| linelength = {{convert|8.97|km|mi|2|abbr=on}}[3] Bingham Loop
to York Street
| tracklength =
| tracks =
| gauge = {{track gauge|4ft10.875in}} - TTC gauge
| old_gauge =
| minradius =
| racksystem =
| routenumber= 503
| electrification = 600 VDC Overhead
| speed =
| elevation =
| website =
| map = {{503 Kingston Rd}}
| map_state = collapsed
}}The 503 Kingston Rd is an east–west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. The 503 Kingston Rd travels on a route to the downtown financial district from the Bingham Loop during rush hours only. The 503 Kingston Rd route is one of two streetcar routes serving Kingston Road, the other being 502 Downtowner. The 503 Kingston Rd route also shares much of its track with the 501 Queen and 504 King.
{{as of|2019|1|7|df=US|alt text=Effective January 7, 2019}}, shuttle buses replaced streetcars along this route, due to the ongoing delayed delivery of the new Flexity Outlook streetcars and to accommodate some construction projects.Route
Starting at the Bingham Loop on Victoria Park Avenue, the 503 runs southwest on Kingston Road then turns west along Queen Street. At the bridge over the Don River, it then turns southwest going along King Street to Church Street looping south on Church Street, west on Wellington Street and north on York Street before returning east along King Street.[4]
The 503 Kingston Rd runs during the rush hours only, supplementing weekday service provided by the 502 Downtowner streetcars, both covering much of the same route.[5] Evening, weekend and holiday service is provided by the 22A Coxwell bus route replacing streetcar service along Kingston Road.[1] 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.[2][3]
History
{{See also|502 Downtowner#History}}Two streetcar routes, 503 Kingston Rd and 502 Downtowner, serve Kingston Road. Route 502 Downtowner was originally named "Kingston Rd" while 503 Kingston Rd was originally named "Kingston Rd Tripper". The Kingston Rd route (today's 502 Downtowner) ran from the McCaul Loop to the Birchmount Loop until 1954 when it was cut back to the Bingham Loop.[9][10] By 1968, the rush-hour route Kingston Rd Tripper (today's 503 Kingston Rd) was appearing in TTC Ride Guides.[11] "Tripper" here means a rush-hour variant of a base route which in this case was the Kingston Rd route (today's 502 Downtowner).[12][13]
In 1973, the Kingston Rd route was renamed to "Downtowner" (today's 502 Downtowner) with a route extension to Bathurst station that was revoked in 1984. Also, in 1973, with the renaming of "Kingston Rd" to "Downtowner", the Kingston Rd Tripper became simply "Kingston Rd" (today's 503 Kingston Rd).[12]
From July 31, 2017 until February 16, 2018 the 503 Kingston Rd route had been temporarily operated by buses due to a shortage of streetcars resulting from the late delivery of the new Bombardier Flexity Outlook streetcars.[4][16]
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. These changes were to support the King Street Pilot Project[16] which resulted in increased ridership along downtown King Street.[18] However, effective September 2, 2018, these changes were reversed.[5] {{as of|2019|1|7|df=US}}, the 503 route returned to shuttle bus operation due to the ongoing delayed delivery of the new Flexity Outlook streetcars and to accommodate some construction projects.[5][6]
Sites along the line (from east to west)
- Upper Beaches
- Leslieville
- South Riverdale
- George Brown College
- Financial District
References
1. ^{{Cite web|url=https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Toronto_Transit_Commission_route_503_'Kingston_Rd'|title=Toronto Transit Commission route 503 'Kingston Rd' - CPTDB Wiki|website=cptdb.ca|language=en|access-date={{date|2017-06-21|mdy}} }}
2. ^{{Cite web|url=https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Toronto_Transit_Commission_route_504_'King'|title=Toronto Transit Commission route 504 'King' - CPTDB Wiki|website=cptdb.ca|language=en|access-date={{date|2017-06-21|mdy}} }}
3. ^{{Cite web|url=https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Toronto_Transit_Commission_route_501_'Queen'|title=Toronto Transit Commission route 501 'Queen' - CPTDB Wiki|website=cptdb.ca|language=en|access-date={{date|2017-06-21|mdy}} }}
4. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Accessible_service/index.jsp |title=Accessible streetcar service updates |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |accessdate={{date|2018-01-12|mdy}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114005142/http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Accessible_service/index.jsp |archive-date={{date|2018-01-14|mdy}} }}
5. ^{{cite web |url=https://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Accessible_service/index.jsp |title=Accessible streetcar service updates |work=ttc.ca |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |access-date=January 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105062634/https://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Accessible_service/index.jsp |archive-date=January 4, 2019 |dead-url=no}}
6. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/Service_Improvements_changes.jsp |title=TTC service improvements and changes |work=ttc.ca |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |access-date=January 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105062634/https://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/Service_Improvements_changes.jsp |archive-date=January 7, 2019 |dead-url=no}}
7. ^1 {{cite web |url=http://www3.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/Service_Summary_2009_10_18.pdf |title=TTC Service Summary|author=Toronto Transit Commission |date=September 18, 2009}}
8. ^1 {{cite web |url=http://www.ttc.ca/Routes/503/RouteDescription.jsp?tabName=route |title=503 Kingston Rd – Roure Description |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |date={{date|2018-02-12|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-02-19|mdy}} }}
9. ^1 {{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/spare/0053.shtml |title=TTC System Maps |publisher=Transit Toronto |accessdate={{date|2018-01-22|mdy}} }}
10. ^{{cite web |url=https://www.ttc.ca/Coupler/Editorial/Special_Features/index.jsp |title=February Board Period Service Changes |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |newspaper=The Coupler |date={{date|2018-02-01|mdy}} |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219190039/https://www.ttc.ca/Coupler/Editorial/Special_Features/index.jsp |archivedate={{date|2018-02-19|mdy}} }}
11. ^1 {{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/images/ttc-map-1938-09-01.png |title=TTC System Map - September 1, 1938 |publisher=Toronto Transportation Commission |date={{date|1938-09-01|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-01-22|mdy}} }}
12. ^1 {{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/images/ttc-map-1938-09-01.png |title=TTC System Map - July 1, 1954 |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |date={{date|1954-07-01|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-01-22|mdy}} }}
13. ^1 {{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/maps/guide1968.jpg |title=TTC Ride Guide - May 11, 1968 |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |date={{date|1968-05-11|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-01-22|mdy}} }}
14. ^1 2 {{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4102.shtml |title=Route 502 And 503 - The Kingston Road Streetcars |publisher=Transit Toronto |first=James |last=Bow |date={{date|2018-01-17|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-01-22|mdy}} }}
15. ^1 2 {{cite web |url=http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/feb503.jsp |title=503 Kingston Rd - Service change - King Street Transit Pilot |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |date={{date|2018-02-19|mdy}} |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207011537/http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/feb503.jsp |archivedate={{date|2018-02-06|mdy}} }}
16. ^1 {{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/king-streetcar-sees-spectacular-rise-in-ridership/article37586434/ |title=Toronto's King streetcar sees 'spectacular' rise in ridership |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |first=Oliver |last=Moore |date={{date|2018-01-11|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-01-12|mdy}}}}
17. ^1 2 {{cite web |url=http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/Service_Improvements_changes.jsp |title=TTC service improvements and changes |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |date={{date|2018-09-02|mdy}} |accessdate={{date|2018-09-02|mdy}} |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830013305/http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/Service_Improvements_changes.jsp | archivedate={{date|2018-08-29|mdy}} }}
}}