Blue Night Network
Encyclopedia
The Blue Night Network is the overnight public transit service
operated by the Toronto Transit Commission
(TTC) in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
. The network consists of a basic grid of 22 bus and 2 streetcar routes, distributed so that almost all of the city is within 2 km of at least one route.
and streetcar
routes shut down at 1:30 a.m. or earlier; if there is a Blue Night route on the same street, its first trip will then follow at a suitable interval after the last regular run.
On the Toronto subway and RT
, the last trains on each line make a complete trip; the last trains running east, west, and north from Bloor-Yonge
and St. George
stations each leave at 1:50 a.m. or just after. Each station then closes as the last train passes it.
In the morning, regular service buses and streetcars mostly take over from the corresponding Blue Night routes around 5:30 a.m. First trains on the subway start from various positions along the routes, allowing all stations to open more or less simultaneously just before 6:00 a.m. (on Sundays, 9:00 a.m.); the Blue Night routes that parallel the subway lines keep running until that time, and their last buses then turn into a subway station to terminate.
apply on the Blue Night Network. At the transition to or from Blue Night service, passengers can transfer to or from regular-service routes as usual. For TTC passholders, all passes expire at 5:30 a.m. rather than midnight, so a pass valid for the preceding traffic day can be used to board Blue Night routes up to that time.
All Blue Night routes are numbered in the 300 series. Some routes that correspond closely to a regular service route have corresponding numbers, such as 29 and 329 Dufferin or 501 and 301 Queen; others are numbered more or less alphabetically, or arbitrarily.
Most Blue Night routes are operated by buses, allowing them to reach places where streetcar tracks do not run. The two remaining exceptions are the 301 Queen and 306 Carlton routes, which use ALRV and CLRV
streetcars respectively.
Most routes operate every 30 minutes, and the grid layout allows for timed connections at various points with intersecting routes. On the 300 Bloor-Danforth and 320 Yonge buses, which replace the most important sections of the subway, service is every 15 minutes or better all night.
in the 1890s, and the TTC continued it when they took over in 1921. The routes selected for 24-hour service were those serving 24-hour employers such as factories, stockyards, and railway yards.
Over the years various streetcar routes were replaced by other modes, and where new subway lines replaced streetcars during regular hours, buses were put on overnight. But the overnight routings remained largely unchanged for decades, even after the TTC's service area expanded in 1954 from the Toronto city limits as they then were, to include the whole of Metropolitan Toronto
("Metro", which in 1998 became the present amalgamated city of Toronto). Only one overnight route (the Queen streetcar, later 501 Queen, to Long Branch loop) extended a significant distance into the suburbs.
In 1974, after the subway had been extended beyond the Toronto city limits in three directions, the same was done for overnight bus service. But large areas of Metro still remained without 24-hour transit as late as 1986, when the TTC's planning department issued a report on Metro All-Night Transit Service calling for major changes.
There was limited night routes outside of the old City of Toronto The following were used by the TTC before Blue Night outside of the old City of Toronto up to the early 1980s:
Most of Toronto has a squarish grid of main streets that originated as township
roads and are spaced at 1¼-mile intervals (about 2 km). By running overnight buses along every second road in the grid, all parts of Metro would be reached and 86% of the population would be within a 15-minute walk (taken as 1.25 km or ¾ mile). To avoid excessively long trips, some grid streets such as Eglinton Avenue would require two bus routes meeting end-to-end, but still just 15 routes would be needed to form the grid. The 506 Carlton route had sufficient traffic to be retained in addition, for a total of 16 routes.
This is what the report proposed. In changing from the old network of 14 routes to the new set of 16, only 2 routes would be entirely unchanged. There would be 11 entirely new overnight routes (all bus-operated), with 7 existing ones eliminated (3 streetcar, 3 trolleybus, and only 1 bus route, as the night network would be shifted away from the streetcar tracks and trolleybus wires).
Despite the route eliminations and probable increased riding, the changes could not be expected to finance themselves. The report recommended reducing service frequencies after 10 p.m. on certain routes in order to offset the increased costs.
Until this time, with the exception of buses that replaced subway lines, it had been understood that overnight transit was provided by regular routes that happened to have 24-hour service. Night services retained the same route names and numbers as their daytime counterparts, perhaps with a suffixed letter if there was a variation in the exact routing. But now a marketing decision was made to treat the overnight service as a new, distinct set of routes, even in those cases where the day route was identical.
