More than six months ahead of schedule, the Scarborough Busway is set to open on Sept. 30.
The four-kilometre busway will operate between Kennedy and Ellesmere stations then connect to Scarborough Town Centre through Ellesmere Road’s priority bus infrastructure. Trips between Kennedy and Scarborough Town Centre are expected to take 15 minutes.
City officials say it will carry more than 118,000 riders and save commuters over an hour of travelling each week.
“Investing in public transit is a win-win situation and not only will this speed up TTC commuters but it will help ease congestion for everybody,” said Mayor Olivia Chow.
The busway is in place until the three-stop Scarborough subway extension project is completed. It will see Line 2 Bloor-Danforth extended to McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue East. The extension isn’t expected to open until 2030.
The shuttle bus plan was rolled out in November 2023 after a Line 3 Scarborough RT train derailment on July 24 of that year forced an early closure of the aged corridor.
“Transit riders in Scarborough deserve high-quality, reliable transit service that works for them,” said TTC Chair Jamaal Myers. “The Busway will serve thousands of TTC customers while the subway extension is being completed and will continue to expand and enhance transit in the city.”
The TTC will begin testing the Busway in early September to try and correct any issues before service officially begins at the end of the month.
Eight different TTC bus routes are expected to use the Busway and offer frequent express service to try and match the old Line 3 passenger demand.
The RT replacement bus lanes on Kennedy Road and Midland Road in Scarborough will also be removed when the Busway is in service.
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