501 Queen

501 Queen
ALRV 4251 westbound to the Humber Loop crosses the Queen Street Viaduct over the Don River
Overview
Type	Streetcar Route
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	Neville Loop (East) Long Branch Loop (West)
Stations	■ Queen, ■ Osgoode
Daily ridership	43,500 (2011)[1]
Operation
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)	Russell, Roncesvalles [2]
Rolling stock	CLRV, ALRV
Technical
Line length	24.43 km (15.18 mi) [2]
Track gauge	4 ft 10 7⁄8 in (1,495 mm) - TTC Gauge
Electrification	600 VDC Overhead
Route map Legend  00  Route connection  00  Route terminus Route transfer Sunday-only stop Carhouse Long Branch GO Station  A  Long Branch Loop  110A/110B   123   508  MiWay:  5/5B   23  ↓ Browns Line/39th St. ↑  123  37th St. Long Branch Av. ↓ 31st St./30th St. ↑ ↓ 28th St./29th St. ↑ ↓ 27th St./26th St. ↑ 22nd St. Kipling Av.Kipling Loop  44  15th St. 13th St. 10th St. Islington Av. (7th St.)  110  5th St. 3rd St. 1st St. Royal York Rd.  76  Lake Cr. ↓ Miles Rd./Symons St. ↑ Douglas Bd. ↓ Norris Cr./Hillside Av. ↑ Summerhill Rd. Mimico Av.  76  Superior Av. Burlington St. Louisa St. Legion Rd. ↓ Marine Parade Dr./Park Lawn Rd. ↑  145  2155 Lake Shore Bd. W. 2095 Lake Shore Bd. W. Lake Shore Boulevard Private Right-of-Way Gardiner Expressway CN Oakville sub. Humber Loop  66A  The Queensway PRW The Queensway Humber River South Kingsway Windermere Av.  77  Ellis Av. Colborne Lodge Dr. Parkside Dr.  80  Glendale Av. Sunnyside Av. Sunnyside Loop The Queensway Queen Street West Roncesvalles Carhouse Roncesvalles Av.to Dundas West Stn.  504  King St. W.504 to downtown Triller Av. ↓ Wilson Park Rd./Callender St. ↑ ↓ Beaty Av./Sorauren Av. ↑ Dowling Av. ↓ Jameson Av./Lansdowne Av. ↑  47  ↓ Dunn Av./O'Hara Av. ↑ ↓ Cowan Av. Brock Av. Gwynn Av. Dufferin St.  29  CN Weston sub. & CP MacTier sub. Gladstone Av.  29  ↓ Abell St./Beaconsfield Av. ↑ Dovercourt Rd. Ossington Av.  63  Shaw St.  63  Strachan Av. ↓ Walnut Av./Bellwoods Av. ↑ ↓ Niagara St./Claremont St. ↑ ↓ Tecumseth St./Palmerston Av. ↑ Bathurst St.511 to ← Exhibition Bathurst Stn. →  145   511  Denison Av. Augusta Av. Spadina Av.510 to ← Union Stn. Spadina Stn. →  510  ↓ Peter St./Soho St. ↑ John St. McCaul St.502 to McCaul Loop  502  Simcoe St. University Av.Osgoode Stn.  1   142  York St. Bay St.  6   6A  Yonge St.Queen Stn.  1   97B  Victoria St. Church St. Jarvis St. Sherbourne St.  75  Ontario St. Parliament St.  65  ↓ Power St./Trefann St. ↑ Sackville St. Sumach St. ↖ King St. E.503 & 504 to downtown River St. CN Kingston sub. CP Bala sub. Don River Don Valley Parkway Carroll St. Broadview Av.504 to Broadview Stn.  504  ↓ Saulter St./Boulton Av. ↑ CN Lakeshore sub. Empire Av. ↓ Booth Av. Logan Av. Carlaw Av.  72  Pape Av.  72  ↓ Caroline Av./Brooklyn Av. ↑ Jones Av.  83  Leslie St. ↓ Laing St./Alton Av. ↑ Greenwood Av.  31  Russell Carhouse Connaught Av. ↓ Woodward Av./Kent Rd. ↑ Coxwell Av.  22  ↓ Eastern Av./Kingston Rd. ↑  502   503  Woodbine Loop Kingston Rd. 502 & 503 to Bingham Loop ↓ Sarah Ashbridge Av./Lockwood Rd. ↑ Woodbine Av.  92  ↓ Kippendavie Av./Elmer Av. ↑ Waverly Rd. Lee Av. Wineva Av.  64  Scarboro Beach Bd. Glen Manor Dr. MacLean Av. Spruce Hill Rd. Beech Av. Silver Birch Av. Neville Park Bd. Neville Loop  143

The 501 Queen is an east-west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).^[3] At 24.8 kilometres (15.4 mi), it is the TTC's longest surface route, the longest streetcar route operating in North America and one of the longest streetcar routes operating in the world.^[4] It stretches from Long Branch Loop (just west of Browns Line, adjacent to Long Branch GO Station) in the west to Neville Park Loop (just west of Victoria Park Avenue) in the east, running on Lake Shore Boulevard, in a reserved right-of-way at the median of The Queensway, and on Queen Street. The route was first instituted in the mid-to-late-19th century by private operators as a horse-drawn line, was later electrified, and was assumed by the TTC upon its creation in 1921. Service is provided 24 hours a day, though the route number changes to 301 Queen late at night.

The 501 Queen is one of the routes regularly operated with the TTC's double-length ALRVs. It runs with a combined service of five minutes during rush hour, four to ten at other times, and 10 to 30 overnight from approximately 1:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. The route is split into two branches, one running from Neville Park to Humber Loop on the Queensway, and the other running all the way to Long Branch. Every other streetcar is scheduled to go to Long Branch. The route interchanges with the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line at Queen and Osgoode stations.

