503 Kingston Rd

The 503 Kingston Rd (303 Kingston Rd during overnight periods) is an east–west Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. The 503 Kingston Rd travels on a route to the downtown financial district from the Bingham Loop along Kingston Road and shares much of its track with the 501 Queen and 504 King. Originally a rush-hour service, the route was upgraded in September 2019 to run weekdays excluding evenings after the consolidation of 502 Downtowner service into this route.^[3] Route 503 in combination with overnight route 303 provide combined 24-hour service.^[4]

503 Kingston Rd
A 503 Kingston Rd car proceeds east along King Street, bound for Victoria Park Avenue
Overview
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	Victoria Park Avenue (Bingham Loop, east) York Street (503, west) Roncesvalles Avenue (303, west)
Stations	St. Andrew King
Website	Official route page
Service
Type	Streetcar route
System	Toronto streetcar system
Route number	503 (303 Kingston Rd during overnight periods)
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Rolling stock	Flexity Outlook
Daily ridership	9,417 (2022, weekdays)[1]
Technical
Line length	9.8 km (6.1 mi)[2]
Track gauge	4 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1,495 mm)
Electrification	600 V DC overhead
Route map Legend York Street Union Station  6   6A  King Station  97B  Victoria Street Church Street Jarvis Street Sherbourne Street  75  Ontario Street Parliament Street  65  Trinity Street Sackville Street Sumach Street 501 & 502 to downtown King Street East River Street  501   502  CN Kingston sub. CP Bala sub. Don River Don Valley Parkway Carroll Street Broadview Avenue  504  ↓ Saulter Street/Boulton Avenue ↑ CN Lakeshore sub. Empire Avenue ↓ Booth Avenue Logan Avenue Carlaw Avenue  72  Pape Avenue  72  ↓ Caroline Avenue/Brooklyn Avenue ↑ Jones Avenue  83  Leslie Street ↓ Laing Street/Alton Avenue ↑ Greenwood Avenue  31  Russell Carhouse Connaught Avenue ↓ Woodward Avenue/Kent Road ↑ Coxwell Avenue  22  ↓ Eastern Avenue/Queen Street ↑  22B   501  Woodbine Loop 501 to Neville ↓ Dixon Avenue/Dundas Street East ↑ Columbine Avenue Rainsford Road Woodbine Avenue  92  Elmer Avenue ↓ Waverly Road/Brookside Drive ↑ Lee Avenue Main Street (Southwood Drive)  64  Walter Street Glen Manor Drive St. John Church Malvern Avenue Beech Avenue Scarborough Road Bingham Avenue Victoria Park Avenue Bingham Loop  12   22A   502  Transfer stop Sunday-only stop Carhouse Route: Connection  00  Terminus  00  This diagram: view talk edit

Route

Starting at the Bingham Loop on Victoria Park Avenue, the 503 runs southwest on Kingston Road then turns west along Queen Street. At the Queen Street Viaduct bridging the Don River, it then turns southwest along King Street, enters the King Street Transit Priority Corridor but leaves it by running south of King Street via Church, Wellington and York Streets. In the vicinity of St. Andrew station, the 503 returns eastbound on King Street.^[5]

Overnight, this route operates with streetcars as 303 Kingston Rd, a part of the Blue Night Network, with a 30-minute frequency. The eastern terminal of both routes 303 and 503 is Bingham Loop, but the western terminals are different: Roncesvalles Avenue for route 303^[4] and York Street for route 503.^[6]

History

See also: 502 Downtowner § History

Two streetcar routes, 503 Kingston Rd and 502 Downtowner, serve Kingston Road. Route 502 Downtowner was originally named "Kingston Rd" while 503 Kingston Rd was originally named "Kingston Rd Tripper". The Kingston Rd route (today's 502 Downtowner) ran from the McCaul Loop to the Birchmount Loop until 1954 when it was cut back to the Bingham Loop.^[7][8] By 1968, the rush-hour route Kingston Rd Tripper (today's 503 Kingston Rd) was appearing in TTC Ride Guides.^[9] "Tripper" here means a rush-hour variant of a base route which in this case was the Kingston Rd route (today's 502 Downtowner).^[10][11]

