Toronto Transit Commission's 2000 Service Plan
The Planning and Transportation Committee recommends that:
(1)the Toronto Transit Commission be requested to consider enacting a proactive program for extending bus
services, especially on routes with revenues over 60%; and
(2)as the inconvenience of increased waiting time on a number of routes is an important consideration to transit
users, the Toronto Transit Commission be requested, in future, to document the number of customer trips that
would be inconvenienced by each reduction in headway.
The Planning and Transportation Committee submits the following report (September 10, 1999) from A. J.
Chocorlan, Interim General Secretary, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC):
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the TTC's 2000 Service Plan.
This report contains recommendations for transit service improvements in 2000. These service changes are designed to
make transit service in Toronto better by reducing people's walking distance and travel time when using the TTC. The
proposals for the service changes originated with City Councillors, TTC customers, and TTC staff. The report also
contains: a financial review of every TTC service, evaluations of proposals for service changes which could not be
recommended, and post-implementation reviews of service changes which had been on trial.
The Commission has established a period of 10 weeks for consultation by City Councillors on the recommendations in the
2000 Service Plan. We have sent a copy of the report to every City Councillor, so that they may have any discussions they
wish within the neighbourhoods they represent. We have asked the Councillors to provide their comments to the TTC by
no later than November 10, 1999.
The Commission will consider this report again, along with the results of the consultation, at its meeting of December 8,
1999 and will, at that time, make final decisions on whether the recommended service changes will be made.
The foregoing is forwarded to the Planning and Transportation Committee and City of Toronto Council for information.
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(Report No. 19, dated September 1, 1999, from A. J. Chocorlan,
Interim General Secretary, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Recommendations:
It is recommended that the Commission:
(1)approve the recommended service changes described in the attached 2000 Service Plan report and summarised on the
attached page, noting that:
-the service changes would improve service for customers and attract new customers to the TTC;
-the service changes would improve the financial situation of the TTC by increasing revenues with no net increase in
operating costs; and
-approval will initiate a 10-week consultation period, the results of which will be reported to the Commission if concerns
are raised regarding any of the recommended service changes; and
(2)forward this report to Members of City Council, with a request for them to provide comments on the service change
recommendations by November 10, 1999.
Funding
Introduction of the service changes recommended in the 2000 Service Plan would not change the overall operating costs of
the TTC. Four of the changes would be funded using resources made available from service reductions on routes with poor
financial performance. All of the other changes have no cost implications. Overall, the service improvements would
increase fare revenue by approximately $80,000.00 per year, at no net additional cost to the TTC.
Background
Each year the TTC produces a service plan which recommends changes to routes to improve service for TTC customers.
The service plan forms part of the TTC's service standards process, and is based on an evaluation of suggestions for
improvements made by customers, Councillors, and TTC staff.
Reductions in the subsidy provided for public transit by the municipal and provincial governments have made large-scale
expansion or improvement of the TTC network impossible. With decreasing subsidies for transit, the only changes in
transit service which can be considered are those which improve the financial situation of the TTC, and any new services
must be funded through a combination of increased fare revenues and cuts in service elsewhere in the system. TTC
ridership is increasing gradually, and service improvements to accommodate those increases, and to promote further
increases, must be made without any additional subsidy. Because of this reduction in public funding for the TTC, and
because such a high proportion of transit revenue comes from the fares paid by customers, meeting customers' travel needs
has become, more than ever, the key to success for public transit in Toronto.
As has been the case in recent years, because of the constraints on the TTC's budget, the focus of the 2000 Service Plan
has been on the improvement of current services, within the current budget and without increasing peak-period bus
requirements. Changes can often be made at little or no cost which will improve service for customers, attract new
customers to the TTC, and thus increase fare revenue and improve the TTC's overall financial performance.
Discussion
Service standards process
In the preparation of the annual service plan, proposals are received from Councillors, from TTC customers, and from TTC
staff members. These proposals are evaluated using pre-set, objective standards, policies, and criteria. The process and
standards are described in the Service Standards Process report, dated May 1990. The process and standards are also
summarised in Section 1 of the 2000 Service Plan.
A public meeting was held at the Toronto Reference Library on May 20, 1999, to receive comments from TTC customers
on the proposals that had been made by councillors and TTC staff, and also to receive other suggestions for service changes
from TTC customers. Of the suggestions that were made at the meeting, all were reviewed, five were evaluated in detail in
preparing the 2000 Service Plan, and two have led to recommendations for service changes.
Recommended service changes
A total of 32 proposals have been evaluated in preparing the 2000 Service Plan. The recommended service changes are
listed on the attached page, and described in detail in the 2000 Service Plan report.
The recommended service changes include one new route, routing changes on four routes, the introduction of service
during new periods of the day on three routes, and a change to two overnight routes.
These changes would improve service for approximately 300,000 customer-trips each year by reducing the distance that
customers need to walk to or from their nearest bus stop, by reducing the numbers of transfers they need to make, or by
reducing their travel time. It is expected that these service changes would attract approximately 55,000 new customer-trips
to the TTC each year, and thus increase revenue by approximately $80,000.00 each year.
The recommendations increase the costs of operation on one new route and on three present routes. These increased costs
would be borne without changing the overall cost of operation of the TTC system, by using resources made available be
service reductions on routes with low ridership, which have not met the TTC's financial performance standard. The
changes on the routes which do not meet the financial standard are described in Section 3 of the 2000 Service Plan report.
The net effect of all of these changes would be to improve the financial performance of the TTC system.
The TTC's service standards process includes a consultation period between approval of the changes of the Commission
and the introduction of the changes, during which time comments are requested from Councillors. If requested, TTC staff
will attend public meetings or provide additional information regarding the recommendations. At the end of the
consultation period, if no suggestions have been made to change the proposals, then arrangements will be made for the
service changes to begin early in 2000. If changes are suggested, TTC staff will review these suggestions and report to the
Commission before changes are made to the service.
The consultation period for the 2000 Service Plan would begin upon the adoption of this report, and would continue until
November 10, 1999. A report would subsequently be presented to the Commission outlining the results of the consultation.
All of the recommended service changes would be introduced for a trial period of at least six months, and would be subject
to a post-implementation review, to ensure that they achieve the benefits that are expected. The results of the
post-implementation reviews will be presented to the Commission. The 2000 Service Plan report also includes
post-implementation reviews of seven previous service changes.
Justification
The service changes recommended in the 2000 Service Plan report would improve service for approximately 300,000
customer-trips each year by making service more convenient, more direct, and faster. The recommended service changes
should be introduced, to attract new customers to the TTC and thus generate increased fare revenue, and to improve service
for customers without increasing operating costs.
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The Planning and Transportation Committee also had before it the report titled "2000 Service Plan" from A. J. Chocorlan,
Interim General Secretary, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), appended to the foregoing report, which was forwarded to
all Members of Council with the agenda of the Planning and Transportation Committee for its meeting of October 4, 1999,
and a copy thereof is on file in the office of the City Clerk.
