(Toronto, ON) – Scarborough residents are sounding the alarm that a plan to replace the Scarborough RT with an off-street busway in 2025 has disappeared from City of Toronto plans. The Scarborough RT will be replaced with bus service on November 19, 2023, according to a new staff report.
Residents sound alarm about lack of funding, backtracking on Scarborough RT replacement
(Toronto, ON) – Scarborough residents are sounding the alarm that a plan to replace the Scarborough RT with an off-street busway in 2025 has disappeared from City of Toronto plans. The Scarborough RT will be replaced with bus service on November 19, 2023, according to a new staff report.
“The TTC is sweeping the idea of a dedicated busway under the rug and backtracking on their goal of opening it in 2025,” said Scarborough resident Zain Khurram, the Transit Lead for the Toronto Youth Cabinet. “Scarborough transit users are immensely frustrated that we are not getting the best possible replacement plan when the RT closes this Fall.”
In April 2022, the TTC Board approved the conversion of the Scarborough RT rail corridor right-of-way to a bus roadway between Kennedy Station and Ellesmere Station. The same April 2022 staff report estimated that a Line 3 corridor conversion to an off-street busway could be complete by 2025 and would save 10 minutes compared to on-street bus service.
But a new staff report that will be debated by the Executive Committee next week makes no mention of the promised 2025 opening date for a busway, and appears to backtrack on the possibility that a busway will be constructed at all. The same report recommends on-street bus lanes starting November 2023, which TTCriders supports.
“Priority bus lanes are the bare minimum so replacement shuttle buses don’t get stuck in traffic. We are shocked that the busway promised last year seems to have disappeared from the timeline,” said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of transit advocacy group TTCriders. “Staff estimated last year that converting the RT rail corridor into a busway will save transit users up to 10 minutes in each direction.”
TTCriders surveyed hundreds of Scarborough RT users in the summer of 2021. The overwhelming majority supported on-street bus-only lanes and transforming the RT rail corridor into an off-street busway with green public space for cycling and walking. The group also supports keeping the iconic RT infrastructure for public use, such as the Highline park in New York City.
Scarborough residents and transit users will speak at the May 2nd Executive Committee to call for bus-only lanes and the conversion of the RT rail corridor into a busway.
Quick facts and background documents:
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In April 2022, the TTC Board voted to approve the conversion of the Line 3 right-of-way between Kennedy Station and Ellesmere Station to a bus roadway. Staff estimated that a trip from Scarborough Centre Station to Kennedy Station via the converted busway would take 15 minutes, compared to up to 25 minutes using on-street bus service.
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The TTC reported in February 2023 that the capital costs of converting Line 3 to a right-of-way for bus operation would be $58.6 million (Class 4 estimate). The same report notes that the province has been asked for funding, but that the province had not committed any funding to date.
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The staff report that will be debated by the Executive Committee on May 2, 2023 does not include any references to 2025 or any target opening date for a converted busway. Instead, the report states: “The bus replacement service will continue operating on-street until either the existing SRT right-of-way between Kennedy Station and Ellesmere Station is converted to a dedicated busway (subject to funding availability) or the SSE begins service, whichever occurs first.”
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Link to a TTCriders community report based on surveys with Scarborough transit users.
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