The Toronto Transit Commission said it has put the majority of its articulated buses back in service after temporarily pulling its fleet of 153 60-foot vehicles off of several routes following two “unexpected acceleration” incidents Thursday.
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told Global News Thursday evening that an articulated bus experienced “full throttle” after it underwent routine maintenance at one of the transit agency’s yards earlier in the day. A second bus was returning to the Malvern garage after having a door issue when it too experienced “unexpected acceleration.”
As a precaution, Ross said officials decided to ground the entire 60-foot bus fleet.
“This is a safety issue. We cannot put a bus out on the road that we know has the potential to accelerate unexpectedly. That’s incredibly dangerous for the operator, our customers and other motorists,” Ross said, adding there were no injuries in either incident.
Ross said this is the first time this issue has occurred.
The TTC said it “immediately” contacted Nova, the manufacturer of the articulated buses, and Nova staff identified a software fix needed for the buses. Ross said it will take 20 minutes to apply the fix to each bus and TTC staff won’t be able to apply the fixes for the entire fleet by morning rush hour on Friday.
“We want to manage expectations, so for sure there will be an impact on service,” Ross said, adding it will mean reallocating 40-foot buses from across the TTC’s network.
The articulated buses operate on the following routes:
- 7 Bathurst
- 29 Dufferin
- 36 Finch West
- 41 Keele
- 53 Steeles Express
- 85 Sheppard East
Ross said the TTC’s smaller buses will need to be used to replace the articulated buses on those six routes, which could mean buses being pulled from other routes and delays in the morning.
“We’re trying to do it in a way that will minimize impact,” he said.