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How long is the new Spadina bus ride? It goes on and on and on...

- MAHDIS HABIBINIA

Shuttle buses replacing streetcars until December stack up heading south on Spadina Avenue during rush hour.

With the TTC upgrading the Spadina streetcar right-of-way from now until December, the transit agency is resorting to the next best thing to keep people moving along the route.

Which means transit riders on one of downtown’s busiest routes will have to take one of the replacement buses now added to one of the city’s most congested roads.

To find out what that means to commuters, the Star had a reporter take the 3.5-kilometre journey from Bloor Street to the waterfront during the afternoon rush — twice. First by the streetcar while it was still running, then by the replacement bus.

It’s likely not surprising it took longer. The surprising part was how much — and the reaction of the TTC’s paying customers.

Zooming past bumper-to-bumper traffic on the streetcar on a Friday afternoon during rush hour took a total of 27 uneventful minutes, just two longer than Google Maps predicted.

The same route, during the same time, on a Monday but on a bus is a different story.

The commute starts at 4:24 p.m. at Spadina Station. Where people normally board the streetcars is cordoned off by TTC tape and signs saying to board upstairs at the bus platform where the 510B awaits.

A rider approaches a TTC helper in a red vest to ask how long the streetcars are down, but the helper isn’t sure. A Star reporter breaks the news to her.

“What?!” yells Emma O’Toole, who takes the streetcar twice a day, her jaw dropping. “I was just telling (my friend) how amazing it is living by the Spadina streetcar.”