115 Silver Hills

Compiled by Peter Coulman

The suburban areas north of York Mills between Yonge and Leslie streets, offering primarily low density neighbourhoods with houses on large lots, proved a challenge in providing economically feasible transit service. In 1973, the Government of Ontario had used the area to test the GO Dial-a-Bus service, an on-demand transit service which used mini-buses to ferry passengers from their homes to shops and the subway at York Mills.

The service did not prove to be successful and closed down in 1976 (more details on the GO Dial-a-Bus service can be found here, but demand for transit service continued and, in 1979, the Toronto Transit Commission and the Borough of North York investigated further. There was some opposition, with residents complaining that only “maids” would use the service, but local councillors persisted. Initially, the TTC proposed a single route, combining what would today be 78 ST ANDREW and 115 SILVER HILLS. Instead, the proposal proceeded as two separate routes.

April 20, 1981

Service on 115 SILVER HILLS begins with buses running from York Mills station via east on York Mills, north on Leslie and west on Bannantyne, looping via Woodsworth, Davean and Bannatyne and then returning over the reverse route. Service initially operates during rush hours and midday from Monday to Friday, using 30’ Orion II buses. The Orion buses would continue in use until early 1990, after which standard 40’ buses were used.

SILVER HILLS	115	L E S L I E YORK MILLS STN
Monday through Friday, 12 hours/day

April 15, 1984

Service provided at twenty-minute intervals from 6:20 a.m. to 7:20 p.m.

January 21, 1991

Monday-to-Friday evening and Saturday daytime service added along Leslie, Bannantyne, Woodsworth and Davean as part of the 166 SILVER HILLS-GRAYDON HALL route. The service would be discontinued on May 9, 1992

February 18, 1996

In conjunction with the elimination of public transit subsidies by the province of Ontario, midday service on 115 SILVER HILLS eliminated. Buses operate during rush hours only.

In 1998, the TTC recommended combining the Silver Hills service with 78 ST. ANDREW in order to improve the route’s financial importance. Buses would operate from the end of 78 ST. ANDREW via Truman and Silvergrove to loop via Silver Hills’ current routing. Service would be eliminated on Ballantyne from Davean Drive to Leslie Street. The proposal was opposed by the neighbourhood, who feared the loss of a direct connection between the loop and schools on York Mills. The idea was deferred at the December 1998 meeting of TTC Commissioners, and later dropped altogether.

November 23, 2008

As part of the TTC’s Ridership Growth Strategy, service times are lengthened so that this bus route operates whenever the subway is open, seven days a week.