Improvements are expected on the TTC’s 29 Dufferin bus route, described as one of the five busiest surface transit corridors in Toronto. (Vannesia Crayton)
Ornella Cariello and Vannesia Crayton
Long-awaited improvements are expected this fall to the TTC’s 29 Dufferin bus route, one of the five busiest surface transit corridors in the city.
The changes are coming as the population along the corridor is expected to grow 17 per cent by 2031, according to a new report received by the TTC Commission’s board Tuesday.
The TTC will implement a routing change that provides full and express service between Wilson Station and the Exhibition Place Dufferin Gate loop and eliminate the 29B short-turn between College Street and the Exhibition Place. The changes along Dufferin planned for October 2018 is expected to result in a total annual net operating cost of $770,000.
“[It will] only stop at major intersections rather than at every stop like the 29,” said TTC spokesperson Hayley Waldman.
Map of New Dufferin Express. (TTC report)
The report also notes the introduction of high-capacity articulated buses on Sundays to carry more passengers per vehicle.
The 29 Dufferin route sees roughly 43,000 riders per weekday.
“[The passengers can expect] less crowding, more availability of service, quicker travel times,” Waldman said. “This is all part of a city-wide plan to improve service and access to transit and reduce crowding.”
Felicia Lamont, who rides the 29 Dufferin bus to work every day, told Humber News she would like to see buses come by more frequently on this route.
“I just missed it and now I have to wait another six minutes (and it) can be even longer,” she said.
Sandra Moira, who has a two-year-old daughter, said her biggest issue is carrying her daughter’s stroller on the always crowded 29 Dufferin bus.
“You wait for a long time and (there are) no busses, and then you get a couple all at once, but the busses are so packed that you can’t get on it, especially if you have a stroller,” she said.
“Then you miss a bus here, you miss a bus there, sometimes it’s quicker to walk,” Moira said.
A number of the TTC’s 29 Dufferin busses idling at the Dufferin Gates near the Exhibition Place. (Vannesia Crayton)
Lucas Nardy, a finance student at Centennial College, said the biggest problem is the gap between one bus and another.
“Sometimes you get a couple buses at once, and then you have to wait 10 to 15 minutes for another,” he said.