Locals, councillors on board for improved Kingston Road bus service
A Cliffside entrepreneur says disjointed bus service is hampering business development on Kingston Road, so he’s launched an online petition to draw attention to the issue and call for a dedicated TTC Kingston Road bus route for Scarborough.
Dr. Gerard Arbour, who has operated Kingston Road’s Bluffs Chiropractic for 25 years, created the petition on change.org in mid-January. To date, it has garnered more than 1,800 signatures online.
“I’m very pleased with the response,” said Arbour. He decided the time was ripe for the petition because of the TTC’s recent decision to begin running bus service to Bluffer’s Park this summer.
“To have some continuity in the busses would certainly be helpful,” he said.
Currently, several busses operate along different stretches of Kingston Road, meaning it would take multiple transfers to travel the length of the one-time highway.
Arbour’s initiative has the approval of Ward 36 Coun. Gary Crawford. “I applaud any petitions that the community wants to do,” he said.
Crawford said the push for expanded bus service has the support of the other councillors whose wards Kingston Road passes through, including Ward 32’s Mary-Margaret McMahon, Ward 44’s Jim Hart, and Ward 43’s Paul Ainslie.
The TTC is in the process of “reviewing the transit services along the Kingston Road area as part of a Scarborough East Area Study,” said Hayley Waldman, a spokesperson for the transit commission, in an email statement.
“We will be sharing our proposals and will begin consulting with customers in the coming weeks,” the statement read.
Local councillors are working together to get the TTC to re-examine increasing the scope of bus service on Kingston Road.
“The best-case scenario would be [a bus route for] the entire length of Kingston Road,” he said.
The Ward 36 councillor said the TTC has looked into improving service on Kingston Road before, but he suggested with recent condo development in the area that the need is greater today.
“The numbers may not have been there five or six years ago,” he said.
“There’s still a need and a desire to do this,” Crawford added.
Crawford noted how the lack of such a route impacts the day-to-day commutes of locals.
“A lot of the time it’s just students who are trying to get home after school,” he explained.
What do you think about Kingston Road transit? Let us know in the comments.
