Riders are experiencing the first day of service cuts to some transit routes in Toronto, as local changes agreed in the city’s 2023 budget are phased in.
On Sunday, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is making changes to 40 of its routes based on its recent budget, which reduced overall service and increased the cost of an adult fare by 10 cents.
The changes affect Line 2, which runs from Kipling Subway Station in Etobicoke to Kennedy in Scarborough, as well as streetcars on Queen Street and King Street and a range of buses.
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The TTC said the changes “will see reliability improved and capacity will be matched to ridership demand, or both.”
But a recent report from the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) has highlighted where service cuts are taking place. The study, which focused on transit equity in the city, said 28 routes would see both longer and shorter wait times depending on the time of day and 15 routes will see wait times increase only.
On Line 2, for example, the report found that service would be reduced or suspended during four periods of the day and increased only during one. Express bus routes, including the 905 Eglinton, 943 Kennedy and 953 Steeles, are all set to see service reduced without an increase to offset it.
The report suggests that these changes could hit Toronto’s marginalized communities the hardest.
“Our observations indicate that the most marginalized neighbourhoods in Toronto will likely become less accessible than others as a result of these service cuts,” the report said.
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