MEETING DATE: June 12, 2002

SUBJECT: TEMPORARY RAPID TRANSIT SERVICE CHANGES

It is recommended the Commission:

1) Receive this report for information, noting that:

• between September 1, 2002 and January 4, 2003, and between April and October 2003, Scarborough RT service will be replaced by buses after approximately 12:00 midnight Monday to Saturday, and after approximately 11:00 p.m. on Sundays, to expedite the previously-approved Scarborough RT Elevated Structural Rehabilitation state-of-good repair capital project;

• on six Sundays from September 1 to October 6, 2002, Yonge Subway service, north of York Mills Station, will be replaced by buses between approximately 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, to expedite the testing and commissioning of the subway signalling associated with the Sheppard Subway;

• by shortening the length of time required to carry out these necessary construction projects, the temporary rapid transit service changes will minimise the impact on customers, and will result in a more-efficient use of scarce capital funds; and

2. Forward this report to the City of Toronto, York Region, The City of Brampton, and GO Transit.

The temporary replacement of the Scarborough RT with buses, to allow for structural rehabilitation, as described in this report, will result in no net change to operating costs. The extended hours of access to RT structures which this approach will provide to the contractors, will result in savings of approximately $1.5 million in capital costs.

The temporary replacement of the Yonge Subway service, north of York Mills Station, with buses to allow for Sheppard Subway signal testing, will result in no net change in operating costs.

There are two capital projects proceeding in the fall of 2002 that will require the replacement of rapid transit service with bus service for short periods of time on a temporary basis. This report describes the planned service changes for the two projects.

The elevated portion of the Scarborough RT, between Midland and McCowan stations, was constructed in the early 1980’s and has experienced some structural deterioration. At its meeting of November 28, 2001, as part of the 2002-2006 Capital Program, the Commission approved the capital project Scarborough RT Elevated Structure Rehabilitation, which is necessary in order to return the elevated structure to a state of good repair.

The Sheppard Subway is nearing completion. One remaining necessary task is to connect, test, and commission the vital safety-related subway signalling circuits. These signalling circuits control the connecting tracks between the Yonge Subway and the new Sheppard Subway.

The Scarborough RT rehabilitation work must be done in order to return the elevated structure to a state of good repair, and to ensure that the structure reaches the planned 50-year design life. The major part of the work can be done only when service is not operating, which normally is between 1:30 and 5:45 a.m. (8:45 a.m. on Sundays). Shortening the hours of Scarborough RT operation, to increase the available working time, was investigated in order to complete the project within a shorter time period, and to make more efficient use of capital funds. Extending the work window allows more work each evening to occur, as required set-up and take-down components of each night’s work can be applied to a longer time period of actual rehabilitation work. Closing the Scarborough RT approximately one-and-a-half to two hours earlier each night will save approximately $1.5 million dollars in construction costs, and will shorten the duration of the project from approximately 21 months to 10 months, compared to doing the work during the usual evening shut down. This will allow the project to be completed by October 2003.

Several alternatives to the planned late evening closure of the RT were considered. Complete replacement of the Scarborough RT, with buses at all times of the week, is not possible due to the large number of customers who use the RT, the large number of buses which would be required to carry the customers, and the high cost of replacing the RT with buses during the busiest times of the day. Replacing Scarborough RT train service with buses on Sunday mornings or all day on Sundays would not provide the required work time in order to complete the project by October 2003, and would inconvenience more customers than a closure during the late evening. In all cases, for the work window selected, closing earlier was preferred over opening later, as fewer customers are affected in the evening than in the morning.

The service change will occur during two periods, from September 1, 2002 to January 4, 2002, and from April to October 2003. The break from January to April is during the coldest months of winter, when the work cannot be effectively carried out. During these two periods, the Scarborough RT will be replaced by frequent express bus service after approximately 12:00 midnight, from Monday to Saturday, and after approximately 11:00 p.m. on Sundays. The replacement bus service will operate every few minutes between Kennedy and McCowan stations, and the capacity of the replacement bus service will be sufficient to carry all the customers who would ride Scarborough RT trains at these times. One-way travel time on the replacement bus service from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Centre Station will be approximately three minutes longer than the usual Scarborough RT train service; this is achievable because traffic is much lighter at that hour of the night. Approximately 300 customer-trips will be made on the replacement bus service each night from Monday to Saturday, and approximately 400 customer-trips will be made on the bus service each Sunday night.

