502 Downtowner

The 502 Downtowner was a streetcar route operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from the Bingham Loop at Victoria Park Avenue and Kingston Road in the Beaches neighbourhood to McCaul Loop in downtown Toronto. Starting in September 2019, all streetcar services along Kingston Road were consolidated into the 503 Kingston Rd route.[4][5][1]

502 Downtowner
502 Downtowner car on Kingston Road, travelling westbound at Main Street
Overview
Type	Streetcar Route
Status	Discontinued[1]
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	Bingham Loop (east) McCaul Loop (west)
Stations	Queen Osgoode
Operation
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)	Birchmount [2][3]
Rolling stock	Temporary replacement bus service
Technical
Line length	9.38 km (5.83 mi) [3]
Track gauge	4 ft 10 ^7⁄8 in (1,495 mm)
Electrification	600 V DC overhead
Route number	502
Route map Transfer stop intermediate stop Carhouse Route: Connection  00  Terminus  00  McCaul Loop 501 to Long Branch ↓ Queen Street West/McCaul Street ↑  501  St. Patrick Street University Avenue (Osgoode station)  142  York Street Bay Street  6   6A  Yonge Street (Queen station)  97B  Victoria Street (Saint Michael's Hospital) Church Street Jarvis Street Sherbourne Street  75  Ontario Street Parliament Street  65  Sackville Street Sumach Street River Street King Street East 503 & 504 to downtown Metrolinx Bala Subdivision Don River Don Valley Parkway Carroll Street  503   504  Broadview Avenue  504  ↓ Saulter Street/Boulton Avenue ↑ Metrolinx Kingston Subdivision Empire Avenue Logan Avenue Carlaw Avenue  72  Pape Avenue  72A  ↓ Caroline Avenue/Brooklyn Avenue ↑ Jones Avenue  83  Leslie Street ↓ Laing Street/Alton Avenue ↑ Greenwood Avenue  31  Russell Carhouse Woodfield Road Coxwell Avenue  22  ↓ Kingston Road/Queen Street East↑  22B   501  Woodbine Loop 501 to Neville Park Loop ↓ 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  Glen Manor Drive Beech Avenue Scarborough Road Bingham Avenue Victoria Park Avenue Bingham Loop  12   22A   503

Route

502 Downtowner runs southwest on Kingston Road then turns west along Queen Street. It goes west along Queen to McCaul Street where there is a turning loop just north of Queen Street West. The route is grouped together with the 503 Kingston Rd for accounting purposes, as they share a large amount of the same track.[6]

The 502 Downtowner runs during the day from Monday to Friday only, overlapping rush-hour service provided by 503 Kingston Rd streetcars, both covering much of the same route.[7] Evening, weekend and holiday service is provided by the 22A Coxwell bus route replacing streetcar service along Kingston Road.[8] The section to the west of Queen and Coxwell is served by the 501 Queen and 504 King streetcars. Both of these routes have all day services.[9][10]

History

A streetcar route along Kingston Road and Queen Street between Victoria Park Avenue and McCaul Street has existed under various route names and with some variations in routing since about 1930, according to TTC system maps and ride guides.[11]

By 1930, the Queen streetcar route (not the same as today's 501 Queen) ran from the Birchmount Loop to the McCaul Loop. A 1930 system map indicates that some streetcars turned back at the Bingham Loop, while an extra fare was required to go beyond Victoria Park Avenue to the Birchmount Loop.[12]

By September 1938, the route from the Birchmount Loop to the McCaul Loop had by then been renamed from "Queen" to "Kingston Rd" (not the same as today's 503 Kingston Rd). Despite the name change, there was no change in routing.[13]

On July 1, 1954, the Birchmount Loop was abandoned and the Bingham Loop became the eastern terminal of the Kingston Rd route. Thus, in 1954, the Kingston Rd route became identical to the present-day 502 Downtowner route.[14]

Prior to 1966, the Coxwell streetcar provided evening, weekend and holiday service on Kingston Road. There was an off-hour extension of the Coxwell route from Coxwell Avenue and Queen Street to the Bingham Loop. In 1966, with the opening of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, the 22 Coxwell bus replaced the Coxwell streetcar to service Kingston Road to the Bingham Loop in the off-hours.[15]

