504 King

504 King (304 King during overnight periods) is an east–west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves King Street in Downtown Toronto as well as Broadview Avenue on the east end and Roncesvalles Avenue on the west end of the line. The route consists of two overlapping branches: 504A between Line 2 Bloor–Danforth's Dundas West station and Distillery Loop, and 504B between Broadview station – also on Line 2 – and Dufferin Gate Loop. The two branches overlap on King Street between Dufferin and Sumach streets, both passing St. Andrew station and King station on subway Line 1 Yonge–University.

504 King
A streetcar on route 504A King to Distillery Loop
Overview
Type	Streetcar route
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	Dundas West station (west) for  504A  Broadview station (east) for  504B  Distillery Loop (east) for  504A  Dufferin Gate Loop (west) for  504B
Stations	King station St. Andrew station Dundas West station for  504A  Broadview station for  504B
Daily ridership	84,300 (2018)[1]
Operation
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)	Leslie Barns, Roncesvalles Carhouse [2][3]
Rolling stock	Flexity Outlook[4]
Technical
Line length	504A: 10.39 km (6.46 mi) 504B: 9.61 km (5.97 mi) 304: 12.87 km (8.00 mi)[3]
Track gauge	4 ft 10 ^7⁄8 in (1,495 mm)
Electrification	600 V DC overhead
Route number	504 (304 overnight)
Route map Transfer stop Intermediate stop Carhouse Route: Connection  00  Terminus  00  504A Bloor–Danforth to Kipling station Dundas West station  40   168   505  Bloor Street  505  Dundas Street 505 to Broadview station Dundas Street West Roncesvalles Avenue Boustead Avenue  505  Howard Park  506  Grenadier Road ↓ Geoffrey Street/Grenadier Road ↑ ↓ High Park Boulevard/Fermanagh Avenue ↑ Garden Avenue Galley Avenue Marion Street Grafton Avenue Roncesvalles Carhouse Queen Street West Roncesvalles Avenue King Street West  501   508  Wilson Park Road Dowling Avenue Jameson Avenue Dunn Avenue Spencer Avenue Dufferin Street 504B to Dufferin Gate Loop  29   929  Fraser Avenue Joe Shuster Way Atlantic Avenue Metrolinx Galt Subdivision & Weston Subdivision Sudbury Street Shaw Street  63  Strachan Avenue  63  Niagara Street Tecumseth Street Bathurst Street  145   511  Portland Street Spadina Avenue  510  ↓ Blue Jays Way/Peter Street ↑ John Street University Avenue – St. Andrew station  142  Bay Street  6  Yonge Street – King station  97  Church Street Jarvis Street  141  Sherbourne Street  75  Ontario Street Parliament Street  65  Sackville Street Sumach Street 504B to Broadview Front Street East  121  Mill Street Distillery Loop Port Lands Extension Port Lands Extension Union Station Rail Corridor Gardiner Expressway East Bayfront LRT Queens Quay Keating Channel Commissioners Street East Bayfront LRT New Don River mouth Polson Street Loop 504B Dufferin Gate Loop  29  Liberty Street  63  504A to Dundas West King & Dufferin  29  Fraser Avenue Joe Shuster Way Atlantic Avenue Metrolinx Galt Subdivision & Weston Subdivision Sudbury Street Shaw Street  63  Strachan Avenue  63  Niagara Street Tecumseth Street Bathurst Street  145   511  Portland Street Spadina Avenue  510  ↓ Blue Jays Way/Peter Street ↑ John Street University Avenue – St. Andrew station  142  Bay Street  6  Yonge Street – King station  97  Church Street Jarvis Street  141  Sherbourne Street  75  Ontario Street Parliament Street  65  Sackville Street Sumach Street 504A to Distillery Loop 501 & 502 to downtown ↖ King Street East Queen Street East ↕ River Street  501   502  Metrolinx Bala Subdivision Don River Don Valley Parkway Carroll Street ↕ Queen Street East Broadview Avenue →  501   502  501 to Neville/502 to Bingham Dundas Street 505 to Dundas West station  505  Mt. Stephen Street Gerrard Street  506  Langley Avenue Withrow Avenue Millbrook Crescent Wolfrey Avenue Erindale Avenue Broadview station  8   62   87   100   505  Bloor–Danforth to Kennedy station

The 504 King is the busiest line in the Toronto streetcar system.[4] As of 2017, the combined daily ridership of routes 504 King and 514 Cherry was 72,000 trips, which was significantly higher than two of the TTC's rapid transit lines, Line 3 Scarborough (38,570) and Line 4 Sheppard (49,070). The 514 route was merged into the 504 route on October 7, 2018.[5]