The name Blue Night Network was adopted, and with it the 300-series route numbers described above, and a new color-coding for bus and streetcar stops. The existing standard TTC-stop sign had a red square or stripe at the top and bottom; now, for all stops with 24-hour service, this was changed to red and blue, with the legend "24 hr" added . Those stops used only for the Blue Night Network, mostly for night routes paralleling the subway, received the standard sign with red changed to blue (and a notice of the limited hours).
The Blue Night Network debuted in February 1987.
.
Then in 2005, several routes were added so that east-west service would run on every grid street instead of alternate ones in much of the city. This has brought the Blue Night Network up to a total of 24 routes, serving 97% of the city's population within a 15-minute walk.
Night bus
A night bus service or owl service is a public transport bus service which operates through the night time hours. Many cities operate such services, either in addition to or in substitution for ordinary daytime bus services or rapid transit rail services which may shut for maintenance or due to...
operated by the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
(TTC) in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The network consists of a basic grid of 22 bus and 2 streetcar routes, distributed so that almost all of the city is within 2 km of at least one route.
Description
Hours
The exact times of Blue Night service vary according to individual scheduling situations on each route. Most regular service busToronto buses and trolley buses
Toronto Transit Commission buses are transit buses used for public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buses are owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . With over 140 routes in operation, the TTC attracts over 400 million riders each year. Each route is further divided into branch...
and streetcar
Toronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...
routes shut down at 1:30 a.m. or earlier; if there is a Blue Night route on the same street, its first trip will then follow at a suitable interval after the last regular run.
On the Toronto subway and RT
Toronto subway and RT
The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...
, the last trains on each line make a complete trip; the last trains running east, west, and north from Bloor-Yonge
Bloor-Yonge (TTC)
Bloor-Yonge is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina and the Bloor–Danforth subway lines operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 733 Yonge Street at Bloor Street West/East...
and St. George
St. George (TTC)
St. George is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 323 Bloor Street West at St. George Street. This is the second busiest station, after Bloor-Yonge Station, serving a combined total of approximately ...
stations each leave at 1:50 a.m. or just after. Each station then closes as the last train passes it.
In the morning, regular service buses and streetcars mostly take over from the corresponding Blue Night routes around 5:30 a.m. First trains on the subway start from various positions along the routes, allowing all stations to open more or less simultaneously just before 6:00 a.m. (on Sundays, 9:00 a.m.); the Blue Night routes that parallel the subway lines keep running until that time, and their last buses then turn into a subway station to terminate.
Fares
Normal TTC faresToronto Transit Commission fares
On the Toronto Transit Commission, fares may be paid with a variety of media, the price of which may be determined by the age of the rider.-Single-trip fares:...
apply on the Blue Night Network. At the transition to or from Blue Night service, passengers can transfer to or from regular-service routes as usual. For TTC passholders, all passes expire at 5:30 a.m. rather than midnight, so a pass valid for the preceding traffic day can be used to board Blue Night routes up to that time.
Routes
See also: List of Blue Night routesAll Blue Night routes are numbered in the 300 series. Some routes that correspond closely to a regular service route have corresponding numbers, such as 29 and 329 Dufferin or 501 and 301 Queen; others are numbered more or less alphabetically, or arbitrarily.
Most Blue Night routes are operated by buses, allowing them to reach places where streetcar tracks do not run. The two remaining exceptions are the 301 Queen and 306 Carlton routes, which use ALRV and CLRV
Canadian Light Rail Vehicle
The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle ' is a type of streetcar that is used by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Canada.-Background:...
streetcars respectively.
Most routes operate every 30 minutes, and the grid layout allows for timed connections at various points with intersecting routes. On the 300 Bloor-Danforth and 320 Yonge buses, which replace the most important sections of the subway, service is every 15 minutes or better all night.
Before the Blue Night Network
Toronto has had overnight streetcar service since the days of the Toronto Railway CompanyToronto Railway Company
The Toronto Railway Company was the first operator of horseless streetcars in Toronto.Formed by a partnership between James Ross and William Mackenzie, a 30-year franchise was granted in 1891 to modernize transit operations after a previous 30 year franchise that saw horse car service from the...
in the 1890s, and the TTC continued it when they took over in 1921. The routes selected for 24-hour service were those serving 24-hour employers such as factories, stockyards, and railway yards.
Over the years various streetcar routes were replaced by other modes, and where new subway lines replaced streetcars during regular hours, buses were put on overnight. But the overnight routings remained largely unchanged for decades, even after the TTC's service area expanded in 1954 from the Toronto city limits as they then were, to include the whole of Metropolitan Toronto
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...
("Metro", which in 1998 became the present amalgamated city of Toronto). Only one overnight route (the Queen streetcar, later 501 Queen, to Long Branch loop) extended a significant distance into the suburbs.
