Compiled by Jeffrey Kay
Map by John F. Calnan with additions by Peter Coulman

Click on the map to see the full sized version.

November 7, 1960

Route established along Birchmount Avenue from Kingston Road to Lawrence and on Lawrence Avenue east from Birchmount to the Bendale area, looping via north on Brimley, east on Brimorton and south on McCowan’s Road. At the south end, buses loop via south on Kingston Road, north on Harding and east on Hollis. Buses operate out of Birchmount Garage, Monday to Friday, rush hours and midday.

September 3, 1963

As part of a major reorganization of suburban bus routes, the 54 LAWRENCE EAST bus route is introduced, and service on Birchmount is extended north of Lawrence to Sheppard Avenue, looping via west on Cass, north on Amethyst and east on Sheppard. Evening and Saturday service added.

May 11, 1968

Coincident with the extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway to Warden station, buses now operate out of Warden Station and east along St. Clair Avenue before heading north on Birchmount. Service on Birchmount south of St. Clair now provided by the new 69 WARDEN SOUTH route. An additional rush hour short turn service is operated between Warden station and Ellesmere, looping in the north end via west on Canadian, north on Principal and east on Ellesmere.

July 19, 1968

Rush hour short turn service to Ellesmere ends.

November 3, 1969

Service extended north, almost to Finch. Buses temporarily loop via east, north and west along Glendower Circuit.

November 24, 1969

An off-street loop opened just south of Finch Avenue on the west side of Birchmount.

April 16, 1973 - May 19, 1973

Off-street loop temporarily closed, forcing resumption of loop via Glendower Circuit.

July 12, 1973

All day service added on Sundays.

September 22, 1973

A new loop opened at the northwest corner of Finch Avenue and Birchmount. Buses loop counterclockwise.

November 24, 1974

Service extended north to a new off-street loop on the west side of Birchmount Avenue in the Hydro right-of-way corridor just north of Staley.

January 16, 1978 - August 28, 1978

Birchmount closed between Ellesmere Road and Highway 401 to allow for grade separation at the CPR tracks. Buses diverted in both directions via Ellesmere, Warden, Arkora and Scaren. Additional rush hour service added during this period between Warden station and Ellesmere, looping in the north end via Ellesmere, Rolark and Birchmount.

October 14, 1980

Some trips are extended north of Finch via Birchmount to an off-street loop at Denison in the Town of Markham.

February 8, 1982

Markham branch extended to 14th Avenue, with buses looping via McNabb, Goufh and 14th Avenue.

March 12, 1984

New rush hour express service is introduced between Steeles Avenue and Warden station. Buses serve all stops between Steeles and Sheppard and then run express to Warden station, stopping only at Ellesmere, Lawrence and Eglinton. At Steeles, buses loop via west on Wintermute, north on Mountcastle and east on Steeles. Monday through Friday evening service is extended to the Steeles loop.

July 23, 1984

Weekday evening and all-day Saturday service is extended to 14th Avenue, as is the rush hour express branch.

February 9, 1987

Express service cut back to Steeles Avenue, looping via west on Wintermute, north on Mountcastle and east on Steeles

February 6, 1989

(Or as early as October 1988) Morning rush hour short turn service extended from Finch to Steeles.

June 25, 1990 - September 4, 1990

Morning rush hour service during this period operates to Finch only (17) instead of Steeles (17B). It is uncertain if this summer change also occurred in 1989 and 1991.

May 12, 1991

Sunday daytime service extended from Finch to Steeles, and west along Steeles Avenue to loop via north on Ferrier, east on Gibson and south on Warden, returning east on Steeles to Birchmount. At all other times, buses operating to Steeles Avenue follow the old looping arrangement.

September 1, 1991 (Approximate)

All 17C Express buses operate local in off-peak direction (northbound in mornings, and southbound during the afternoon). This is shown on pocket timetables dated September 1, 1991 and February 17, 1992, but is not shown on any Service Summaries. It is not possible, therefore, to determine if this type of operation lasted until the end of Express service in June 1999.

March 1992

Starting after this month but before October 1993, all afternoon peak short turn service is extended from Finch to Steeles.

July 26, 1992

At the request of the Town of Markham, all weekday midday, evening and Saturday evening service north of Steeles discontinued. It is not known if all “Steeles” off-peak trips looped via Warden or via Wintermute.

March 28, 1993

An additional stop is added both ways on the 17C Express branch at St. Clair and Birchmount.

September 7, 1993

Saturday service discontinued between Steeles and 14th Avenue in Markham. Buses now turn in the Steeles/Warden industrial area. At this time, “Steeles” buses loop via Wintermute during rush hours only and via the Warden industrial area at all other times.

September 4, 1994

“Markham” looping expanded, now via west on McNabb, north on Gough, north on Crown Steel, east on Royal Crest and south on Birchmount.

February 18, 1996

Due a system-wide reduction of service as a result of the elimination of provincial government operating subsidies, Sunday evening service is removed, eliminating the 17 “Finch” branch.

September 1, 1996

With the TTC experimenting with headways longer than 30 minutes, Sunday evening service to Finch Avenue is restored with hourly service until 1 a.m. Buses run north on Birchmount and then east on McNicoll to a loop near Silver Springs.

October 14, 1997

Local service on the 17C Express branch extended south from Sheppard to Ellesmere. This change began at an unknown date the previous August, and only became official on this date.

March 1998

(Date approximate) Express branch renamed 17E as part of a system-wide initiative to use the letters E and F to designate express services.

June 14, 1999

17E Express service discontinued, replaced by local trips to Steeles Avenue.

September 5, 1999

Branch designations altered so that most service (the Steeles branch) is operated as plain “17”. McNicoll trips are redesignated “17C”

February 18, 2001

Off-peak trips to Steeles which had previously looped via Ferrier, Gibson and Warden, now operate via west on Steeles and north on Warden to a new off-street loop on the west side of Warden, just north of Steeles.

November 23, 2008

As part of the TTC’s Ridership Growth Strategy, service on the 17C McNicoll branch of the Birchmount bus is eliminated, with all buses on Sunday evening operating north to Steeles Avenue instead.

17 Birchmount Image Archive

	While heading north on Birchmount to Steeles, TTC Orion V #6711 stops to let passengers alight at Bonniewood Road. Photo taken on July 18, 2008 by Andrew Barton.
	A Headlights from November 1960 illustrating the diversion 17 Birchmount took due to road construction. Image courtesy Pete Coulman.
	An official TTC map of 17 BIRCHMOUNT operations, effective July 2010.
	17 Birchmount timetable from November 9, 1960. Image courtesy Pete Coulman.
	The back of the same timetable, showing service levels at every thirty minutes.