People in Toronto are really hating this TTC bus route
Toronto is absolutely fed up with riding on one of the major bus routes in the city.
Many people are complaining about the #63 Ossington bus, which starts at Eglinton Avenue and Oakwood and leads down to Liberty Village.
The main point of concern about the route is that, because of a current detour, it doesn't make any stops along Shaw Street, starting from Ossington to King.
Instead, the route skips over Queen Street and Shaw, a major intersection, and goes around through Dufferin Street to continue south.
Some commuters are annoyed with the fact that this new diversion, which started on Nov. 15, makes their trip much longer.
Why does the Ossington Bus not stop from queen/Ossington until Atlantic/king? You do know that this adds 20 minutes to my already long commute where I travel backwards and sideways to get to work. One stop at Queen/Dufferin and King/Dufferin would save so many of us. #TTC
— bettyqs (@bettyQs) November 30, 2021
Others have even witnessed TTC drivers who work the route express how much they hate it.
The 63 Ossington bus driver just yelled "I HATE THIS ROUTE! ONE OF THE WORST ROUTES WE HAVE!"
— Selena Vyle (@selenavyle) November 8, 2021
A spokesperson for the TTC tells blogTO that the detour on the route is due to road work and rail replacement on Queen West.
"Unfortunately the size of this diversion is creating some reliability issues. We are aware of it and we apologize for any inconvenience our customers are experiencing," said Stuart Green, media relations for TTC.
Green adds that the transit agency is working on reallocating more vehicles to service gap stops while construction is being completed.
Aside from the current detour, some say they have other reasons to hate the route, including the safety of passengers when it comes to speed.
Mind you, the speeds it hits are quite competitive with the subway.
— Mechanical David (@MechanicalDavid) November 9, 2021
Some people mentioned just how difficult it must be for drivers who operate the route.
I mean, that stretch between Dundas & Queen is stressful!
— rahim (@DirectorVMH) November 9, 2021
Others were coming up with solutions on how to make parts of the route more efficient for both passengers and pedestrians.
Ossington between Dundas and queen could be completely and permanently pedestrianized with the use of Shaw for the bus. It would be really easy.
— green glass (@greenglasseye) November 14, 2021
Even those native to the Ossington area agreed that changes need to be made, with lots of overcrowding happening near the general area of Queen-King-Shaw that loops with Ossington.
I used to live right at the bottom of the 63 map for a few months and then I worked down there like half a year & I always got off 2 stops before the station to walk and beat the crowd of bus passengers to the train platform.
— fun facts with lulu (@FunFactsLulu) November 9, 2021
Such a ridiculous bottleneck at the top of the route
The TTC tells blogTO that there's no definitive date on when construction is expected to end at Queen near Ossington.
It seems that we'll just have to bury our woes with this route, until there's word on improvements.