In 1973, the Kingston Rd route was renamed to "Downtowner" (today's 502 Downtowner) with a route extension to Bathurst station that was revoked in 1984. Also in 1973, with the renaming of "Kingston Rd" to "Downtowner", the Kingston Rd Tripper became simply "Kingston Rd" and ultimately the 503 Kingston Rd.^[10]

Until December 29, 2015, the 503 Kingston Rd route operated with streetcars from Bingham Loop (Victoria Park and Kingston Road) to York Street (via King, Church and Wellington Streets),^[12] after which temporary replacement bus service served the route also from Bingham Loop to York Street.^[13] Starting June 19, 2017, streetcars resumed operating on the route but to Spadina Avenue (Charlotte Loop) instead of York Street as the western terminal.^[14]

From July 31, 2017, until February 16, 2018, buses replaced streetcars on the 503 Kingston Rd route due to a shortage of streetcars resulting from the late delivery of the new Bombardier Flexity Outlook streetcars.^[15][16] The buses operated from Bingham Loop to York Street.^[17]

On February 20, 2018, streetcars returned to route 503 Kingston Rd running from Bingham Loop to Spadina Avenue. However, the roles of routes 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd were reversed. Prior to that date, route 502 provided base workday service supplemented by route 503 in the rush hours. Since that date, route 503 provides base service while route 502 provides rush-hour-only service. These changes were to support the King Street Pilot Project^[16] which resulted in increased ridership along downtown King Street.^[18] However, effective September 2, 2018, these changes were reversed, but 503 Kingston Rd continued to operate with streetcar service west to Spadina Avenue.^[19]

On January 7, 2019, the 503 route returned to shuttle bus operation to accommodate construction along Wellington Street. Buses used York street as the western terminal.^[20][21] Effective September 3, 2019, the 502 Downtowner service was suspended and replaced with the 503 Kingston Rd service to accommodate some construction projects. Route 503 service was upgraded to operating weekdays excluding evenings instead of just during rush hours.^[3][22] The construction projects ended in November 2019; however, the consolidation of Kingston Road service into 503 Kingston Rd remained in effect.^[23]

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of ridership on the TTC. As a result, on March 24 the TTC shortened the 503 Kingston Rd route to run only along Kingston Road between Bingham Loop and Woodbine Loop.^[24] Then, effective May 11, the 22A Coxwell bus replaced the remainder of the 503 route full-time^[25][26]

On June 22, 2020, streetcar service returned to the route, running from Bingham Loop to Spadina Avenue (Charlotte Loop). Service was provided by the low-floor, accessible Flexity Outlook streetcars.^[27] Starting September 4, 2022, 503 streetcars were diverted to Bathurst Street (Wolseley Loop).^[28] Effective November 21, 2022, the TTC scheduled buses to replace streetcars on the route to allow upgrades to the overhead wires for pantograph operation. Replacement buses operated from Bingham Loop to York Street.^[29]

On May 7, 2023, route 503 Kingston Rd was suspended and replaced partially and temporarily with a diversion of the 505 Dundas streetcar. Unlike the 503 route, the 505 diversion would serve Kingston Road both day and evening, seven days per week. From Dundas Street, the 505 streetcar would divert south on Broadview Avenue, east on Queen Street and Kingston Road, terminating at Bingham Loop.^[30] The reason for the 505 diversion was the rebuilding of the streetcar loop at Broadview station and construction work on Broadview Avenue north of Gerrard Street.^[31]

Effective July 4, 2023, the TTC reinstated the 503 route using replacement buses running between Bingham Loop and York street until 8:00 pm daily. After 8:00 pm, the 505 Dundas streetcar would replace the 503 bus along Kingston Road.^[32] Effective July 30, 2023, 503 buses replaced 505 streetcars in the evening along Kingston Road with the result that the 503 route would provide service all day and all evening, 7 days per week between Bingham Loop and York Street.^[33]

