Right on the heels of taking a significant lead in yesterday's poll regarding what annoys Torontonians the most, the TTC is announcing a series of service improvements. Is there a connection? Absolutely not, but I thought I'd indulge the fantasy for a millisecond. Still, it's pretty good news, even if it's not much money in the grand scheme of things. And, really, this probably the type of customer service improvement that riders are most interested in (rather than, say, the hiring of a Customer Service Officer).

Given that bus service levels are also returning to normal after summer reductions, it's tough to pinpoint exactly which increases are to be implemented because of overcrowding problems. But, according to Adam Giambrone's announcement tweet (lead image), the TTC is putting $6-million into the improvements.

Although there is again some ambiguity over the term of this investment, an exchange between @larrylarry and Giambrone (@Adam_Giambrone) resulted in the latter's claim that it would be over the remaining three months in 2010.

The list of routes involved is rather extensive, but here's a list of those specifically receiving service improvements (be they seasonal or related to crowding issues): 11 Bayview, 17 Birchmount, 24 Victoria Park, 26 Dupont, 28 Davisville, 34 Eglinton East, 42 Cummer, 44 Kipling South, 45 Kipling, 52 Lawrence West, 53 Steeles East, 54 Lawrence East, 58 Malton, 60 Steeles West, 76 Royal York South, 77 Swansea, 79 Scarlett Rd, 84 Sheppard West, 86 Scarborough, 87 Cosburn, 94 Wellesley, 100 Flemingdon Park, 102 Markham, 106 York University, 109 Ranee, 165 Weston Rd North, 168 Symington, 190 Scarborough Centre Rocket, 196 York University Rocket, 509 Harbourfront.

You can visit the TTC website for more information on the changes to the routes above.

I'm currently trying to find out if its possible to ascertain which of these routes is getting additional service (rather than a seasonal increase), and will update this post if/when I find out.

Update (September 3, 7:00 p.m.)

The TTC has released a bit more information on the service upgrades including the times when service will be improved on the routes in question. Here's the link.