The TTC’s Planning Page includes reports with statistics for each of the years 2019 through 2023 giving weekday passenger counts, vehicle hours, vehicle mileage and peak vehicles for the fall in each year. Collectively, this information shows the status of ridership and service on the surface network just before the pandemic and through the years following. Several points emerge when these data are collected together and compared year-over-year at a route level and for the bus and streetcar networks as a whole. The TTC talks of service recovery to 95% of prepandemic levels. This is based on t ..read more

Once again, streetcar service in the east end will be disrupted for construction diversions, although this will not be as long lasting as projects in recent years. 505 Dundas Late Night Diversion On Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 21, service after 11pm on 505 Dundas cars will divert both ways via the Carlton route (College, Carlton, Parliament, Gerrard) between Bay and Broadview. Replacement bus service will cover the missed portion of the streetcar route. 501/503/504/508/301/304 Don Bridge Diversion From Monday, April 22 at 4am to Monday, April 29 at 4am, all streetcar service will di ..read more

The City of Toronto has announced that the planned replacement of track at the intersection of King & Dufferin Streets will not occur in 2024 due to “supply chain issues”. Instead this work will be included in the 2025 construction schedule which already included reconstruction of King from Dufferin to Close. The intersection replacement was originally planned for June-July with full closure of both streets. That will not happen and routes will stay on their current diversions pending reopening of King Street east of Dufferin. That was planned for year-end, but has now been moved forward t ..read more

Adelaide Street track almost finished! New traffic signals on King! Almost no work on York Street. And some really appalling track. All photos in this article were taken by me on April 10 and 14, 2024. Adelaide Street The two remaining chunks of new/replacement track are finally being installed on Adelaide Street, and some work is underway for new overhead. This will be the eastbound 501 Queen diversion for the Ontario Line construction. Adelaide W from Bay 2024.04.10Adelaide W. to York 2024.04.10Adelaide E. to Victoria 2024.04.10Adelaide E. from Sheppard to Bay 2024.04.14York Street Almost no ..read more

The TTC Board met on April 11 with a long agenda. Among items of interest are: CEO’s Report * 2024 Asset Management Plan Line 3 SRT Incident Investigation and Subway Track Continuous Improvement Initiatives Procurement Authorization – Subway Track Rail Milling Services * City Council Transmittal – CC15.1 Budget Implementation Including Property Tax Rates, User Fees and Related Matters * Financial and Major Projects Update for the Year Ended December 31, 2023 * Easier Access Phase III – Project Status Update April 2024 Approval of Public Art Concepts for the Bay, Castle Frank, Christie, Donlan ..read more

The TTC has announced plans for construction projects that will require replacement of streetcars by buses on 510 Spadina starting June 23 until October 2024. In June and July, overhead will be rebuilt between King and Queens Quay. This will not affect route 509 Harbourfront, and service on that route will be increased to offset the missing 510 Spadina cars on Queens Quay. In August through October, overhead work will shift to the section from College to Spadina Station. At Spadina Station, track will be replaced and other work will be done in preparation for a platform extension that will be ..read more

Among the reports on the TTC Board agenda for April 11 is a recap of the SRT investigation. I have already written about shortcomings and contradictions in this report and will not belabour that here. The fundamental question is whether management are being entirely transparent in their presentation. If there is someone on the Board bold enough to challenge them, here are a few key questions: Ten days before the derailment, a high reaction rail was reported at the site, but this was logged as a low priority problem. The misalignment, reported as 1/2 inch, is on a par with the normal clearance ..read more

On April 3, 2024, the advocacy group TTCriders submitted a request to the City of Toronto Auditor General for a review of TTC maintenance practices. This arose both from the July 2023 SRT derailment and other recent events on the subway including a broken switch and a flurry of slow orders. TTCriders launches AG complaint Full disclosure: I was asked to review a draft of the TTCriders letter and suggested minor edits, but am not a party to their request. Both in the staff presentation at the TTC’s September 26, 2023 Board Meeting and in comments responding to TTCriders, the TTC has been quit ..read more

A recent Council debate considered a report on Prioritization of Planned Higher-Order Transit Projects. Its first recommendation: City Council reaffirm the policy that maintaining the existing system in a state of good repair is the first priority for investment in transportation. Despite the State of Good Repair (SOGR) ranking first, some Councillors pursued their subway dreams. Amending motions included the Finch West LRT extension to Pearson Airport, the Bloor subway extension to Sherway, and the Sheppard subway western and eastern extensions. All of these are long-term projects that will ..read more

The TTC Board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, April 2. The announced agenda includes only one report TTC Board Orientation, Education and Training Session which includes several topics: a. Overview of the TTC, its Governance, Safety and Communications b. Code of Conduct and Municipal Conflict of Interest Act c. Being an Effective Director d. Key TTC Strategies and Plans e. Strategy Training Exercise Although the agenda page advertises this as a public meeting and invites public deputations, the report states that it will be held in camera as permitted by the City of Toronto Act (S. 1 ..read more