Toronto Transit Commission bus system

Bus service in Toronto began in 1849, when the first public transport system in Toronto, the Williams Omnibus Bus Line, was launched. The service began with a fleet of six horse-drawn stagecoaches. After ten years, the use of streetcars were introduced in the city as the Toronto Street Railway (TSR) was established in 1861. After a year of competition between the two companies, the TSR had surpassed Williams Omnibus Line in ridership.[5]

Until 1921, several private and publicly owned transport systems were established and ended up being merged into one another or abandoned. Electric streetcars were widely used in Toronto and surrounding settlements during the new century. After the establishment of the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) (predecessor of the Toronto Transit Commission (also having the acronym of TTC) until 1954), streetcar routes were taken over from predecessors in 1921. It ran bus routes by using motor buses for the first time in the city.[6] The TTC also experimented the use of trolley buses from 1922 to 1925, operating a line on Merton Avenue and Mount Pleasant Road.[7] Gray Coach, an intercity bus line by the TTC, began operation in 1927. As the coach service increased in ridership, the TTC built the Toronto Coach Terminal. By 1933, the TTC introduced the local bus and streetcar stop design, a white pole with a red band on the top and bottom. Between 1930 and 1948, the city replaced various TTC-operated radial railway routes extending to surrounding municipalities with bus routes.[6]

On 1 January 1954, the TTC became the sole public transit operator in the newly formed Metropolitan Toronto. Thus, the TTC took over some private bus operations that existed within the Metro area. These included:[8][9]^:55

• Hollinger Bus Lines (1921–1954), operating in East York and Scarborough
• Danforth Bus Lines (1920–1954), operating in Scarborough and North York, with interurban services to Claremont and King City
• Roseland Bus Lines (1925–1954), operating in York Township, Etobicoke, Weston, and Woodbridge
• West York Bus Lines (1932–1954), operating in the west and northwest suburbs, including Malton

From 1947 to 1993, the TTC's system included several trolley bus routes, such as this one on the 89 Weston Road route in 1987.

Between 1947 and 1993, the TTC operated a trolley bus system on medium ridership routes. In 1947, the TTC created four trolley bus routes (Lansdowne, Ossington, Annette, and Weston Road) in the west end that replaced streetcar routes. These routes were based at the Lansdowne garage. About 1954, a separate trolley bus division created at the old Eglinton garage (adjacent to Eglinton station) to serve routes on Yonge Street, Avenue Road and Mount Pleasant Road north of Eglinton Avenue. When the Yonge–University subway was extended to York Mills station, the Yonge trolley bus line was closed and its buses were reassigned to serve Bay Street. In the early 1970s, the trolley bus fleet was rebuilt. The TTC leased some trolley buses from Edmonton, which was phasing out its fleet. The last trolley buses ran in 1993 on the Bay and Annette routes. Rather than replacing the aging trolley bus infrastructure, the TTC decided to use CNG buses to replace the trolley bus fleet.[7]

In January 1960, the General Motors "New Look" buses, informally called "fishbowls", went into service. As earlier New Looks were retired they in turn would be replaced by newer versions of the New look model, with the result that the model would serve Toronto for over 50 years.[10]

In 1966, plans were made to replace all streetcar routes with buses in the next 20 years. The plan was cancelled in 1972 and streetcar routes were rebuilt. In 1970, GO Transit was established by the Government of Ontario with Gray Coach serving as its operator for most of its routes. The TTC operated its first dial-a-bus services under GO Transit in 1973. In 1975, the first paratransit service, Wheel-Trans, was established by a private operator. The TTC also began using minibuses for minor routes, which would be replaced by regular buses by 1981.[6]

A Wheel-Trans bus at York University. The paratransit service has been operated by the TTC since 1988.