History

On July 1, 1923, as part of a reorganization of streetcar routes, the King streetcar route acquired its current U-shape. The west end of the line was at the Vincent Loop, located near the northeast corner of Dundas Street West and Bloor Street West, across the street from today's Dundas West station. The east end of the line was at the Erindale Loop, located at the northeast corner of Broadview Avenue and Erindale Avenue, on the north side of today's Broadview station.[6]

On February 25, 1966, the Bloor–Danforth subway (today Line 2 Bloor–Danforth) opened, and Dundas West station replaced the Vincent Loop, and Broadview station replaced the Erindale Loop. Both new subway stations had, and still have, a streetcar loop within the fare-paid zone. Otherwise, the King streetcar route had changed little since 1923.[6]

In 2006, the TTC briefly considered adding couplers to streetcars to enable operation of streetcars in two or three units, a common practice until the opening of the Bloor–Danforth subway; the expectation was that this would keep them from bunching and becoming stuck in traffic. This plan was rejected[7] in favour of ordering brand-new, longer Flexity Outlook vehicles.

Starting June 19, 2016, a new route – 514 Cherry – was created to supplement 504 King service on King Street between Dufferin and Sumach streets. The 514 route increased capacity along the King Street corridor to address the growing downtown ridership. It also addressed accessibility concerns through its use of the low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars.[8]

From December 2, 2017, the TTC assigned a minimum of two low-floor accessible Flexity Outlook streetcars on 504 King to handle weekday overcrowding, as the King Street Pilot Project improved service performance and made the service more popular.[4]

On October 7, 2018, 504 King was divided into two overlapping branches with two new termini (Dufferin Gate Loop and Distillery Loop) replacing the 514 Cherry route, which was permanently cancelled on the same date. The 304 King Blue Night service remained unchanged.[9]

By January 6, 2019, the 504 King route was fully served by Flexity Outlook streetcars. Thus, the TTC designated the route as accessible except along Roncesvalles Avenue where the platform height still needed to be adjusted to allow deployment of the Flexity ramp.[10]

Blue Night service

From 1987 to 1992, the Blue Night Network included the 304 King route, which provided overnight service along the length of the 504 King daytime route. The 304 route was eliminated in February 1992, with the Broadview and Roncesvalles segments replaced by portions of other Blue Night bus routes; however, King Street remained unserviced directly until September 6, 2015, when the 304 King was restored as part of a $95 million investment from Toronto City Council. Currently, overnight service operate every 30 minutes between Broadview and Dundas West stations via Broadview Avenue, King Street, and Roncesvalles Avenue.[11]

Roncesvalles Avenue

Bumpout on Roncesvalles Avenue serving as both a streetcar loading platform as well as a bicycle lane

On December 19, 2010, 504 streetcar service returned to Roncesvalles Avenue after service was suspended for track replacement work. As part of the construction work, the street was rebuilt to a new design, including bike lanes and a widened sidewalk "bumpout" at stops to allow riders to board streetcars directly from the curb. In these sections, the bike lane gently rises from the main road to run on top of the bumpout; when a streetcar is stopped at a bumpout, cyclists are required to stop and allow riders to board or alight from the vehicle.[12][13]

Since January 2, 2018, accessible low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars on the 504 King route have regularly served Roncesvalles Avenue. However, stops along Roncesvalles Avenue between Queen Street and Dundas West station are not yet accessible due to platform height issues preventing the loading ramp on the Flexity streetcars from being deployed. The TTC expects this problem to be corrected in 2020.[14][15]

Route

The 504 King route operates as two overlapping branches:

• 504A King streetcars operate from Dundas West station to Distillery Loop, travelling south on Dundas Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue, east on King Street West and East, and south on Cherry Street to Distillery Loop.
• 504B King streetcars operate from Dufferin Gate Loop to Broadview station, travelling north on Dufferin Street, east on King Street West and East, east on Queen Street East, and north on Broadview Avenue to Broadview station.