By May 11, 1968, a new rush-hour route, called the Kingston Rd Tripper, was created running from the Bingham Loop to King and York streets. This tripper route would become today's 503 Kingston Rd route. "Tripper" here means a rush-hour variant of a base route which in this case was the Kingston Rd route (today's 502 Downtowner) to the McCaul Loop.[16][15]

On April 2, 1973, the new Downtowner streetcar route replaced the Kingston Rd route (not the same route as today's 503 Kingston Rd). However, Downtowner initially did not terminate at McCaul Street, but continued further west to Bathurst Street then north to terminate at Bathurst station. The eastern terminal of the route remained the Bingham Loop. On September 4, 1974, the route west of McCaul Street became rush-hour only. Then, on March 9, 1984, all streetcars on the Downtowner route terminated at the McCaul Loop thus permanently eliminating the branch to Bathurst station. Thus, in 1984, the Downtowner route became identical to the 1954–1973 Kingston Rd route and today's 502 Downtowner route. Also, the Kingston Rd Tripper became known simply as the "Kingston Rd" (today's 503 Kingston Rd).[15]

Beginning October 11, 2016, the 502 Downtowner route had been operated by buses due to a shortage of streetcars resulting from the late delivery of the new Bombardier Flexity Outlook streetcars.[17] Effective June 25, 2018, the route reverted to streetcar operation.[18] However, effective September 2, 2018, the route reverted to bus replacement due to the ongoing streetcar shortage.[7]

On February 20, 2018, the 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd routes reversed roles. 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.[19] However, effective September 2, 2018, these changes were reverted to what was in effect prior to February 20, 2018.[7]

From September 2, 2018, until early September 2019, the 502 Downtowner temporarily operated with replacement buses due to an ongoing streetcar shortage.[7] Due to construction projects between early September and November 2019, the 502 Downtowner service was suspended and replaced with the 503 Kingston Road service. After construction ended in November 2019, the TTC continued to consolidate all Kingston Road service into route 503 "on a trial basis".[4][5] By January 2020, the TTC had delisted the 502 Downtowner route on its customer website.[1]

Sites along the line

From east to west:

• Upper Beaches
• Leslieville
• South Riverdale
• Moss Park and Moss Park Armoury
• St. Michael's Hospital
• Eaton Centre
• Old City Hall
• Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square
• Osgoode Hall
• Four Seasons Centre
• Ontario College of Art & Design

References

1. "Streetcars". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
2. Toronto Transit Commission (March 26, 2017). "TTC Service Summary" (PDF).
3. Toronto Transit Commission (September 18, 2009). "TTC Service Summary" (PDF).
4. "Editorial – September Board Period Service Changes". The Coupler. Toronto Transit Commission. July 31, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
5. "Editorial – November Board Period Service Changes". The Coupler. Toronto Transit Commission. October 27, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
6. "TTC Description of 502 Downtowner". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
7. "TTC service improvements and changes". Toronto Transit Commission. September 2, 2018. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
8. "Toronto Transit Commission route 503 'Kingston Rd' – CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
9. "Toronto Transit Commission route 504 'King' – CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
10. "Toronto Transit Commission route 501 'Queen' – CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
11. "TTC System Maps". Toronto Transportation Commission. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
12. "TTC System Map – May 1, 1930". Toronto Transportation Commission. May 1, 1930. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
13. "TTC System Map – September 1, 1938". Toronto Transportation Commission. September 1, 1938. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
14. "TTC System Map – July 1, 1954". Toronto Transit Commission. July 1, 1954. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
15. Bow, James (January 17, 2018). "Route 502 And 503 – The Kingston Road Streetcars". Transit Toronto. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
16. "TTC Ride Guide – May 11, 1968". Toronto Transit Commission. May 11, 1968. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
17. "502 Downtowner – Service operated by buses". Toronto Transit Commission. October 11, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
18. "June 24, 2018 to September 1, 2018" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
19. "503 Kingston Rd – Service change – King Street Transit Pilot". Toronto Transit Commission. February 19, 2018. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018.

External links

• Media related to 502 Downtowner at Wikimedia Commons

Template:Attached KML/502 Downtowner

KML is not from Wikidata

• 502 Downtowner map
• Bow, James. "Route 502 And 503 – The Kingston Road Streetcars". Transit Toronto.