People ride a ttc bus on route 101 on January 10, 2011.Fernando Morales/The Globe and Mail
Ryan Baron has taken the 33 Forest Hill bus home from his job at Second Cup six days a week, but after the latest round of TTC cuts, he and his fellow riders will have to walk.
The bus used to provide service until 1 a.m., but it will now end at 7 p.m. on weekdays and it won't run at all on weekends. It is but one of affected routes in a series of changes implemented by the TTC on Sunday.
"It's very, very helpful if it's raining, or it's cold - especially for the senior citizens that are in the area," Mr. Baron said, referencing the nursing home on the corner of Spadina Road and St. Clair Avenue.
He said a lot of customers have complained about the service reduction. The bus travels along Spadina between St. Clair and Eglinton Avenue.
Several route changes will see buses stopping earlier in the evening, some losing their weekend service and others running less frequently.
Four routes in total will stop service at 7 p.m. during the week.
The changes also include added services designed to get people to summer spots such as the Toronto Zoo.
The cuts were originally announced in January, 2010. Public outcry led the TTC to conduct public consultations. The plan was widely criticized, for example, for ending the 101 Parc Downsview Park bus, and the route was reinstated after business owners and users complained.
"The women's roller-derby league attended most of our meetings," TTC spokesperson Danny Nicholson said.
The consultations led to the TTC reducing the number of routes affected by cuts. The current plan will save the TTC $4-million. The money saved will be used to improve the system in congested areas, Mr. Nicholson said.
"It will unfortunately impact many of our customers, but on the other hand resources will go to routes that are busy. Obviously, Finch West bus service is one that comes to mind," he added.
The TTC evaluated its routes and decided which ones to cut based on the number of riders-per-hour each bus attracted in the evenings. Routes with fewer than 10 riders each hour were targeted, Mr. Nicholson said.
Mr. Baron said he recognizes about half the riders on his bus every night.
"It's very useful for the people who do take it and the people who do usually take it religiously."
The TTC has also rolled out adjustments to compensate for school being out of session. These routes will be restored to full capacity in September.
Mr. Nicholson was unable to say whether more changes were coming, but he pointed out the TTC is working on its 2012 budget.
The full list of changes can be found at http://ttc.ca