I took the 129 bus to work today at around 2:00pm and it was literally packed with people. I have lived in this city my whole life and I have never seen TTC buses this full during off hours. Anyone know why this is happening now?
Why are TTC buses much more full now even during weekdays and off hours?
TransitYes I have to agree I live in Markham and sometimes take the 129 as it also come to Markham also I find the yrt/viva is busy especially now the weather is getting nicer/warmer I find the bus gets a bit busier on nice warm days even when it’s not rush hour.
Ppl are also poorer. Unable to afford cars and gas
And yet traffic is still terrible lmao
Because it will always be terrible. Cars = inefficient use of space.
But if no one can afford a car/gas, why is there so much traffic?
Fewer buses, coming less frequently, so more people waiting/riding. Plus if there's any subway shutdown that requires shuttles, they pull those off active routes.
"If" - lol
The 129 is on a 10-minute interval so it shouldn't be too few buses.
Fun little anecdote, the bus across the street from me is supposed to come every 10 minutes. I waited half an hour, and then 3 of them came by simultaneously.
I tend to just Uber or walk now when I can.
So on average that's 10 minutes lol
Technically correct 😂
The best kind of correct!
Believe it or not, that actually is how the reporting works. That's "on time service" according to TTC metrics.
That's also like how recovery time counts as "in service." So if a bus is scheduled to take 80 minutes to complete its route, and it takes 70 minutes, the driver parks the bus and goes and chats. If the bus takes 80 minutes, they load and take off again. Same if it takes 90 minutes.
The problem is the bus takes 70 minutes 90% of the time, and those buses sit not moving for ten minutes at each turnaround and it still counts as in service.
Any stat the TTC puts out needs a major asterisk explaining all the ways they play with the numbers.
Whut? That's crazy. You're kidding right? That actually would explain a lot....
I guess this will explain the delay in finishing the Eglinton Line....with that calculation, they're right on track on finishing on time in their books
That's a mean thing to say.
A lot of its passengers would be on the LRT normally lmao
129 is def not at 10 mins even if they say they are. I wait on avg 15-20 mins for it at least.
Too few for the number of riders it sounds like
The RT closure probably doesn't help.
The 129 goes from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre. I'm guessing with Line 3 out of commission this is now becoming one of the alternative options.
The 129 used to end at STC. It looks like it's been extended to Kennedy with additional stops in between. So yeah, it makes perfect sense that the 129 between Kennedy and STC is a lot more crowded.
Your bus specifically? The LRT is gone without a replacement
Summer unofficially started.
The TTC is trying to run at full capacity on all of its routes. They will cut the number of buses/streetcars/subways on routes so that each bus they do run is mostly full. This saves them money. Less busses used, less drivers being paid to work, less gas used, etc.
In the past the goal was to create ridership growth, so they would run more busses, streetcars and subways than needed, so that people would actually like taking transit, as it wasnt jammed full. The problem was their ridership growth strategy, which ended maybe 10 years ago or more, was too successful and it also lost them money.
Now its being run like every other company, use as few resources (buses, staff) as possible to make the bottom line look better. Covid only made things worse. They cut services during COVID because of less demand and less staff availability, and were slow to ramp back up to preCovid services and probably arent fully back to preCovid service levels in many places.
I remember 15-20 years ago the TTC had this big push for 10-min or less bus service on pretty much every major bus route in the cities. That has been long forgotten. Even subway wait times are much worse than in the past. I rarely saw wait times of more than five minutes for the subway 15-20 years ago, now on Line 2 you are lucky if it's around five minutes.
There are probably 50 other reasons why but to TL/DR it: Money. It costs money to run empty buses.
Canada's population went up by over a million last year. A good chunk of that growth would be in the Toronto area, which is also why housing is so expensive.
lol the exact same reason why you were on the bus
this has me contemplating what i want in my life. i cant afford to drive AND pay rent on my own, but public transit outside of the city is worse than the ttc. ive been noticing that i will leave the house in a good mood and return in angry tears , not from work; but from my commute. I was just having a really nice afternoon and got on the bus home it was absolutely packed. People were bumping into me. People were brushing up against my bum. knocking into me whatever. At one stop two extremely drunk 60-year-old men get on the bus and start pushing their way into the back of the bus & I saw under my breath "I need to get the fuck off this bus" and one of the assholes goes "why do you have to be ignorant about it" & i snapped. i said "first of all i wasnt even speaking to you, secondly, take a fucking look around you. This is extremely uncomfortable. are you comfortable?! this is every fucking day man." and he shut himself right the fuck up. I was happy before I got on the bus. Life is literally too short to have your happiness stolen by miserable idiots on the ttc yet somehow it seems inevitable.
