City eyeing bus lane for Spadina after ride times triple

Toronto City Council is set to consider a motion this week that would see a dedicated bus lane temporarily added to a stretch of Spadina Avenue to help reduce travel times which have tripled since streetcar service was suspended on the busy route earlier this summer.

The TTC began work to upgrade overhead wiring along the dedicated streetcar route in June and said the work would be ongoing through December. Since work started, buses have been running in mixed traffic to replace streetcar service along Spadina, making stops at the curb.

In a letter sent to Toronto and East York Community Council earlier this month, Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik said travel times for riders on the route have increased and urgent action is needed.

"Travel times for the Spadina route have tripled since the initiation of the replacement bus service on June 23, 2024," Malik wrote. "Measures such as the deployment of traffic agents at key intersections and the turning around of buses at Front Street have already been implemented."

She said that southbound bus service, south of Queen Street, in particular has "experienced significant congestion" and that continues to be the case even after other measures were implemented.

Malik is proposing a temporary bus lane be created between Richmond Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West in order to reduce travel times.

The southbound bus lane would be created by temporarily removing on-street parking and a taxi stand from the west side of Spadina Avenue, between Richmond and Front streets, until streetcar service resumes in December.

City staff estimate that altogether the bus lane would cost the city $240,000  — $78,586 to install and then remove the lane and about $162,000 in lost parking revenue.

Two southbound traffic lanes would be maintained for other vehicles if the bus lane is installed.

Last year the 510 Spadina route carried an average of 35,184 daily passengers on weekdays, making it one of the busiest streetcar routes in the city.

The motion was approved at community council, but will be considered by full council this week.