TTC to reduce bus service this year resulting in much longer wait times

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The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is planning new changes for services reductions that will increase wait times for customers of several bus routes by up to 11 minutes.

The changes are outlined in a letter from the Chief Strategy and Customer Officer to the TTC Board, and are set to impact almost 40 bus routes starting March 26.

Phase one of the TTC's 2023 Service Alignment will adjust service on approximately 20 per cent of routes, while 80 per cent will remain unchanged or will be temporarily adjusted.

The changes will result in service adjustments on 37 daytime routes and two overnight routes in 327 periods of operation.

Of the daytime routes, customers on two routes will have shorter wait times in some periods of the day, customers on 24 routes will have shorter wait times in some periods and longer in others, and customers on 11 routes will have longer wait times.

TTC announces service reductions forecast in 2023 budget. In March some bus routes will see wait times grow by between 30 sec and 3 mins, while waits for a smaller number will increase by up to 11 minutes. Express service suspended during some times on five corridors.
— Ben Spurr (@BenSpurr) February 22, 2023

That means 18 per cent of schedule changes will result in shorter wait times, 52 per cent will result in a longer wait time of up to three minutes, and eight per cent will result in a longer wait time between three and 11 minutes.

The service adjustments were made to resume pre-lockdown peak vehicle capacity standards, adjust off-peak vehicle capacity standards, and adjust minimum service levels on subway services to every eight minutes or better.

"The planned changes have a proportionally lesser impact on bus service, which has continued to have a higher level of ridership retention than other modes," the letter reads. "This reflects TTC's priority to minimize impacts on equity- deserving communities that have a greater reliance on reliable and frequent bus service."