I was happy before reading this comment lol
public transit was easily the worst part of my day in the morning and evening. TTC is absolute garbage and a life drainer. im so glad i get to work from home now.
I am really thinking of just ubering it because the stress and anxiety of transit sucks in the gta. It will be $18 each way but worth the peace of mind. Although it will eat away at my retirement goals.
thinking the same thing friend
I figure transit is already $10 a day so why not pay the extra $20 and just do uber for peace of mind and its still cheaper than owning a car not to mention driving in this crazy city is nuts!
Start biking. Or get an ebike. Much more enjoyable
TTC post covid is trash. Used to take it daily and didn’t own a car. Now a days i wouldn’t sell my car for any reason
TTC? That’s an interesting way to spell life
TTC = Take The Car
Increased in # of mandatory RTW days. Sigh...
I Am slowly accepting the fact that population is growing faster than the past…
Way faster, we’ve been at record breaking immigration for 2 years now with more records set to break
Another factor that no one has mentioned yet is the increasing push for 'Return to Office' across the private and public sector. Pulling people into the office puts more strain on roadways and public transit for everyone.
People can't afford cars now with everything getting expensive.
More cars is not the solution
Why does it feel like these questions are just bait lol. You know why, we all know why!
Well more people living in the city but also fewer people driving cars. New and used Car prices are still very high also high insurance and maintenance costs. Given the hcol, people are putting off car purchases.
This is why the city's focus needs to be on ensuring good public transit but looking at our subway service feels like we're going in the opposite direction.
RT closure, more people being forced back into offices, unreliable bus schedules
The LRT used to carry a lot of these people north. Now they ride busses
service cuts out the wazoo
Hundreds of people arrive from overseas EVERY DAY.
It's awful. Now that I have a kid I want to travel at non peak times for appointments but it's impossible. Every bus is always crowded. Post pandemic there is no rush hour. Every hour is rush hour.
Cause the city took in alot of students who don't drive
This is the correct answer.
False They drive Uber eats 99% of their “student” life
Insurance for a car is like $300 to $400 a month for anyone under 35.
I'd be taking Transit too.
Friend is early thirties and just got his G2. $900/month for insurance
Wtf im in a similar situation in van and pay 150$ a month
It's not much less when your old
Uncle Justin opened the borders! Expect it to get a lot worse through to 2026.
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1mo
No concern-trolling, personal attacks, or misinformation. Stick to addressing the substance of their comments at hand.
Because less people are moving here. What do you think!
Follow TTC on Twitter for regular updates. They tweet everything right away. There’s been a lot of repair work going on and off.
busses are packed pretty much open to close now lol
I've never taken a nightbus that wasn't packed
Because more people are taking them
People choosing not to drive.
University and college winter semesters are now over...
You should have seen it before Covid
Students I would guess. A lot of classes end midday now and most students commute via transit. I myself am on the streetcars 3 days a week in the middle of the day along with several of my classmates.
its a festival of misery
People live on them now.
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1mo
Better infrastructure, appropriate transit???? Is that CRAZY????
You’re outta line, politicians think there’s an infinite amount of ppl you can fit into an already crammed system
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1mo
😂
Apparently
Because more people. Too many people.
north south train partial shutdown. that might be near you
We don’t have jobs bro
The Feds keep letting in 100,000 immigrants to Canada every single month, with no consideration to how that hurts housing, healthcare, and transportation. And none of the major parties are promising to change that.
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1mo
No racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance, dehumanizing speech, or other negative generalizations.
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1mo
No concern-trolling, personal attacks, or misinformation. Stick to addressing the substance of their comments at hand.
Too many Tim Hortons employees going to work!
700k new canadians
this reeks of sarcasm lmao
That is a good thing. Buses should never run empty or near empty
Can you provide more detail, such as what kind of people were there?
Maybe it’s always been this way
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more people
more shift work
more crowding