In 1974, after the subway had been extended beyond the Toronto city limits in three directions, the same was done for overnight bus service. But large areas of Metro still remained without 24-hour transit as late as 1986, when the TTC's planning department issued a report on Metro All-Night Transit Service calling for major changes.
There was limited night routes outside of the old City of Toronto The following were used by the TTC before Blue Night outside of the old City of Toronto up to the early 1980s:
- Etobiocke
- 501 - Lakeshore Boulevard West to Browns Line
- 49B Bloor West Night to West Mall and Burnhamthorpe Road
- York
- 63 Ossington Avenue to Eglinton Avenue West and Allen Road (Eglinton West Station)
- North York
- 97B Yonge to Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue East
- East York
- 93 Danforth East to Victoria Park Avenue and Danforth Avenue
- Scarborough
- 93 Danforth East to Scarborough Town Centre
- 501 to Neville Park Boulevard and Victoria Park Avenue
The 1986 report
The report pointed out that the importance of the original "demand generators" for overnight public transit had declined. Nightly demand was now twice as heavy on weekends as on weekdays, showing that not many people were using transit to get to night work. And as Metro had grown, only 45% of its population still lived within a 15-minute walk of the existing 24-hour transit routes. In fact, hardly any of the 14 overnight routes then in existence were strictly justified by demand any more, particularly on weekdays. But since "one of the TTC's primary goals is to maximize mobility and accessibility to transit service", the report's recommendation was to redesign the system, not eliminate it.Most of Toronto has a squarish grid of main streets that originated as township
Township (Canada)
The term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. However in some systems no town needs to be involved. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semi-rural government within the county...
roads and are spaced at 1¼-mile intervals (about 2 km). By running overnight buses along every second road in the grid, all parts of Metro would be reached and 86% of the population would be within a 15-minute walk (taken as 1.25 km or ¾ mile). To avoid excessively long trips, some grid streets such as Eglinton Avenue would require two bus routes meeting end-to-end, but still just 15 routes would be needed to form the grid. The 506 Carlton route had sufficient traffic to be retained in addition, for a total of 16 routes.
This is what the report proposed. In changing from the old network of 14 routes to the new set of 16, only 2 routes would be entirely unchanged. There would be 11 entirely new overnight routes (all bus-operated), with 7 existing ones eliminated (3 streetcar, 3 trolleybus, and only 1 bus route, as the night network would be shifted away from the streetcar tracks and trolleybus wires).
Despite the route eliminations and probable increased riding, the changes could not be expected to finance themselves. The report recommended reducing service frequencies after 10 p.m. on certain routes in order to offset the increased costs.
The Blue Night Network established
The Commission agreed to the expanded service, but could not stomach the elimination of so many routes. Instead, they chose to retain all existing routes despite the cost, creating a 23-route night system.Until this time, with the exception of buses that replaced subway lines, it had been understood that overnight transit was provided by regular routes that happened to have 24-hour service. Night services retained the same route names and numbers as their daytime counterparts, perhaps with a suffixed letter if there was a variation in the exact routing. But now a marketing decision was made to treat the overnight service as a new, distinct set of routes, even in those cases where the day route was identical.
The name Blue Night Network was adopted, and with it the 300-series route numbers described above, and a new color-coding for bus and streetcar stops. The existing standard TTC-stop sign had a red square or stripe at the top and bottom; now, for all stops with 24-hour service, this was changed to red and blue, with the legend "24 hr" added . Those stops used only for the Blue Night Network, mostly for night routes paralleling the subway, received the standard sign with red changed to blue (and a notice of the limited hours).
The Blue Night Network debuted in February 1987.
Later changes
In the 1990s, the TTC suffered major funding cuts and service on many low-traffic routes was reduced; the Blue Night Network lost three routes in February 1992, selected from those proposed for elimination in 1986. But other routes have been extended or added over the years, including one case (312 St. Clair in 2000) that required a mode conversion from streetcar to bus. In February 2003, two Blue Night routes were extended to reach Toronto Pearson International AirportToronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...
.
Then in 2005, several routes were added so that east-west service would run on every grid street instead of alternate ones in much of the city. This has brought the Blue Night Network up to a total of 24 routes, serving 97% of the city's population within a 15-minute walk.
External links
- TTC official web site Metro All-Night Transit Service planning report, June 1986 (PDF)
- Annual planning Review of Overnight Services, January 2005 (PDF) Streetcar at a 24-hour stop (JPG). (Photo taken at Humber Loop on a fan tripRailfanA railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
.)
