Dufferin 29 bus

10 signs you've suffered on the Dufferin 29 bus

The 29 Dufferin is surely the most notorious bus route in Toronto. While the 501 streetcar is perhaps the source of more rider angst, no other route conjures the word "suffering" more readily than the 29. From potholes to short turns to packs of bunched buses, the ride up and down Dufferin has often been likened to a transit horror show.

Here are 10 signs you've suffered on the Dufferin 29.

1. You can't really fathom how any major street in Toronto could be as pothole-strewn and bumpy as Dufferin is south of Bloor Street.

2. Waiting for the northbound bus at Bloor in the freezing cold incites a particularly cruel and envious rage at those warming themselves in the station on the west side heading south.

3. It made your week when the TTC announced it would run articulated (bendy) buses on the route in 2014, and you can't imagine how bad things would be without them.

4. You've been stuck at least once on a packed bus that couldn't make it up the Davenport hill in a major snowstorm.

5. You refuse to believe statistics that indicate the Dufferin 29 isn't the busiest route in the city.

6. It's taken you 10 minutes to get from Sylvan Avenue to Dufferin Station during afternoon rush hour, despite the fact that the distance between the two is about 500 metres.

7. You've missed a bus by a minute only to wait in the cold for what seems like ages for a pack of three to arrive all bunched next to one another.

8. You've been short-turned at College St. after just getting on the bus at Bloor.

9. The ride southbound seems so much more bearable after you pass Dufferin Mall, when the crowd thins out and you can finally breathe.

10. Even on a good day, you always refer to the route as the Sufferin' Dufferin.

Lead photo by

Eric Sehr


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