Scarborough Busway Brings Faster Trips for Riders

The opening of the Scarborough Busway marks an important turning point for transit in Toronto’s east end. After years of uncertainty, disruption and frustration, Scarborough riders finally have something they can use today: a dedicated transit corridor designed around the practical needs of passengers.

The story behind the busway is complicated. The Scarborough Rapid Transit line, Line 3, opened in 1985 and served the community for almost four decades. But by the 2020s, the system was operating more than 10 years beyond its original design life. The TTC had already decided in 2021 that Line 3 would be decommissioned in 2023 and replaced temporarily by buses until the Scarborough Subway Extension opened.

Then came the July 24, 2023, derailment near Ellesmere Station. The subsequent investigations identified failures involving the reaction rail and its anchor bolts, while also raising concerns about maintenance practices, defect reporting and the reduction of some preventive-maintenance activities as the line approached closure.

Those findings should not be forgotten. They are reminders that an aging transit system cannot be allowed to coast toward retirement without rigorous maintenance and oversight. After all, the City of Vancouver built its SkyTrain network at the same time as Scarborough’s using the same type of train cars, and, with dedicated maintenance, it’s still running today. But it is equally important to recognize that the derailment did not create the underlying problem. Line 3 was already approaching the end of its useful life, and the TTC had already determined that permanent replacement was necessary. After the derailment, the agency made the sensible decision not to restart train service and instead accelerate the transition to buses

For passengers, however, the interim solution was far from ideal. Buses operating on Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue had to contend with ordinary traffic, making journeys slower and less predictable. Scarborough riders were being asked to accept a temporary arrangement while waiting years for the subway extension.

The busway changes that equation.

The four-kilometre dedicated corridor follows much of the former Line 3 right-of-way between Kennedy and Ellesmere. Buses will use dedicated infrastructure rather than competing with regular traffic, with stops at Tara Avenue, Lawrence East and Ellesmere before continuing along priority lanes to Scarborough Centre. The TTC expects the trip between Kennedy and Scarborough Centre to take about 15 minutes — roughly seven minutes faster than the existing replacement service.

That may sound like a modest improvement, but for people making the trip every day, seven minutes each way adds up. The TTC estimates that riders will save more than an hour a week. More than 100,000 passenger trips are expected to use the corridor each week.

Perhaps most encouraging is that the project has been accelerated and is opening more than six months ahead of its previously projected schedule.

The Scarborough Busway cannot erase the mistakes and disappointments of the past. It can, however, demonstrate what happens when an old transit problem is approached pragmatically: preserve valuable public infrastructure, put passengers first, and build a solution that works now.

For Scarborough, that is a welcome new beginning.

Scarborough Busway Toronto transit TTC Scarborough transit Line 3 Scarborough RT Kennedy Station Scarborough Centre Lawrence East Ellesmere Station Scarborough Subway Extension

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