On October 8, 2023, streetcars replaced buses on route 503, operating again to Spadina Avenue (Charlotte Loop). Although the downtown loop via Church, Wellington and York Streets opened on the same day, the TTC temporarily assigned a diversion of the 501 Queen route instead of 503 to this loop.^[34]

Effective September 1, 2024, the TTC created overnight route 303 Kingston Rd running between Victoria Park Avenue (Bingham Loop) and Roncesvalles Avenue, thus providing 24-hour service on Kingston Road west of Victoria Park Avenue.^[4]

On October 6, 2024, the western terminus of 503 Kingston Rd streetcar reverted back to York Street.^[6]

Sites along the line

From east to west:

• Upper Beaches
• Leslieville
• South Riverdale
• George Brown College
• Financial District

References

1. "Weekday boardings and service information for surface routes (bus and streetcar), 2022" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 11, 2024.
2. "Service Summary - March 29, 2020 to May 9, 2020" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2020. 2020 summary shows streetcar route lengths prior to the diversions of 2021–2023.
3. "503 Kingston Rd - Route update". TTC. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
4. "TTC service adjustments". Toronto Transit Commission. 2024-09-01. Archived from the original on 2024-08-28.
5. "503 Kingston Rd". Toronto Transit Commission. February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
6. "Streetcar Service Changes". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
7. "TTC System Map - September 1, 1938". Toronto Transportation Commission. September 1, 1938. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
8. "TTC System Map - July 1, 1954". Toronto Transit Commission. July 1, 1954. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
9. "TTC Ride Guide - May 11, 1968". Toronto Transit Commission. May 11, 1968. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
10. Bow, James (January 17, 2018). "Route 502 And 503 - The Kingston Road Streetcars". Transit Toronto. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
11. "TTC System Maps". Transit Toronto. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
12. "Service Summary - November 22, 2015 to January 2, 2016" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2021.
13. "Service Summary - January 3, 2016 to February 13, 2016" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2022.
14. "Service Summary - June 18, 2017 to July 29, 2017" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2017.
15. "Accessible streetcar service updates". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
16. "503 Kingston Rd - Service change - King Street Transit Pilot". Toronto Transit Commission. February 19, 2018. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018.
17. "Service Summary - July 30, 2017 to September 2, 2017" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 1, 2017.
18. Moore, Oliver (January 11, 2018). "Toronto's King streetcar sees 'spectacular' rise in ridership". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
19. "TTC service improvements and changes". Toronto Transit Commission. September 2, 2018. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
20. "Accessible streetcar service updates". ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
21. "TTC service improvements and changes". ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
22. "Editorial – September Board Period Service Changes". The Coupler. Toronto Transit Commission. July 31, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
23. "Editorial – November Board Period Service Changes". The Coupler. Toronto Transit Commission. October 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
24. "Coronavirus update". Toronto Transit Commission. April 20, 2020. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
25. "Bingham Loop". Toronto Transit Commission. May 10, 2020. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
26. Munro, Steve (May 3, 2020). "TTC responds to coronavirus with historic service cuts". Now. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
27. "Seasonal service changes and improvements". Toronto Transit Commission. June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
28. "TTC service adjustments". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
29. "Kingston Rd–Bus replacement and routing change – Kingston Road overhead upgrades". Toronto Transit Commission. November 21, 2022. Archived from the original on November 19, 2022.
30. "503Kingston Rd–Temporary route change". Toronto Transit Commission. May 7, 2023. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023.
31. "Track Renewal and Expansion – Broadview Station". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
32. "Streetcar Service Changes effective July 4". Toronto Transit Commission. July 4, 2023. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023.
33. "503Kingston Rd–Service reinstated". Toronto Transit Commission. July 30, 2023. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023.
34. "October (2023) service adjustments". Toronto Transit Commission. October 8, 2023. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.

External links

Template:Attached KML/503 Kingston Rd

KML is not from Wikidata

• Official route page
• Bow, James. "Route 502 And 503 - The Kingston Road Streetcars". Transit Toronto.