Meeting Date: March 21, 2001

Subject: Post-Implementation Review - 80A Queensway Sunday And Holiday Service To The Western Beaches

Recommendations

It is recommended that the Commission:

1. Approve the discontinuation of summer Sunday and holiday service on the 80A Queensway (Keele Stn-Lake Shore and Windermere) route because of low ridership and unacceptable financial performance; and

2. Forward this report to Councillors Korwin-Kuczynski and Miller.

Funding

The elimination of summer Sunday and holiday service on the 80A Queensway route will result in annual net savings of approximately $4,500 in direct costs.

Background

Several new or revised services were introduced as a result of recommendations in the 1999 Service Plan. One of these was new summer Sunday and holiday service to the western beaches on the 80A Queensway route. An evaluation of this service was included in the report Post-Implementation Reviews – 1999 Service Plan, which was presented to the Commission at its meeting of April 5, 2000. At that meeting, the Commission approved the recommendation to continue, in the summer of 2000, the trial operation of summer Sunday and holiday service on the 80A Queensway (Keele Stn-Lake Shore and Windermere) route to the western beaches, with specific service changes intended to improve its financial performance. This report is the post-implementation review of the revised 80A Queensway service, as operated in 2000.

Discussion

The TTC uses a formal process for planning and evaluating service changes based on the Commission-approved Service Standards. Every new service that the TTC introduces is initially operated on a trial basis. After the trial period, when ridership on the service has stabilized, passenger counts are taken, the performance of the route is reviewed, and a recommendation is made regarding its future. Service changes are reviewed to ensure that the original objective of better service for customers has been met. New routes and extensions, which have been introduced at an additional cost, undergo a financial review to check that the service has met established standards of acceptable financial performance. The overall review also considers comments that have been received from customers and the community, and the experience that has been gained in operating the service.

A service change which has met its performance objectives is recommended to be a regular part of the TTC system. If a service change has been unsuccessful in some way, then a recommendation is made to either make further changes for another trial period or to remove the service.
The compulsory post-implementation review of every trial of a service change ensures that the success or failure of every service change is assessed consistently and fairly, and that there is full accountability to the Commission on matters which affect the service that is provided to customers.

Ridership and financial performance

Summer Sunday and holiday service to the western beaches on the 80 Queensway route first operated from May to September in 1999. Buses on the new 80A Queensway (Keele Stn-Lake Shore and Windermere) branch operated from Keele Station, south on Parkside Drive, west on Lake Shore Boulevard, north on Ellis Avenue, and west on The Queensway. Buses turned around on the South Kingsway overpass over The Queensway, and returned to Keele Station via the reverse routing. This is illustrated in Exhibit 1, attached. The summer Sunday and holiday service was designed to reduce the distance that customers needed to walk between the nearest transit stop and the western beaches.

It was projected in the 1999 Service Plan that the summer Sunday and holiday service would be used for approximately 100 customer-trips each day, and that approximately 70 of these would be new to the TTC.

As noted in the April 5, 2000 report, counts of passengers on the new service taken in the summer of 1999 showed that approximately 95 customer-trips were made each day on the route on Sundays and holidays. The new service attracted 0.21 new customer-trips per dollar of added direct cost, which is below the TTC’s current minimum financial performance standard of 0.23 new customer-trips per dollar of added direct cost. Because the comparison of operating costs against the increase in ridership indicated that the new service failed to meet the TTC’s financial standard, staff evaluated whether any route or service changes could be made which would improve the financial performance of the service.

It was recommended that the hours of operation of the Sunday service be reduced in the summer of 2000, so that the service would be provided only between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., instead of from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. as was operated in 1999. This change would eliminate trips which were very lightly used, and reduce net operating costs. In addition, it was recommended that the service be started in mid-June, 2000 instead of the Victoria Day weekend, as was the case in 1999. This would further reduce the operating cost of the route. These changes were approved by the Commission, and service was operated for a second trial period, between June 11 and September 4, 2000.

Counts of passengers on the service taken in the summer of 2000 show that fewer passengers used the service, compared to the previous year. Approximately 50 customer-trips were made each day on the Sunday service in 2000. Of these trips, 40 trips were made to or from stops on Parkside Drive or The Queensway, and 10 were made to or from stops which directly serve the western beaches.

One bus was used to provide the service, and net direct operating costs in 2000 were approximately $4,500. The service in 2000 attracted 0.13 new customer-trips per dollar of added direct cost, which is below the TTC's current minimum financial performance standard of 0.23 new customer-trips per dollar of added direct cost. The comparison of operating costs against the increase in ridership indicates that the new service fails to meet the TTC’s financial standard.
The service cannot be made less-frequent, as only one bus is used on the route, and the service operates only every 30 minutes. The service has already been adjusted to operate for a shorter period in the summer, and for a shorter period each day than most Sunday services. No service changes can be identified to further reduce costs or improve financial performance. For these reasons, it is recommended that the service not be operated in the summer of 2001.

Justification

The 80A Queensway summer Sunday and holiday service is recommended for elimination because it has an unacceptable financial performance. Service changes and measures to reduce costs have been undertaken, and no additional ones have been found which would improve the financial performance of this route to an acceptable level.

11-84-43

March 12, 2001

Attachment: Exhibit 1: Drawing No. 11558

Filename: Srvplan/Comrep/Pir –80a Queensway