Bathurst Street continues to be reviewed by the city and TTC to support better efficiency, reliability and speed with transit. 

Moving people Northbound on a more reliable level of service by the TTC is the ultimate goal, and it is something everyone using Bathurst Street agrees with. Thankfully, two suggestions which the Bathurst Community members offered to the city earlier this year are now being included in the upcoming Motion. They include;

- Revised Left Turn Restrictions Northbound on Bathurst to better improve traffic flow
- Adjust street light timing between Barton - St.Clair to better support flow of traffic and to improve how intersections work with one another. 

Though this is a step in the right direction, other turning restrictions need to be reviewed Northbound at Rush Hour between Davenport - St.Clair and the revised Rush Hour bans on the Eastside of Bathurst Street (Weekday 2-7pm, Weekends 12-7pm) overlook the root cause of congestion, leaving residents and businesses in a 750m strip to pay the price.

Part of the overlooked cause of congestion on this route Northbound is the Exit time of TTC employees - who drive to work - starting at 2pm and going until 4:30pm, exiting the Hillcrest lot onto Bathurst (1 Block North of Dupont) and those who are accessing Bathurst from Bridgeman (directly in front of the Hillcrest lot, mainly TTC employees).

Thanks to the work of our community members, we have been able to independently document a large number of vehicles exiting this area at the same time everyday, directly correlating with the congestion times shown on the TTC data for Bathurst Northbound. We have documented more than 500 cars within the first 45 minutes (starting at 2pm) accessing Bathurst - with 85% of vehicles heading North, directly congesting Bathurst Street with effects being noticed South of Dupont. 

Even with the proposed changes being implemented as a whole (including all rush hour bans), the TTC only expects to achieve a 3 minute increase in speed to Eglinton West. As many of us have expressed, Bathurst has been in desperate need of an Express Bus. Reviewing the TTC data for Northbound ridership, it clearly indicates that the Bus has the most On/Offs at St.Clair - Everyday - Including Weekends.

Therefore, an Express Bus from Bathurst Station, Northbound, Alternating During Peak Ridership Times (Any hour that experiences 1000 customers or more) with the first stop at St.Clair would easily achieve far greater results in speed, efficiency and reliability then what is currently being presented with Rush Hour Bans. On top of this, it would preserve the same limited parking availability for the residents and businesses on the East side of Bathurst St. who do not have access to parking lots or laneways. 

Our community has been working together, endlessly, to create solutions for our neighbourhood vibrancy to be preserved, businesses to succeed, residents to access their homes and for transit to be more efficient, reliable and fast. Each one of our community meetings have resulted in the same expectations - more bus frequency and move people Northbound faster. 

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The current changes listed above (turn restrictions and lighting timing), along with introducing an increased Rush Hour Ban of 3-6pm weekday and preserving no rush hour weekends with an alternating Express Bus at peak ridership times - will achieve greater results then the removal of 750m worth of parking with new Rush Hour bans. 
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We would appreciate your help in supporting our cause. 
Please email city staff and let them know that you support the Bathurst Street Community's compromise to introduce an alternating Bathurst Street Express Bus to improve reliability and speed while preserving a small portion of parking to ensure small businesses stay open and residents can access there homes. 

City Council Contacts --> https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/council/members-of-council/

Steve Munro's latest Review of the Bathurst Street Proposal --> https://stevemunro.ca/2025/09/11/bathurst-street-proposal-update-september-2025/

Ps - If anyone knows of any streets in Toronto that feature Weekend Rush Hour Bans for 7 Hours - Please contact us directly to let us know. Thank you!