How full does a
bus have to be before it is considered overcrowded? Doug MacEachern
works in northeast Toronto, along a TTC bus line that also serves
Humber College. The “Highway 27 Rocket”, or route 191, travels along
highways 427 and 27 from Kipling station, and this is not the first
time I have heard of problems on the line.
He writes,
“Every morning and evening this bus is overcrowded to the extent
that people are standing in the step-wells. I contacted the TTC to
ask if they have a maximum number of passengers allowed on a bus
that travels at high speeds on a highway. I was not given an answer
to that question and was advised to call in with the bus
(identification) numbers when this occurs.
“Many mornings
I have to wait for three or four buses till I can finally squeeze
onto one. I have waited over 45 minutes for a bus that is scheduled
to run every 10 minutes at rush hour. I should not have to pay to
ride on a service that I feel is unsafe and truly overcrowded.”
Mr. MacEachern
recently switched routes and says many riders are concerned about
the 191.
TTC general
superintendent of surface transportation Howard Smith says “Be it
highway or in the city, our policy is there is a white line behind
the operator and theoretically, technically and officially the
operator is not supposed to move that vehicle until everybody is
behind that white line.
“Now having
said that, I mean, our operators try to do the right thing --
knowing that the buses are crowded.” Since September, Smith says the
191 and many other routes have become overcrowded or delayed in
traffic congestion. If a driver orders people off the bus, this
“again delays the service more and more and more,” he says.
The TTC
monitors all routes using two principal criteria: reliability and
crowding. The transit agency aims to keep buses and streetcars
properly spaced 75 per cent of the time. Smith reports that the
Highway 27 Rocket was running at 72 per cent before September, but
“it’s now dropped down to roughly 52 per cent.”
The TTC also
has standards on how crowded a bus can be before more service is
added. There is a catch -- the number of riders is averaged over an
hour. If buses bunch up, some vehicles could be empty while others
are overfull, and the average number of passengers may be within the
TTC limit.
Smith says the
191 was discussed last week at a regular meeting of bus operators
and route supervisors. Scott Haskill of the TTC service planning
department also told me that passenger counts are done regularly on
transit routes and that he was waiting for one from the 191.
Both TTC
departments will meet Wednesday to decide whether more buses can be
added to the Highway 27 route, and if so, how soon. Look for an
update in Thursday’s column.