Letter: TTCriders calls for Bus-only lanes on the Waterfront East

Read our letter in support of bus-only lanes and other transit priority measures on Queens Quay East, Parliament Street and Front Street West to ensure thousands of residents along growing waterfront communities and students attending George Brown College have reliable bus service.

Re: EX21.4 - Transit Priority on Queens Quay East - Interim Priority Bus Lanes

March 26, 2025

Dear Mayor Chow and Members of City Council,

TTCriders is a grassroots, membership-based organization advocating for more reliable, accessible, and dignified public transit across Toronto. We are writing in support of bus-only lanes and other transit priority measures on Queens Quay East, Parliament Street and Front Street West to ensure thousands of residents along growing waterfront communities and students attending George Brown College have reliable bus service to get to work, school, and everywhere in between.

Reliable transit options between east downtown neighbourhoods and the waterfront are solely lacking, especially when compared with transit connections to the west waterfront. Compared to 2021, transit travel times on Queens Quay East take up to 11 minutes longer, and a majority of riders have opted to walk further to streetcar and subway stations to access transit amid unreliable bus service. In addition, Wheel-Trans users regularly face barriers due to the blockage of designated accessible drop-off/pick-up areas by parked cars in the downtown area. Proposed bus-only lanes and other priority measures will get transit riders out of congestion, improve travel times by up to 30%, and significantly improve service reliability for riders. The addition of bus-only lanes and dedicated spaces for a bus layover at Union Station will also allow for greater accessibility and safety for riders who rely on Wheel-Trans service in the area.

Bus-only lanes are already improving transit service for tens of thousands of commuters in Scarborough. RapidTO measures on Eglinton Avenue East, Kingston Road, and Morningside Avenue improved bus service reliability by 12% and saved transit riders 11 minutes per day after they were installed.² Bus-only lanes are a proven measure for more reliable and faster transit. Implementing bus-only lanes and other transit priority measures will win more people onto transit, tackle congestion, and help Toronto achieve its TransformTO climate goals.

We strongly urge City Councillors to vote in support of implementing bus-only lanes and transit priority measures to ensure riders have reliable, accessible, and fast transit service.

Sincerely,

TTCriders

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Toronto, ON — TTCriders, a membership-based transit advocacy organization, is celebrating a victory today as, after hearing a marathon six hours of speakers, with most voicing support on the issue, the Executive Committee approved RapidTO dedicated transit lanes on Bathurst and Dufferin Streets. This would not have been possible without transit riders standing up and speaking in favour of this common-sense solution.

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RE: EX25.4 - RapidTO: Transit Priority on Dufferin Street and Bathurst Street

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Toronto — Transit riders gathered this morning at Dufferin Subway Station alongside TTCriders, the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), and Environmental Defence Canada (EDC) to call on Toronto City Council to implement long-promised dedicated transit lanes on Dufferin and Bathurst streets.