Torontonians are calling on the city to install more bus lanes on other busy roads after it quickly approved installing a temporary bus lane on Spadina Avenue.
The city has started to remove on-street parking and a taxi stand on the west side of Spadina Avenue between Richmond Street West and Front Street West, and keeping two lanes for southbound traffic.
This comes after city council unanimously approved a motion to prioritize a bus lane on southbound Spadina Avenue, put forward by Deputy Mayor and Ward 10- Spadina-Fort York Councillor Ausma Malik last Thursday.
Last month, the TTC replaced its 510 Spadina streetcars with shuttle buses to work on track and power line upgrades. This change is expected to last until January 2025 when the project is completed.
READ MORE: Transit on Spadina is a mess. Viral video shows TTC buses stuck and piled up in traffic
As a result, there’s been a pile of buses coinciding with ongoing traffic and it has caused frustration and headaches for drivers and commuters.
READ MORE: Toronto councillor calls for ‘urgent’ installation of priority bus lanes along Spadina
Malik sent a letter proposing the idea earlier this month, citing tripled travel times for the 510 Spadina route since the introduction of the replacement buses.
Transit advocacy group TTC riders said it supported Malik’s motion.
“Transit riders on Spadina urgently need solutions to get moving. Riders have reported that trips on the Spadina replacement bus are taking longer than those walking or cycling,” it said in a statement to Now Toronto earlier this month.
The estimated total cost for the bus lane is $240,000. The city’s transportation staff says it costs roughly $78,000 to install the bus lane, plus $162,000 in estimated revenue loss from removing street parking.
According to the TTC, installation/painting for the lane started on Sunday night.
In response to the upcoming bus lane, many Torontonians say the update is long overdue.
“The bare minimum that should have been approved MONTHS before the scheduled closure. Our city deserves better and our progressives need to start thinking like progressives ASAP,” one X user said.
“So council approves a dedicated bus lane, and it will get installed next week? This proves that it’s possible to get dedicated bus-only lanes in a very short amount of time,” another user pointed out.
“Toronto needs a lot more than that to help reduce the traffic chaos,” another user commented.
Other online users are also calling for a dedicated bus lane on Dufferin Street as well.
“On the one hand, I’m glad measures are being taken to speed up buses on Spadina. On the other hand, I can’t help but question why this can’t be done on other streets that desperately need it like Dufferin,” one user said on X.
“Let’s do Dufferin priority bus lane next. If we can build the Spadina priority bus lane in a week, we shouldn’t have to wait 2 years for the World Cup to build the Dufferin priority bus lane. It’s literally paint,” Toronto lawyer April Engelberg said.