In 1982, the TTC acquired 12 articulated buses, the articulated version of the GM New Look bus. The Province of Ontario sponsored the buses as a trial. The bus had rear-wheel drive whereby the trailer section pushes the rest of the bus. The TTC sold all 12 of these buses to Mississauga in 1987, and chose the Orion Ikarus articulated bus.[11]

In 1987, the TTC acquired 90 Orion Ikarus articulated buses; Ikarus manufactured the components in Budapest, Hungary and Orion Bus Industries assembled them in its Mississauga plant. The buses had mid-section wheel drive whereby the front section of the bus pulled the trailer section. Poor welding led to corrosion problems, and the TTC retired 50 of the buses by 1999. The last Orion Ikarus bus ran in June 2003.[12]

In 1987, the TTC implemented the Blue Night Network, an expansion of its overnight services using buses and streetcars. The following year, the TTC took over Wheel-Trans services. The TTC sold Gray Coach Lines to the Scotland-based Stagecoach Group in 1990, while also introducing "community buses", providing minibus service in a few residential neighbourhoods.[6][13]

In 1989, the TTC began using buses fuelled by compressed natural gas (CNG).[6] Supported by subsidies from senior governments, the TTC used CNG buses to replace its trolley bus fleet. CNG buses were serviced at the Wilson Yard which had a special CNG fueling station. Because of safety concerns about CNG fuel tanks on the bus roof and low overhead clearances, these buses were banned from interior terminals. Also, the savings of using natural gas over diesel fuel was not as great as expected. The TTC converted some CNG buses to diesel.[7]

Accessibility expanded to regular buses in 1996 with the use of lift-equipped buses.[6] This was further improvised two years later when low-floor buses were added to the fleet.[14]

Between 2006 and 2009, the TTC made its first purchases of hybrid electric buses, choosing the Orion VII model. These buses had batteries that would only last 18 months instead of the expected 5 years. As a result, the TTC went back to purchasing diesel buses until 2018, when it would try hybrid technology again.[7][15]

In 2009, the TTC opened its first BRT route that uses its own dedicated busway and bus lanes when route 196 York University Rocket was rerouted to the York University Busway. When the extension of Line 1 to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre opened in December 2017, the 939B Finch Express is the only route continuing to use it.[16]

In December 2011, the TTC bus fleet became fully accessible with the retirement of the last of the old, non-accessible GM "New Look" buses, a model dating back to the 1950s. The last New look buses ran on 52 Lawrence West on 16 December, and were replaced by accessible Orion VII low-floor buses. At that time, the TTC operated 1,800 12-metre accessible buses, all of which were equipped with bike racks.[14]

The TTC ordered 27 articulated buses from Nova Bus, which began revenue operation in the spring of 2014. At 18 metres (60 ft) long, as compared with a standard 40-foot bus, the Nova LFS Artics hold about 112 passengers, compared with 65 on the standard length bus.[17]

A TTC bus painted in livery based on the Flexity Outlook streetcars used by the TTC, 2018. The livery was introduced on TTC buses the previous year.

As of 23 December 2016, all of the buses in the TTC system have Presto card readers.[18] Buses delivered to the TTC since 2017 have a new livery based on the livery of the Flexity Outlook streetcars.

In November 2018, the TTC received the first 55 of 255 hybrid electric buses, specifically the LFS Hybrid model from Nova Bus.[19]

In April 2019, the TTC received the first of 60 electric buses from the three bus manufacturers: Proterra New Flyer, and BYD. On 3 June 2019, the first electric bus (from New Flyer) went into revenue service on the 35 Jane bus route.[20] On 26 October 2019, Proterra electric buses went into service on the 6 Bay bus route.[21] By September 2020, the BYD buses had arrived, and on 8 September, the first BYD bus went into service on the 116 Morningside route. At this point in time, with 60 electric buses, the TTC boasted it had the largest fleet of electric buses in North America.[22]

In 2020, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic caused TTC ridership to decrease dramatically. On 23 March 2020, the TTC suspended all express bus services system-wide, with the exception of the 900 Airport Rocket and 927 Highway 27 Rocket. A number of seats began to be blocked off to encourage social distancing.[23]

In 2020, as part of a municipal initiative dubbed RapidTO, the TTC started to set up priority bus lanes along several routes in Toronto. These are different from existing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in that they are in effect 24 hours per day seven days per week, and may only be used by buses and bicycles, with taxis and private vehicles not being allowed. The priority bus lanes are identified by paint and signage.[28]

The COVID-19 pandemic provided the impetus for the RapidTO project. The lanes are to improve TTC service in lower-income neighbourhoods, which house employees performing essential services during the pandemic. By allowing buses to move faster, there would be less crowding and better physical distancing.[29]

