What to know
- Brad Bradford says he would remove priority bus lanes on Kingston Road, Morningside Avenue, Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue if elected mayor.
- His plan would convert the Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue lanes to HOV lanes while keeping the Eglinton Avenue East lanes.
- TTCriders says TTC data shows priority lanes have improved transit travel times and reliability in Scarborough.
- Bradford previously supported a TTC motion to fast-track priority bus lanes, according to TTCriders, while Olivia Chow’s campaign has criticized his change in position.
Transit advocates are pushing back against mayoral candidate Brad Bradford’s plan to remove several priority bus lanes across Scarborough.
Bradford made the announcement in Scarborough Wednesday morning, saying that if elected, he would push to remove priority lanes on Kingston Road, Morningside Avenue, Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue.
Bradford said the proposal is part of a broader effort to deliver the Scarborough East LRT, which is intended to run along the Eglinton Avenue East, Kingston Road, Morningside Avenue and Sheppard Avenue corridor.
The priority bus lanes, which were painted in the fall of 2020, were intended to be temporary while Scarborough waited for the LRT, Bradford said. He also accused incumbent mayor Olivia Chow of not fighting hard enough to secure the rapid transit line.
“They were supposed to build ridership for a train that was coming. The train never came, because this Mayor never fought for it,” Bradford said in a news release.
Read More
Bradford said Toronto drivers lost 100 hours to congestion in 2025 and argued that the priority lanes are not helping reduce congestion.
“The temporary fix became permanent, and the people stuck in traffic beside an empty red lane are paying for a promise City Hall broke,” he said.
Under Bradford’s plan, the priority lanes on Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue would be converted to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.
He also plans to remove the lanes on Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue, although Chow has previously said a transition plan to remove the lanes would be coming forward now that the Scarborough busway is open.
Bradford’s proposal would maintain the red priority lanes on Eglinton Avenue East, which Bradford said carries more buses than any other road in Scarborough. He said the lanes would remain in place until the Scarborough East LRT is funded and under construction.
Transit advocates push back
Transit advocacy group TTCriders was quick to speak out against the proposal, pointing to TTC data showing that trips in both directions along Kingston Road, Morningside Avenue and Eglinton Avenue were five minutes faster per day and had improved reliability by approximately 10 per cent compared with 2019.
The group said removing the lanes would significantly slow down transit trips for Scarborough residents.
“Removing successful bus lanes would mean deliberately making transit slower for thousands of Scarborough riders,” said Andrew Pulsifer, executive director of TTCriders.
Read More
“Scarborough riders constantly tell us that these lanes are working. They move tens of thousands of riders, giving them a faster, more reliable trip. We should be expanding measures like these, not ripping them up.”
TTCriders also pointed out that Bradford was one of the TTC board members who supported a motion to fast-track the priority bus lanes when they were introduced.
The motion argued that advancing priority corridors on a fast-track basis would help improve reliability, safety and customer confidence in the TTC.
Chow’s campaign also weighed in, criticizing Bradford for now seeking to remove lanes that he previously helped install.
“Now, he’s changed his mind. Again. He will say anything to get elected,” the campaign said in a media release.
TTCriders is calling on all mayoral and council candidates to support evidence-based transit improvements and the expansion of transit priority measures aimed at making transit more reliable.
