TTC increasing service on 24 bus routes, starting next week

The TTC is bolstering bus service with the new efforts primarily focused on routes that serve riders in the city's suburbs, officials announced Tuesday.

Overall ridership levels are still about 77 per cent of what they were pre-pandemic, but TTC CEO Rick Leary said some routes are currently well above maximum capacity.

"We've had a few weekend days where we're at 118 percent of pre-pandemic levels," Leary told reporters at a news conference.

In response, the TTC is adding buses to 24 routes that mainly serve those in Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. You can find a full list of the routes at the bottom of this story.

Leary said the expansion will help fill the gaps created by the closure of Line 3, the Scarborough RT. The upcoming bus service expansion was funded through money set aside in the latest city budget.

The TTC has been incrementally adding service in recent years. Leary said the increase announced Tuesday will have the system operating at 96 per cent of what was offered before 2020.

Ridership has declined since 2019 for a variety of reasons. Work from home trends, safety concerns and service disruptions are a few major drivers.

A recent TTC report revealed that 55 per cent of customers say they are proud of the TTC, a score that fell by eight per cent from January to February. Those results came from a monthly survey of 500 riders.

On the issue of safety, the report said there was an decrease in violence against customers year over year but that rates are still double the agency's targets.

The report also said customers' complaints, collected through the agency's website, telephone calls, email and X (formerly Twitter), mostly focused on service timeliness and missed stops. 

When it comes to buses, the TTC was on time 87 per cent of the time during January 7 and February 17. That's short of the agency's goal of 90 per cent, which still allows a bus to leave one minute earlier or five minutes later than the scheduled departure time.

Transit advocate Steve Munro said the TTC hasn't released enough information to determine whether the new service additions will make a tangible impact. 

"From past experience, I know that they will tend to make these announcements and when you finally get the details there is far less there than it's made out to be," he said.

Munro said adding a few more buses to routes won't be enough for riders and that what's really needed is frequent, uncrowded service that is evenly spaced out.