SETAC – South Etobicoke Transit Action Committee

Accessibility options with 501 bus replacement

The replacement of the (30-35 year old) streetcars with accessible buses on the 501 along Lake Shore Boulevard with newer and accessible buses has significantly improved accessibility options. Here is some information on what to expect.

Every stop along Lake Shore Boulevard is now serviced by accessible buses. Note, the buses are not using the streetcar safety islands, but rather are stopping curbside. This eliminates the need to cross some traffic lanes to get to the islands. However, some of the substitute curbside stops may not have the best pavement.

In the west end, the one accessible subway station is Kipling. The highly recommended way of getting to Kipling is to ride the 501 shuttle bus to Kipling and Lake Shore, and take one of the frequent 44 Kipling South or 188 Kipling South Rocket buses to Kipling station. The 123 Shorncliffe is not recommeded due to infrequent service and difficulty accessing Long Branch loop from the shuttle buses, which usually unload well east of Long Branch loop and park. To get to the loop would require crossing the Brown’s Line off-ramps, which are a challenge for everyone.

From the east end of Lake Shore Boulevard, the recommended routing is to travel east on the 501 shuttle buses to Dufferin. Dufferin station is accessible, so you can transfer to a 29 Dufferin bus at Queen and Dufferin and access the Bloor subway.

You also have the option of staying on the 501 shuttle buses to King and Dufferin. There you can transfer to 514 Cherry streetcars, which are mostly the new low-floor, accessible streetcars. You must cross kitty-corner to the SE corner of Dufferin and King and catch the 514 as they come north on Dufferin before turning east on King. This provides access to businesses along King Street. Also, St. Andrew station (King and University) is accessible for access to the Yonge-University line.

Other routes you can transfer to from the 501 shuttle buses include: 110 Islington South (note, Islington station is totally inaccessible, you should get off at the Bloor Street stop!), the 66 Prince Edward, and the 77 Swansea which can take you to Bloor West Village at Runnymede and Bloor.

 

One thought on “Accessibility options with 501 bus replacement

  1. David

    The level of accessibility is very uneven with the bus service. At St. Joseph’s hospital of all places the bus drops passengers off on the southwest area where there is no sidewalk, no sidewalk ramp, and no crosswalk.

    Passengers are apparently expected to make their way to the eastern signalized crossing by either walking on the road (which is quite unsafe, given that the eastbound vehicles have an ascending right hand turn leading toward that intersection), or step up to the ‘grass’ (which will have snow and ice accumulation during winter, and be soft, wet and unstable during wet weather). This is an accident waiting to happen.

    Similarly, at the western terminus that is normally Long Branch loop, buses drop passengers off well to the east of the intersection resulting in a much longer distance to walk in order to transfer to another TTC bus, MiWay or GO.

    Delivery of the long-delayed low-floor streetcars would significantly improve accessibility over either the existing streetcars or the bus service and would eliminate the unsafe transfer points that bus implementation has resulted in.

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