TTC 8708 on a 116 Morningside service, wearing RapidTO decals
At the Commission's Board meeting on December 12, 2019, the Board approved the 5-Year Service Plan & 10-Year Outlook. Part of the plan included investigation of dedicated lanes in the City of Toronto. In June 2020, the Board was asked to accelerate the roll-out of five bus priority transit corridors. Part of the decision to accelerate the implementation of dedicated bus lanes was to provided capacity relief as the economy began to restart during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many communities along the five corridors were among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and they are home to a large number of essential workers.[1]
The five corridors identified for bus priority were:
Eglinton Avenue East/Kingston Road/Morningside Avenue from Kennedy Subway Station to the University of Toronto, Scarborough.
Jane Street from Eglinton Avenue to Steeles Avenue.
Dufferin Street from Dufferin Gate to Wilson Avenue.
Steeles Avenue West from Yonge Street to Pioneer Village Subway Station.
Finch Avenue East from Yonge Street to McCowan Road.
The Eglinton East corridor would be the first implemented, with a target date of October 2020. The decision was based on ridership and ease of implementation. The Jane Street corridor would follow in the Spring of 2021.[2]
The existing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on Eglinton Avenue East were converted to dedicated bus lanes between Brimley Road to Cedar Drive, while curbside general-purpose lanes on Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue were converted to dedicated bus lanes. The 86 Scarborough, 116 Morningside, 905 Eglinton East Express, and 986 Scarborough Express) utilize the majority of this corridor. The TTC plans to consolidate some of the stops along the corridor, either for all routes or for only the Express routes. The TTC is also investigating moving the 986 Scarborough Express from Eglinton Avenue to Lawrence Avenue and then continuing to Rouge Hill GO Station. The dedicated lanes became active on October 11, 2020.
