About a quarter of all TTC surface routes exceed crowding standards at some point each week and the transit commission says that delays in the delivery of new streetcars are partly to blame.

TTC Spokesperson Stuart Green confirms to CP24 that 50 of the transit commission’s 196 bus and streetcar routes exceeded crowding standards for at least one given time period when the TTC conducted rider counts in the spring and fall of this year.

Of the 50 routes to exceed crowding standards, 13 did so during the morning or afternoon rush hour while another 30 did so at some point during the weekday, Green confirmed. The remaining overcrowded routes only exceeded the standard on weekends.

The most overcrowded rush hour route was the 505 Dundas streetcar, which carried an average passenger load that is 122 per cent of the TTC’s standard.

Green told the Toronto Star that in most cases the average number of passengers per vehicle was “only slightly in excess” of crowding standards” and in some instances only exceeded the standard by “one or two people.”

Speaking with CP24 on Tuesday, TTC Chair Josh Colle conceded that overcrowding on the system is a cause for concern but said that overall the TTC performs relatively well when it comes to crowding.

“I would say that for the most part our routes are not overcrowded but there is always work to do,” he told CP24 on Tuesday morning. “We want to provide a comfortable ride for people and that is why we are in the midst of ordering 200 streetcars and almost 900 buses.”

Colle said that the overcrowding on bus and streetcar routes can be at least partly explained by the late delivery of new streetcars.

The TTC’s contract with Bombardier initially called for 145 streetcars to be in service by now but the TTC has only has 48 in service right now with another two streetcars currently undergoing testing.

As a result, Colle said that the TTC has been forced to borrow buses from other routes to supplement service when aging streetcars are taken off the roads.

“When we don’t have these streetcars available we are forced into taking buses off of other routes to add service and that creates a problem,” he said.

In 2016, 43 of the TTC’s 155 bus and streetcar route exceeded capacity at least one point every week. Though more routes exceeded capacity in 2017, the percentage of routes exceeding capacity was actually down slightly (from 27 per cent to 25 per cent).