Kingston Road Continuous Bus Route A Reality
The 12D Kingston Rd. continuous bus service pilot project was announced officially to the public on Saturday July 28th. The new service will run along Kingston Road from Victoria Park Station to the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus.
A statement from Councillor Crawford’s office said in part…
“A continuous bus route on Kingston Road will be launched this October thanks to the efforts of Councillor Gary Crawford and Councillor Paul Ainslie, with clear community support.”
“The idea for a continuous route has been around for a long time. For years – particularly in the last 5, both Councillors Crawford and Ainslie heard from many residents who thought a continuous bus service would eliminate the necessity for multiple transferring and would support local business. Both Councillors made a commitment to advocate for improved service. At that time the TTC was not supportive as the necessary criteria was not met.”
“Councillor Crawford and Councillor Ainslie persisted, citing new development, the changing population and the need to improve local bus service on Kingston Road. This along with good timing of the five year review gave them another opportunity to go back and ask the TTC to re-consider. In more recent years community support in the form of e-mails, phone calls and a petition started as the Councillors continued their advocacy with the Mayor and the TTC.”
“My residents will be thrilled to be able to get from point A to B without transferring three times. I’m confident the pilot will be successful and look forward to making life a little easier for our communities.” said Councillor Ainslie.
“I’m elated that our communities will be getting the long awaited continuous bus service on Kingston Road. This will make life easier for transit users, cut wait times and ease congestion.” Councillor Crawford commented.
The 12D Kingston Road will run weekdays between 6:00 am and 9:00 am, with service scheduled every 30 minutes, and between 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm, every 25 minutes. TTC Chair Josh Colle expects approximately 1,800 customers will use this new service daily.
As part of standard operating proceedure the TTC will conduct a review of these new services after one year.
Scarborough includes the 902 Markham Rd. Express. The new express bus service along Markham Road is starting in September 4, 2018. It will operate from Warden Station to Sheppard Avenue via Centennial College. Service will operate in the midday and peak periods, from Monday to Friday. Peak period service will be scheduled every 10 minutes and midday service will be scheduled every 15 minutes. The new express bus service will stop at major stops where customer demand is highest.
How important is this announcement? An ususually large number of the public were on hand for the press conference held 9:30 Saturday morning in the parking lot of the Silver Mile By the Bluffs plaza.
Michael Manu said “As I frequent the city, getting into downtown, I don’t have to transfer 3 times to get to where I need to go. It’s just one stop. This is going to benefit me directly but at the same time there is so much traffic along Kingston (Rd.) in the morning… I think it’s important for the long term future of the street especially because of the development West (of Markham Rd.) along Kingston Rd.”