The lanes prevent road traffic from slowing bus service and disrupting the spacing between buses, which had resulted in gaps and bunching. The lanes are expected to improve efficiency so that fewer buses are required to produce the same level of service, with the extra buses being deployed to provide additional bus service.[29]

Bus priority lanes are painted in red with diamond and "bus only" markings. Private vehicles may use some portions of the lanes, painted with red stripes, to access driveways or to make right turns. There are no physical barriers to separate bus from general traffic lanes. Motorists illegally using a bus priority lane are subject to a $110 fine and 3 demerit points.[29]

The priority routes are:[28][30]

• Eglinton Avenue East, Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue from Brimley Road (and eventually from Kennedy station) to the University of Toronto Scarborough
• Jane Street from Eglinton Avenue to Steeles Avenue
• Dufferin Street from Dufferin Gate to Wilson Avenue
• Steeles Avenue West from Yonge Street to Pioneer Village station
• Finch Avenue East from Yonge Street to McCowan Road
• Lawrence East from east of Victoria Park Avenue to Rouge Hills Drive near Rouge Hill GO station

The TTC opened the Eglinton East lanes on 11 October 2020[31] (with the lanes on Morningside Avenue opening a few days earlier[29]) and expects to implement the Jane lanes in the second quarter of 2021. The implementation dates for the other routes have yet to be announced.[28]

The Eglinton East route runs 10.9 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Brimley Road and Eglinton Avenue to the University of Toronto Scarborough campus along Eglinton Avenue, Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue. The TTC converted the existing HOV lanes on Eglinton Avenue East and the curbside general-purpose lanes on Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue to priority bus-only lanes. Priority lanes will not be implemented between Kennedy station and Brimley Road until construction for the Scarborough Subway Extension is completed. Both local and express bus routes use the priority lanes, and the number of bus stops were reduced to speed up service. The TTC estimated a travel time savings of 16.5 percent on local services and 6.5 percent on express services. The implementation of priority bus lanes will not preclude a future upgrade to light rail.[28] The Eglinton East lanes were expected to cost nearly $8 million.[29]

When implementing the corridor, the TTC reduced the number of stops along the way from 69 to 48, a net reduction of 21 stops, and was reviewing the "consolidation" of 6 additional stops. Some of the eliminated stops were far from a signalized intersection; some others had few nearby destinations. Having fewer stops allowed faster bus service but, for many riders, resulted in longer walk times to a bus stop. For example, when the stop near two apartment buildings at Dale Avenue and Kingston Road was eliminated, riders had to walk an extra 250 metres (820 ft). Another eliminated stop was 900 metres (3,000 ft) from its nearest replacement stop; this contradicts a TTC guideline that stops should be no more than 400 metres (1,300 ft) apart. Riders, including those with disabilities, complained.[32]

Five routes use the Eglinton priority bus lanes:[31]

• 12D Kingston Rd
• 86 Scarborough
• 116 Morningside
• 905 Eglinton East Express
• 986 Scarborough Express

The Jane bus priority lanes will run along Jane Street between Eglinton Avenue and Steeles Avenue. These lanes are expected to open in spring 2021.[28][29]

The Jane route is next in priority for implementation because:[28]

• It has one of the slowest operating speeds in 2020.
• It provides a north–south connection with three subway lines, the existing Line 1 Yonge–University, and Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West, both under construction.
• It serves many Neighbourhood Improvement Areas.
• There are no adverse impacts to on-street parking.

Introduced in 2013, the Nova Bus articulated buses are the third generation of articulated buses in Toronto, the earlier two being those manufactured by General Motors (operating from 1982 to 1987) and by Orion-Ikarus (operating from 1987 to 2003). The total cost of the fleet was $143.7 million, and they are expected to save cost of $119.4 per year in operating expenses. Fewer operators are required as the 18-metre articulated bus (carrying 46 seated and approximately 31 standing passengers) has 45 percent more passenger capacity than a 12-metre bus. Each bus can accommodate two standard wheelchairs and provides nine priority passenger seats. Each bus features three doors, LED interior and exterior lighting and automatic central air conditioning and heating. The "clean diesel" engines minimize engine exhaust emissions using electronic engine controls and treatment systems for diesel exhaust.[47][48][49]