Former Route 507

Route 501 used to run only as far west as Humber Loop, which until 1973 was a fare zone boundary point.^[5] Another route, 507 Long Branch, ran from Humber to Long Branch. The TTC decided in the 1990s to amalgamate the two routes and create today's continuous route.

Current route

• 501 Neville Park/501 Long Branch: Neville Park Loop to Long Branch Loop
• 501 Humber: Westbound from Neville Park Loop to Humber Loop

Criticism

Critics of the TTC's management of this line argue that small delays at one end ripple into 30-40 minute waits at the other. Like route 504, there is much demand at either end of the route, and along the downtown middle stretch. Transit proponents such as Steve Munro have long claimed that Route 501 would be better off if it were split into two or three overlapping segments.^[6] A report presented to the Commission for its January 23, 2008, meeting cites steps taken to improve performance on the line, including consideration of splitting the route into multiple routes with overlap in the middle. A report is expected by summer 2008 with a trial implementation in the fall. At the Commission's May 2008 meeting, the TTC discussed measures implemented and future plans. Six supervisors are to be hired and placed along the route. As well, the TTC is actively considering plans that would split route 501 into two or three segments. Potential options include restoring and/or extending the 507 route, or overlapping segments through the downtown core.^[7]

2009 trial route splitting

The TTC conducted an experiment of splitting the 501 streetcar route into two overlapping segments, as recommended by the critics to alleviate bunching, gaps and short turns when delays occurred.^[8][9]

During the experiment streetcars from the Neville Park Loop ran west on Queen as far as Shaw Street, and from Long Branch Loop or Humber Loop east as far as Parliament Street.^[10]

In January 2010 the commission received a report analyzing several of the experiments done in 2009 to increase service reliability. It was determined that splitting the route actually increased short turns, required more streetcars and resulted in poorer service, and was therefore considered an unfavourable option going forward.^[11][12]

Sites along the line (from east to west)

• Neville Park Loop
• The Beaches
• Moss Park
• Moss Park Armoury
• Queen station
• Yonge Street
• Eaton Centre
• Old City Hall courts
• Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square
• Osgoode Hall
• Osgoode station
• Four Seasons Centre
• 299 Queen Street West (Home to Much Music, CTV Globemedia)
• Trinity Bellwoods Park
• Ossington Avenue
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• Drake Hotel
• Gladstone Hotel
• Parkdale
• High Park
• Humber Loop
• Long Branch Loop

Short turn locations

Every second car heading west is short turned at Humber Loop at the mouth of the Humber River. The most common locations for short turns outside of the schedule are Sunnyside loop just west of Roncesvalles Avenue beside the Roncesvalles Carhouse, and in the east, Woodbine Loop, just east of the junction of Queen Street East, Eastern Avenue, and Kingston Road.

501 streetcars are less commonly short turned at, ordered from east to west:

• Russell Carhouse – Exclusively for streetcars that are going out of service. These cars are usually signed "501 Greenwood/Connaught"
• On street loop via Church Street, Richmond Street East, and Victoria Street – 501 Church
• McCaul Loop – 501 McCaul
• Spadina Avenue and King Street (Charlotte loop) – 501 Spadina
• Bathurst Street (Wolseley Loop) – 501 Bathurst
• Shaw Street turning onto King Street and Dufferin Street – 501 Shaw
• Dufferin Street and Springhurst Avenue (Exhibition West loop) – 501 Dufferin
• Kipling Avenue – 501 Kipling

Proof-of-payment fare system

In 1990, the commission introduced a Proof-of-Payment fare system for this route, to speed loading and improve service. Passengers who already have a valid pass or transfer may board at any door of the streetcar without showing their ticket, but are subject to random ticket inspections. Passengers who pay a fare to the driver must take a transfer to show if they are inspected.

The 501 Queen is the only streetcar route where this proof-of-payment system is feasible without a larger-scale redesign of the TTC's fare system, since it is the only one that never enters the fare-paid area of a subway station; even if people did manage to evade paying the streetcar fare, they would not be able to transfer to any other route without paying. The Commission ended the proof-of-payment system in 2000, but it was reinstated after groups such as Rocket Riders successfully appealed the decision in 2002.

Today the Proof-of-Payment system is in effect from 7am to 7pm. Outside of these hours, entry can be gained only through the front door of the streetcar.^[13]

Former subway plans

The TTC's original subway plans in the 1940s and 1950s called for the north-south rapid transit line built under Yonge Street (the first section of today's Yonge-University-Spadina line) to be complemented by an east-west streetcar subway under Queen Street, allowing streetcars to avoid city-centre traffic, but come above ground and run on city streets in outlying areas. When the Government of Canada refused to help fund the project, the Queen line was dropped to save money, but a set of streetcar platforms were built under Queen station to allow for further expansion. By the time the TTC returned to the idea of an east-west line, however, traffic had moved north to Bloor Street, and the Bloor-Danforth line line was built there as a dedicated rapid-transit line like that under Yonge.

Proposed right-of-way

On April 2, 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission proposed that the 501 Queen streetcar route operate in a transit-only right-of-way similar to the proposal for the 504 King streetcar route announced on March 22, 2007. These plans have been all but shelved; the TTC is now focusing on King street for a transit mall because of objections from merchants on Queen St. who claim their businesses are more car-based than that of King.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 501 Queen.

• TTC Official Site
• Route 501 - The Queen Streetcar (Transit Toronto)
• 501 Queen map
• Photo tour of 501 Queen (Transit Toronto)

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