A leaked memo reveals the 56 bus and six streetcar routes across Toronto on which riders will soon suffer longer waits and more crowded rides because of city budget cuts.
The list is included in a Nov. 16 internal TTC memo obtained by the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
Busy routes that will see major service cuts starting Jan. 8, according to the memo confirmed as accurate by TTC chair Karen Stintz include the 501 Queen streetcar and the 25 Don Mills, 29 Dufferin and 35 Jane buses.
The TTC is also reducing service on the 36 Finch West bus, which was going to be replaced by a provincially funded light rail line under the Transit City plan that Mayor Rob Ford killed after taking office last December.
Ford has committed to putting enhanced bus service on Finch. The TTC is considering building a separated bus lane for quicker service.
Longer waits and more crowding are also coming to the 85 Sheppard East bus, to be replaced long-term, according to Fords transit plan, by a subway extension funded by the city and the private sector, as well as to the Eglinton 32 and 34 buses, to be replaced by the provincially funded crosstown LRT to be built by 2020.
Its the wrong direction for a transit system when you have 500 million customers a year a record number and growing, Jamie Kirkpatrick, TEAs public transit campaigner, said of the service cuts.
It makes me wonder whether commissioners actually knew the severity of cuts that would be the result of budget decisions they made in September.
The systems commissioners voted for the service cuts in September to help meet Fords directive to cut spending by 10 per cent, or $70 million.
The TTC is reversing service enhancements made as part of its ridership growth strategy, back to 2004 levels.
That means, during rush hour, buses will have to get 10 per cent more crowded before another bus will be put on the route. Crowding standards are also being increased for buses and streetcars in off-peak hours.
After the information was leaked, the TTC rushed out a news release confirming reductions to 52 bus routes in the peak periods, and 36 reductions to bus and streetcar service in the off-peak periods.
Customers will experience longer wait times and more crowded vehicles in some cases. The TTC is also increasing service in January, with 21 bus and streetcar routes seeing an increase in service.
In an interview, Stintz said nobody likes reduced service, but riders have made it clear that is preferable to the TTC cutting poorly used routes.
So if we have to make adjustments, and no routes are to be cut, then we have to change the standards, Stintz said. It has been difficult to meet demand with a reduced subsidy, but this was seen as the best option.
She couldnt say why the list was not released earlier.
Stintz said new streetcars, scheduled to start arriving in 2013, will help reduce crowding because they will hold more people.