Transit users deliver oversized 'invoice' to Toronto for lost time on TTC

Since a fateful derailment took Toronto's Line 3 Scarborough RT out of commission four months earlier than expected, transitgoers in parts of the city have had to deal with sluggish commutes via replacement buses, and they are definitely not happy about it.

Faced with having to take the 903 Express bus for another six years or so until the Scarborough Subway Extension becomes a reality, commuters are now petitioning their local representatives, calling out all of the time they're losing to what they feel is sub-par transit service.

Advocacy group TTCRiders has tallied that time to be a whopping 469,333 hours (and counting) — for which they are now delivering an invoice to the City.

The oversized invoice will be brought from Scarborough Centre TTC Station to the Scarborough Civic Centre on Monday.

"Volunteers have calculated how many hours of time have been lost collectively by transit riders after the Scarborough RT derailed on July 24, 2023," the group writes in a release about a demonstration it has planned for Monday, January 22, when it will present the signed invoice to members of government.

"We are urging city councillors to fund a promised replacement busway in the decommissioned Scarborough RT rail corridor."

Reap what you sow, Scarborough politicians. Transit City LRT would have been running by now.

— Streetwall (@StreetwallNY) August 24, 2023

This solution, which the riders note that the TTC Board voted in favour of in April 2022, would save commuters 20 minutes per day over the replacement buses that are currently operating in lieu of the defunct line.

It is also a move they say Mayor Olivia Chow promised to fund during her campaign, though it is currently not accounted for in the 2024 City Budget.

Toronto's Budget Committee has requested a Briefing Note from #TTC about the latest costs to build a busway in the decommissioned Scarborough RT corridor.

You can speak up to Councillors to fund a Scarborough busway on Monday, Jan. 22nd! RSVP & more info: https://t.co/YeCRWjsrcM pic.twitter.com/n3tKxNObz8

— TTCriders (@ttcriders) January 18, 2024

Aggrieved Scarborough residents can attend the demonstration outside Scarborough Centre TTC Station and at Scarborough Civic Centre, where speeches will be made and the "invoice" handed over — just another thing to add to the city's pressing financial woes.