GO Transit may wish to extend their routes from Scarborough Centre Station to directly connect with the subway during the temporary closure. There is no space available in the TTC’s Kennedy Station bus terminal, but there may be space available at other, alternative locations. TTC staff will assist GO staff in planning for the RT closure.

The direct cost to operate the replacement bus service is roughly equal to the direct cost-savings which will be realised by not operating the Scarborough RT for the duration of the project. Shortening the period required to perform the repairs will reduce the capital cost of the work by an estimated $1.5 million.

Installing, testing, and commissioning a new subway signal installation is complex, time-consuming, and safety-critical work. The new Sheppard Subway signal connections, and the modifications to the existing Yonge Subway signal installations, are extensive and require a commissioning program that is approximately 24 weeks long. Most work is being performed on night shifts, during the usual subway evening closure. Some of the work requires a longer continuous work period. Keeping the Yonge Subway, north of York Mills Station, closed for an additional three hours on six Sunday mornings allows a longer uninterrupted work time for the signals engineering test and commissioning engineer, will permit more-efficient use of signals maintenance workforce, and will reduce the overall time taken to do the work. Sunday mornings are a time of relatively low ridership on the system, and this, together with a shorter overall period of service disruption, means that the effects on TTC customers are minimised. The six Sundays fit within the TTC’s September-October scheduling period, and thus allow the revised service to be formally scheduled, which will ensure reliable operation at the lowest possible additional cost.

Alternatives to the Sunday morning option, which were investigated, include closure of the affected section of the subway on Saturdays, closure during the evenings throughout the week, or having no shut downs of the subway. Sunday mornings were selected because ridership is lower, compared to Saturdays or evenings, and because there already is a longer work window from the end of service on Saturday night until the start of service on Sundays. The option of not shutting down the subway would lengthen the time required to complete the project.

On the six Sundays from September 1 to October 6, 2002 (September 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and October 6), the Yonge Subway, north of York Mills Station, will be replaced by buses from the start of service at 9:00 a.m. until approximately 12:00 noon. Subway trains will operate as far north as York Mills Station. Customers will transfer between subway trains and buses in the enclosed fare-paid bus terminal at York Mills Station. Six major bus routes (53 Steeles East, 60 Steeles West, 39 Finch East, 36 Finch West, 85 Sheppard East, and 84 Sheppard West) will be extended south to York Mills Station, and customers travelling on these routes will not have to transfer to reach the subway. One-way travel time from Finch Station to York Mills Station will be approximately six minutes longer, compared to the usual trip on the Yonge Subway. Approximately 6400 customer-trips will be made on the replacement bus service each Sunday.

The 42 Cummer, 125 Drewry, and 98 Willowdale-Senlac bus routes will not be extended to York Mills Station, because sufficient bus bay space is not available in York Mills Station for these additional routes, and because these routes carry relatively few customers on Sunday mornings, compared to the six major routes which will be extended to York Mills Station. Additional frequent bus service will be operated on Yonge Street to carry these customers, as well as for customers who normally walk to Sheppard Station, North York Centre Station, and Finch Station, and for customers who arrive at the York Region Terminal at Finch Station on GO Transit, York Region Transit, and Brampton Transit bus services. All transfers between buses at Finch Station and Sheppard Station will be made within the covered, sheltered, and fare-paid bus terminals.

These service changes are the same as were successfully operated on eight Sundays in September, October, and November 1999 when Yonge Subway service was shortened at York Mills Station to allow for construction of the Sheppard Subway connecting track structure at Sheppard Station. On those occasions, subway service north of York Mills Station was replaced by buses for the entire day.

GO Transit, York Region Transit, and Brampton Transit may wish to extend their routes south of Finch Station to connect with the subway during the temporary closure. There is no space available in the TTC’s York Mills Station bus terminal, but there may be space available in the GO Transit terminal, or at other, alternative locations. TTC staff will assist GO, YRT, and Brampton staff in planning for the subway closures.

There is no net cost to replace the affected section of the subway with bus service for the six Sundays.

Necessary repair work to the Scarborough RT, and necessary construction work for the Sheppard Subway, must be carried out. The temporary rapid transit service changes shorten the overall construction time, minimise the impact on customers, and reduce the costs of performing this required work.

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May 30, 2002

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