Service was suspended along a six-station stretch of Line 1 for about 90 minutes on Tuesday but a decision that was quietly made by the TTC more than a year ago meant that there were no shuttle buses ordered.
Service was suspended between St. Andrew and Bloor-Yonge stations from about 11:10 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. due to a personal injury at track level at King Station.
Though the TTC often brings in shuttle buses to transport stranded riders during extended service disruptions such as the one that occurred Tuesday, it turns out that a new policy was put in place about 18 months ago to not dispatch shuttle buses when the interruption occurs in the downtown core and is not expected to last for more than two hours.
As a result, shuttle buses were not used to supplement service on Tuesday. Instead, the TTC advised riders to use the University line, which was unaffected by the suspension of service.
“The Yonge line and University line are less than two kilometres apart from one another and are excellent alternatives to one another should either line be suspended south of Bloor,” TTC Spokesperson Brad Ross told CP24.com. “Running shuttles in the core serves only to make traffic worse and give a false hope of a fast trip given how crowded they can get, and frankly, how long it takes them to get in place.”
According to Ross, the decision to stop dispatching shuttle buses during downtown service interruptions was made by TTC management and did not go to the TTC board as it was “operational” in nature.
