TTC to begin reducing subway service and select bus routes this weekend
Starting this weekend, there will be a 15% decrease in TTC service routes, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the city’s transit system.
From May 10, subway service from Monday to Friday on Line 1 Yonge-University and Line 2 Bloor-Danforth will be operating every three to four minutes during the daytime and early evening, and every five minutes in the late evening for Line 1 and six minutes for Line 2, according to the TTC.
The short-turn in the morning peak period at Glencairn Station will be temporarily suspended and service throughout the day will operate between Finch Station and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station.
Also, seasonal bus service increase to the Toronto Zoo, Cherry Beach, Bluffer’s Park, Ontario Place, Woodbine Beach, and Harbourfront are deferred:
- 85 Sheppard East – extended weekend service to Toronto Zoo
- 86 Scarborough – extended service to Toronto Zoo
- 92 Woodbine South – weekend seasonal service increase
- 121 Fort York-Esplanade – service to Cherry Beach and Ontario Place
- 175 Bluffers Park – service to Bluffer’s Park
And, with construction on the Bathurst Street Bridge between Front Street and Ford York Boulevard, the 511 and 307 Bathurst buses will be diverted in both directions via Front Street, Spadina Avenue and Fort York Boulevard.
The TTC noted that “changes may be delayed or adjusted to meet operational needs.”
On April 24, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green confirmed some service changes to Daily Hive.
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According to Green, at the time, all 900 series buses, except 900 and 927, will remain local and express will not be coming back for now.
The 140 series premium services are being redeployed as they are not being used right now and there will be no changes to the 300 blue night network, but some may see slightly longer gaps between vehicles with no route having headways of more than 20 to 30 minutes.
“Our priority is on those routes where we are still seeing high demand to ensure good physical distancing can be maintained,” Green said at the time.
The TTC spokesperson emphasized that changes are related exclusively to the pandemic and once service levels and ridership are up, service will resume like before.
On April 23, the TTC announced the layoffs for 1,000 union members and 200 non-union members as ridership plummeted by 85%, costing the transit system roughly $90 million in revenue a month.
The TTC said other cost-saving measures that are being implemented include significant reductions in expenditures, like pausing salary increases for non-unionized employees, reducing overtime across the organization, reviewing current vacancies, and forgoing all seasonal hirings.
The transit system is also delaying all non-essential capital projects, in accordance with provincial guidelines.
Additionally, savings experiences are coming through on utility, fuel, and PRESTO commission costs. Once fully implemented, cost-saving measures will result in savings of up to $25 million each month.
Editor’s note: This article initially noted there would be no subway service over the weekend, this was an error and has been corrected.
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