New Streetcar and Bus Changes At The Distillery - Starting June 19th

With the beginning of spring, several changes are in the works and will likely impact public transit in and around The Distillery. With recent approval by the TTC board, these new bus and streetcar routes are scheduled to come into effect starting June 19th, 2016.
 
In views of improving transit between the East and the Central Downtown areas, the planned route introductions and changes are proposed as follow:
 
BUS:
 
· Introduction of a revised 72B PAPE service operating between Pape Station and Union Station, via Queens Quay. This service will run every 14 minutes during peak hours and every 16 to18 minutes on off-peak times. Service on Pape St./Carlaw Ave. (north of Eastern) will operate every 7 to 9 minutes at all times.
 
· Introduction of a new 121 FORT YORK-ESPLANADE service scheduled to operate between The Distillery District and the Fort York Neighbourhood via Union Station. This route will run every 12 to 15 minutes through Fort York Blvd., Front St., The Esplanade and Mill Street. An extended service of this route to Cherry Beach will run during the summer.
 
· Once the 121 FORT YORK-ESPLANADE extended route service starts, 172 CHERRY STREET bus route will be eliminated and no longer run.
 
STREETCAR:
 
The long awaited streetcar service running on the East side of The Distillery District will be incorporated as part of the new routes.
 
The introduction of the 514 CHERRY route between The Distillery´s Loop on Cherry St (south of Mill St) and the Dufferin Gates Loop, will provide Cherry Street, King Street, and Dufferin Street with increased route service. As part of the plans, the 514 CHERRY route is expected to run on the new FLEXITY low-floor streetcars. These streetcars are wheelchair accessible; PRESTO equipped and support higher passenger capacity.
 
514 CHERRY will operate as an overlay to the 504 KING streetcar and replace most or all of the existing supplementary bus services.
 
Route frequency is scheduled between 8 to 9 minutes on peak hours and within 15-minute intervals on off-peak times. Exact details for the service schedules will most likely only occur once a service plan is drawn up, after June 19th initial operation starts.
 
Considering that most residential units at our neighbouring Canary District are scheduled to start being handed over to their new owners before mid April, the timing is just about right! 

Image Source: TTC