and UofT Scarborough. The main question is if the route should run via Lawrence, or via Eglinton. I see both sides of this: Lawrence could use the extra capacity, and a direct link to Kennedy, but Eglinton would allow service on Scarborough Golf Club south of Lawrence, providing direct service to Confederation. I personally am more in favour of the service via Eglinton, but either way it is a net benefit.

Part 4: Beaches and Southwest Scarborough

A lot of the proposed changes in this area are no-brainers, so I'll start with those. I've already spoken about the 12 changes in the previous section, and I won't get into that. The 31 Greenwood will be adjusted to always run on the 31B branching to Eastern, creating a consistent boarding location at Queen. The 503 Kingston Rd streetcar will replace the 22A Coxwell on Kingston Road full time, which does two big things: it protects Coxwell service from the unreliability on Kingston, and it improves service along Queen east of River. 

I think cleaving the 70C O'Connor off into its own route, the 114 St Clair East, kind of makes sense, but I'm not sure why now. I guess the idea is that it lets the TTC make the 70 more frequent than the 114, but I think it doesn't go far enough. There have been requests for years for the 8 Broadview and the 70C/114 to be combined into a through route, from Broadview Station to Warden Station, but this opportunity here is missed again.

The last change would see the cancellation of the 69 Warden South. The service via Birchmount would be replaced by the 117 Birchmount South, which would also be extended to Bingham Loop. This is great, as it improves connections and adds extra capacity on a busy stretch of route. The Warden service would be replaced with additionally service on the as-of-now-clunkily-named 135 Gerrard-Warden South, which is quite useful. However, the concern is that service will be lost on Warden between Clonmore and Kingston. This means one stop lost, which is not huge, but it's the fact that there is now a gap in service here. I wish there was a way to implement the above changes and close this gap, but I'm not sure this is possible. Hopefully something gets figured out, even if just some school trips.

Part 5: Northwest Etobicoke

With the 36 Finch West being cancelled in the area, there are a few changes to make sure that service on Humberwood is not reduced too far. First, as expected, the 37A Islington via Rexdale Blvd will be extended to Humber College Station, which is good. Between Humberwood Loop and Humber College service, two additional services will run: the 996 Wilson Express and the 906 Airport-Humber College Express. I'm not super thrilled with this. Humber College is an obvious terminus, so having routes run past is a bit annoying. I think a route duplicating the 37A to Queens Plate and Rexdale, splitting off to run via Bethridge, would be better here, as it would not only add extra Humberwood service, but also service some employment areas far from a bus stop. 

The aforementioned 906 is a new route. This has long been proposed, and I'm happy to see it be taken seriously. There are two routings, one via Highway 27, and one via Attwell. The Attwell one I am not sold on: the 927C Highway 27 Express provides service here anyways, and replacing that branch with this new service would not be a positive. I'm also confused why Viscount Station was chosen as the terminus. Pearson Terminal 1 is not that overcrowded, but I guess TTC has their reasons. Some people have pointed out this duplicates MiWay's 107 Malton Express, but I don't see it as an issue. Even if free transfers from TTC to MiWay existed, the 906 is much faster and targets a different trip than the 107 would.

Part 6: York Mills-Leslie

This area is close to my home! I think this proposal is pretty weak, and goes too far in some places, yet not far enough in others. The one good point is extending the 78 St Andrews to Bayview Station, which should have been done when Line 4 opened twenty years ago. The 122 Graydon Hall's direct link to the 95 York Mills is okay, I suppose, but really is not necessary. A better loop would be around the Parkwoods Plaza, providing a direct connection to the stores there, including Food Basics and Shoppers.

The splitting of the 51 Leslie, creating the new 151 Leslie North, is hilarious. TTC cites different ridership patterns here, which is true, but it once again forces Leslie to not be a proper trunk route. I like that the 151 would provide service on Scarsdale, but I wish this would be done by another route.

What route could this be? Well, why not the 115 Silver Hills? This route avoids every service change, despite being low ridership and quite niche. I genuinely believe someone high up at TTC lives on the route and keeps protecting it even when it makes sense. I think that this route needs a serious rethink, and at the very least, should operate to Leslie Station and via Scarsdale. 

Part 7: South Etobicoke

Actually, this is hilarious. The routes in south Etobicoke make it difficult to get around by bus, and the whole network in the area needs to be redrawn. So, to see this map with one minor change is something else. I know the TTC has wanted more service on the 80 Queensway for ages, but the best way to do that would be to add extra buses on the full route, and properly manage gaps. Instead, they go for this: the 80B, running from Sherway to Humber Bay Shores, replacing the 176 Mimico GO Shuttle. In practice, this means the 80B will get stuck in traffic along the Queensway, missing every single connection to the GO Train at Mimico. Yeah, this definitely should not happen: the 176 exists because it is the only way to serve the demand between Humber Bay Shores and the GO station.

Part 8: Toronto Zoo

I feel as I get further through these, the changes are more and more funny, often done just so say, "Hey, we looked at your area". I think the maps above do not properly explain the proposal, so I will here. The 85 Sheppard East will be flattened into three branches, with two running on weekdays and two on weekends. Weekday service will be as follows:

• 85A Don Mills Stn to Rouge Hill GO
• 85B Sheppard-Yonge Station to Meadowvale.

On weekends, the 85B is replaced by the 85C, extending service into the Toronto Zoo. Frequent service will overlap between Don Mills and Meadowvale. Personally, I find this terrible. While I do support the 85D disappearing to improve service in Port Union, otherwise it makes no sense. There is very little through traffic at Don Mills, and congestion west of here will surely make service unreliable. I actually thought the TTC was going to make the 85J its own route, not combine it into other 85 services!

In lieu of the 85D, the TTC is proposing a new seasonal route, in the 173 Toronto Zoo-Rouge Hill GO Station (these route names man...). I asked the TTC why. With GO's 96Z branch, DRT's 917Z branch, and the fact that Guildwood GO is the infinitely better places to transfer to get to the Zoo, why is this proposed? This would make sense if it was a twisting route through the neighbourhood, service places like Generation and Dean Park, but as a direct route, it is dumb. TTC once again misses an opportunity to make service in Port Union better.

TTC also quietly proposes the 86A operate at more hours, replacing the 86ZOO service that has run late in the evenings in years past. I feel like this is one of those changes that could have been done instantly with no impact, but whatever.

Part 9: Liberty Village

Finally, we reach the last part! This proposal actually has some decent parts. I like the 63 Ossington running straight down Strachan to Exhibition Loop, as the avoidance of Liberty Village will surely improve reliability. I wish there was a through service on Liberty Street, however, and so I suggested in my comments that the TTC resurrect the Fort York service, and have it run through to Dufferin Gate.

The changes to the 29 Dufferin and 929 Dufferin Express are due to bridge work that will mean buses cannot cross into the Ex. The 29 will run to Dufferin Gate full time, whereas the 929 will loop via King, Atlantic, and Liberty, as to not overcrowd the loop. The first part makes sense, but the 929 loop does not. I know Dufferin Gate is overcrowded, but this is TTC's fault for having excessive layovers at the end of the line on all routes. This is probably what is putting the damper on a Liberty Street service, as well as an extension of the 47 Lansdowne.

The TTC also proposes the 329 Dufferin Blue Night run via Liberty to Exhibition Loop to make connections. This is fine, no notes.

Conclusion

Well, if you made it this far, you clearly care about transit! The TTC would love to hear your thoughts on these changes. You can choose what to respond to, and you don't have to provide a comment for everything! The link to the survey, which recaps the proposals, can be found here.

Thanks again for reading!