In late April 2017, the TTC temporarily withdrew the entire Nova articulated fleet from service because one of the buses experienced a "full throttle", that is, an unexpected acceleration. Nova provided a software fix that required 20 minutes per bus to install allowing buses to go back into service.[50]

The TTC has two models of hybrid-electric buses (also called diesel-electric buses), Orion VII built from 2006 to 2008, and the LFS Hybrid built in 2018 and 2019.[4]

The Orion VII hybrid buses have features such as air-conditioning, GPS for automatic stop announcements, a wheelchair ramp and the ability to kneel at the front door for easier boarding. Fuel savings of 10 to 30 percent were expected compared to diesel buses. However, the model achieved only 10 percent savings because it was designed to work best in stop-and-go traffic which occurs mainly in downtown Toronto. The batteries were problematic requiring replacement every 18 months when they were expected to last 5 years. At $700,000 per bus, the hybrid was $200,000 more expensive than a diesel-only bus.[51][52]

The LFS Hybrid is essentially an electric bus with an onboard diesel generator to produce electricity to recharge an onboard battery as needed. Unlike for electric buses, the battery is not recharged overnight. These diesel-electric buses use 25 percent less fuel than a diesel bus. Also, energy produced by descending a hill or braking will help recharge the battery. The bus is driven by an electric motor with electricity drawn from the on-board battery. On-board systems such as doors, HVAC, power steering, etc. are electrically powered.[19][53]

The TTC has a goal to operate an emissions-free bus fleet by 2040. In 2018, the TTC received three demonstrator electric buses for evaluation to test the performance of electric vehicles. The TTC received one bus each from manufacturers: California-based Proterra, Winnipeg-based New Flyer (part of NFI Group) and Chinese-based BYD.[54]

In April 2019, the TTC received the first of 60 electric buses after ordering 25 each from Proterra and New Flyer, and 10 from BYD. The 60 buses, plus infrastructure changes at three TTC garages, costed approximately $140 million with the federal government paying $65 million of that cost.[55][53]

The buses are powered exclusively by lithium-ion batteries that take about three hours to recharge. The buses are expected to travel approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) on a single charge; however, when the bus heater activates in cold weather, the range is reduced by 30–50%. (For perspective, an electric bus on the 35 Jane route travels about 78 kilometres (48 mi) in a day.) Per year, each electric bus will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 149.2 metric tons (146.8 long tons; 164.5 short tons) and eliminate diesel fuel costs of $56,000. The electric buses are 15–20% quieter in motion, and 85% quieter when idling.[55] These buses, with a 440,000-watt onboard battery, can be used as mobile power plants during power outages, by plugging the bus into a building such as a hospital.[53]

BYD buses require different recharging infrastructure than Proterra and New Flyer buses, with the former using AC (alternating current) and the latter two using DC (direct current). The Eglinton garage has AC recharging, while Arrow Road and Mount Dennis garages have DC.[22]

In mid-2005, the TTC began a pilot project to test bicycle racks on six selected routes as a way to boost ridership and to be more environmentally friendly.[62]

In July 2007, the Commission authorized the addition of bus racks to the remainder of the TTC bus fleet except for buses to be retired over the following three years. The 2007 expenditure for installation was an unbudgeted $250,000, to be covered by a shortfall in 2007 capital expenditures. The Commission included another $1,720,000 in the 2008–2012 capital budget to install bike racks on remaining buses. All new buses ordered would be delivered either with bike racks installed or at least mounting brackets for TTC staff to install the racks.[63] In December 2011, bike racks were available on all TTC buses except minibuses.[14]

The Nova Bus LFS articulated buses came factory-equipped with bike racks, as did the non-articulated LFS buses that entered service in 2015. The racks were sealed in October 2014, by order of the Ministry of Labour,[64] because of concerns about bikes on the racks obscuring the drivers' view. In May 2015, the slot closer to the bus was authorised for use. The other is sealed off with metal panels, and the retention hooks have been removed. Once the first slot is full, cyclists may bring their bikes inside the articulated bus during off-peak hours at the driver's discretion.[65]