501 Queen / 508 Lake Shore – Gardiner Expressway Work
From http://ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Route_diversions/501_Queen_gew.jsp: Buses will replace streetcars on Lake Shore Boulevard West, between Long Branch Loop and Humber Loop.
- 501/301 QUEEN and 508 LAKE SHORE streetcars will turn back east at Humber Loop.
- 501/301 QUEEN replacement buses will provide service on Lake Shore Boulevard between Long Branch Loop and Humber Loop, diverting in both directions via Park Lawn Road and The Queensway.
Customers must transfer between streetcars and replacement buses to continue their trip. Alternative service on Lake Shore Boulevard, between Park Lawn Road and Humber Loop, will be provided by 66D Prince Edward (every day) and 145 Downtown/Humber Bay Express (Monday-Friday).
Because of the way TTC schedules replacement buses, it can seem that “buses are better”. What happens is that the TTC assigns “replacement capacity” to the route. Lake Shore Blvd. typically gets ALRV (long) streetcars every 10 or 15 minutes. The official capacity of an ALRV is just less than double that of the replacement buses. So the TTC puts on more buses — almost twice as many buses are on Lake Shore than streetcars.
In theory, the buses come more often — twice as often.
Two things to consider, though:
1. If the TTC ever decides to permanently replace streetcars with buses, you will quickly see the “good bus service” drop to the level of streetcar service. When the TTC schedules replacement buses, it doesn’t take into consideration whether the ALRVs are full or empty; it just replaces them with two buses each. A permanent bustitution means they will make riding counts. Expect the buses to get service cutbacks, especially in the quieter parts of the day.
2. Last Friday afternoon at around 5:20 PM, I waited for over 20 minutes for a 501 shuttle bus westbound at Islington. That was a windy, rainy day. Finally a crowded bus showed up, with at least two other buses right behind it (I was more interested in getting home than counting buses). These buses were running in packs, just like the streetcars can do. “Trouble downtown” doesn’t apply, since the buses run only as far east as Humber loop. “Streetcars can’t pass each other or get around obstacles”, well sure, but the buses weren’t passing each other either.
I had the chance to observe the 501 shuttle mid-day and afternoon on Wednesday April 9th. Big gaps and bunches at 11 AM; the one I caught east from Islington to Humber loop was pretty much full load by Park Lawn. There was a supervisor at Humber loop, and he sent the bus back on a short-turn to Kipling. I think there was another big gap behind it.
Around 5 PM in the evening, I watched at Kipling and Lake Shore. One 501 shuttle sitting in Kipling loop, and another short-turn turfing its passengers at the stop and then pulled in. About 10 people waiting for a bus westbound from Kipling, while eastbound the crowd grew from 10 to 15 or more. No bus in either direction for almost 15 minutes, while two shuttle buses sat in the loop.