In the west, routes 504A King and 505 Dundas start at Dundas West station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. From there, both routes go a short distance south of Bloor Street along Dundas Street West to Roncesvalles Avenue, where route 505 Dundas route splits off to continue eastbound on Dundas Street. Route 504A King continues further south on Roncesvalles Avenue, crossing Howard Park Avenue and route 506 Carlton. 504A King passes the Roncesvalles Carhouse as it approaches Queen Street West and the Queensway, where it crosses route 501 Queen.[16]

South of Queen Street West and the Queensway, the route turns east along King Street. At Dufferin Street, 504B streetcars from Dufferin Gate Loop merge with 504A streetcars to provide a combined service along King Street to Sumach Street. Continuing further east to Bathurst Street, and after crossing the 511 Bathurst route, the 504 enters a transit mall where automobiles have restrictions so as not to impede streetcar service. Continuing eastward past Spadina Avenue, crossing route 510 Spadina, the 504 route passes St. Andrew station at University Avenue and King station at Yonge Street, both on Line 1 Yonge–University. At York Street, rush-hour route 503 Kingston Rd merges eastwards with route 504. At Jarvis Street, the transit mall ends and routes 503, 504A and 504B continue to Sumach Street, where route 504A turns south on Cherry Street to proceed to Distillery Loop. Routes 503 and 504B continue on King Street, as the street bends northeast to merge with Queen Street East, route 501 Queen and workday route 502 Downtowner. Routes 501, 502, 503 and 504B all cross the Queen Street Viaduct and the Don River to arrive at Broadview Avenue.[16]

While routes 501, 502 and 503 continue further east on Queen Street, route 504B turns north on Broadview Avenue. At Dundas Street East, route 505 Dundas merges with route 504B to continue north. At Gerrard Street East, routes 504B and 505 cross the 506 Carlton route. Continuing on Broadview Avenue, routes 504B and 505 eventually cross Danforth Avenue arriving at Broadview station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth.[16]

Operation

The branch routes 504A and 504B operate at the same frequency during the day and evening. This provides extra frequency to the downtown area between Sumach and Dufferin streets where the two branches overlap. Route 304 King runs overnight between Dundas West station and Broadview station, replacing 504A and 504B service, but does not serve the two branches to Dufferin Gate Loop and Distillery Loop. Route 304 is part of the TTC's Blue Night Network operating from approximately 1 am to 5 am.[17]

King Street Transit Priority Corridor

Main article: King Street Transit Priority Corridor

Route 504 King passes through the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, a transit mall located between Bathurst Street and Jarvis Street. Within the mall, there are restrictions on road traffic to prevent the obstruction of transit vehicles. Trucks and cars may enter the traffic mall, but must leave after a few blocks by turning right; left turns within the transit mall are not allowed.[18][19]

Sites along the line (from east to west)

• East Chinatown
• George Brown College
• St. Lawrence Hall
• Commerce Court
• Scotia Plaza
• Toronto-Dominion Centre
• First Canadian Place
• Royal Alexandra Theatre
• Roy Thomson Hall
• Princess of Wales Theatre
• Metro Hall

References

1. "Ridership Statistics for Surface Routes (2018)" (PDF). ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. p. 4. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
2. http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/Service_Summary_2017-03-26.pdf
3. Toronto Transit Commission (October 7, 2018). "TTC Service Summary - October 7, 2018 to November 17, 2018" (PDF).
4. Tamar Harris & Ben Spurr (December 4, 2017). "King St. pilot project has slashed streetcar travel times, statistics show". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
5. Micallef, Shawn (November 17, 2017). "King St. pilot project does what big cities around the world are doing: Micallef". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
6. Bow, James (September 16, 2017). "Route 504 – The King Streetcar". Transit Toronto. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
7. McGran, Kevin (April 15, 2006). "All aboard for the King St. choo-choo". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
8. "Improved_Transit_Service_in_EastCentral_Downtown_514_Cherry_.pdf" (PDF). TTC. March 23, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
9. "The current section is Service Advisories 504 King and 514 Cherry route changes". Toronto Transit Commission. October 7, 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
10. "TTC service improvements and changes". Toronto Transit Commission. January 6, 2018. Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
11. Steve Munro (August 8, 2015). "Blue Night Service Expansion: Fall 2015". Retrieved March 28, 2016. All (night) services will operate on 30 minute headways...304 King (will provide) all night service on the 504 King route.
12. "Lanes, tracks and bikes". Roncesvalles Village BIA. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
13. Steve Munro (December 19, 2010). "Parliament and Roncesvalles 2010 Track Work". Steve Munro. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
14. "Accessible streetcar service updates". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
15. "504 King". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on November 23, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
16. "504 King – Map". Toronto Transit Commission. November 8, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
17. "TTC Service Summary March 29, 2020 to May 9, 2020" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. March 29, 2020.
18. "Toronto's King streetcar pilot project is now permanent". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
19. "Council approves King St. pilot to prioritize streetcars, but bows to taxi industry". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 26, 2019.

External links

Template:Attached KML/504 King

KML is not from Wikidata

• Toronto Transit Commission official site
• 504 King (Transit Toronto)
• 504 King map