Compiled by Jeffrey Kay
Map by John Calnan (click on the image to see the detailed pdf)

See Also: 308 FINCH EAST BLUE NIGHT

March 30, 1974

Coincident with the opening of the Yonge subway extension to Finch, route 39 FINCH EAST established, replacing the portion of the 36 FINCH bus operating east of Yonge Street. Buses run from Finch station via Finch to the existing loop at Seneca College, seven days a week, eighteen hours a day.

November 23, 1975

Service extended east of Seneca College along Finch to McCowan Avenue, looping north an east on Sandhurst Circle West and south on McCowan. Additional trips continue to run to Seneca College during the daytime, Mondays through Fridays.

November 26, 1979

Rush hour service extended from Seneca College to Birchmount, looping via north on Bridletown Circle, east on L’Amoreaux and south on Birchmount. Additional midday service continues to turn back at Seneca College.

February 25, 1980

Express service established between Finch station and McCowan. Buses on the express branch operate local both ways between Warden and McCowan and operate express between Finch station and Warden, stopping only at Seneca College. Although shown as 39C here, this branch designation was not initially used, and was introduced in the fall of 1980 (no later than November 24). Until then, the 39A sign was displayed with a dash card saying “FINCH EAST EXPRESS”. In addition, a metal pennant over the front door notified passengers that their bus was not a local.

Express buses run every 20 minutes during Monday-Friday rush hours leaving Finch Station between 6:20 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and between 3:00 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. From McCowan buses leave every 20 minutes from 6:50 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 3:10 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.

May 12, 1980

39C Express buses now stop both ways at Don Mills.

August 31, 1980

McCowan loop revised, with buses looping via north on McCowan and then east and south on Sandhurst Circle. Morning rush hour short turn service added to Seneca College branch.

January 5, 1981

(Or earlier) Afternoon rush hour short turn service added to Seneca College.

July 4, 1981

(Or earlier) Additional Saturday service added to Seneca College.

January 4, 1982

Additional Monday-to-Friday daytime service extended east of McCowan via Finch to Neilson, looping via south on Neilson, east on Crow Trail and north on Baldoon.

February 7, 1982

Saturday short turn service to Seneca College discontinued. All buses run through to McCowan.

January 3, 1983

Afternoon rush hour service to Seneca College discontinued.

March 17, 1984

Saturday daytime service extended to Neilson.

September 1, 1985

Midday short turn service extended from Seneca College to Birchmount. Saturday service to Neilson discontinued.

November 30, 1985

Saturday service to Neilson reinstated.

November 23, 1987

Evening and Sunday service to Neilson introduced.

September 4, 1988

On or about this date, [Orion Ikarus] articulated buses begin operation on this route. It is difficult to determine how much service was initially provided by these higher capacity buses, but by February 17, 1991, they operated on all off-peak trips and on the 39C and 39E branches during peak periods.

September 1989

(Or as early as June 1989) Morning rush hour trips to Seneca College discontinued. Monday through Friday midday trips to Birchmount and McCowan discontinued, with all trips operating to Neilson. Monday through Friday evening trips to McCowan discontinued, with all trips running through to Neilson.

February 18, 1990

A new rush hour express service introduced between Finch station and the existing loop at Neilson. Buses operate express both ways between Finch station and Warden, stopping only at Don Mills an Victoria Park.

It is not known when 39C “McCowan Express” buses stopped using the stop at Seneca College, or started using the stop at Victoria Park instead. By this date, however, no express buses are stopping at Seneca College.

March 29, 1992

“Several weeks” before this date, additional morning peak trips are operating between Seneca College and Finch station again. Buses operate local on westbound trips and express on eastbound trips.

Articulated buses are now operating on all off-peak trips, with a mix of articulated buses and regular buses used during peak periods.

March 29, 1992

Midday short turn service to McCowan added.

February 13, 1994

Sunday late evening trips to McCowan discontinued, with all buses running through to Neilson.

September 3, 1995

Articulated buses withdrawn during off-peak hours and replaced with regular 40-foot buses. Articulate buses continue to operate on the 39C and 39E peak period express branches.

February 19, 1996

(Or, as early as October 1995) Morning rush hour service to Birchmount discontinued.

July 28, 1996

39 FINCH EAST now designated as an ACCESSIBLE route, with most off-peak trips and most local peak trips operated by new lift-equipped Orion V buses. Orion Ikarus articulated buses continue to operate on the 39C and 39E branches during peak periods, while older, non-accessible buses are still operated on some peak trips, Monday through Friday.

June 15, 1997

Saturday trips to McCowan between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. are run through to Neilson.

January 5, 1998

All eastbound morning rush-hour 39A trips are run as 39C Express buses

February 15, 1998

During the afternoon rush hours, express buses make an additional westbound stop at Seneca College.

January 4, 1999

During the peak periods, all trips to Neilson operated as 39E Express, using articulated buses. As 39D “Neilson local” buses no longer operate during peak periods, this means there is no accessible service between McCowan and Neilson during rush hours. During the midday hours, Monday through Friday, service on the McCowan short turn branch is cancelled with all buses operating to Neilson. Eastbound express buses now make a stop at Seneca College during the morning rush hours. Within a couple of years, Seneca College was served by express buses in both directions, during both morning and afternoon peak periods.

September 3, 2000

Articulated buses retired. These high-capacity vehicles that operated on the 39E express branch are replaced by a greater number of regular sized non-accessible buses. Accessible lift-equipped buses continue to provide most other service Mondays through Fridays and all service on weekends.

February 18, 2002

Alternate peak period express buses run eastbound to McCowan only, reintroducing the 39C “McCowan Express” branch.

November 24, 2002

Service on the 139 FINCH EAST express route begins, connecting Finch Avenue east of the Don Valley Parkway with the Sheppard subway at Don Mills station. Rush hour service levels on 39 FINCH EAST are reduced to compensate.

January 5, 2003

A mix of accessible lift-equipped buses and older non-accessible buses are use on all branches, Monday through Friday. This restores accessible service to the section of the route east of McCowan Avenue, that was withdrawn January 1999.

August 31, 2003

All trips at all times are now scheduled to use accessible lift-equipped buses.

September 3, 2006

All weekend trips that had operated to McCowan (Saturday early morning and Sundays until 9 p.m.) are now extended through to Neilson, leaving only rush hour buses to operate on the 39A McCowan branch.

February 17, 2008

The stops served by the 39 FINCH EAST express buses change. Express buses will now serve all local stops east of Brimley. Between Brimley and Finch station, express buses will stop at Midland, Kennedy, Birchmount, Bridletowne Circle (east), Warden, Bridletowne Circle (west), Pharmacy, Victoria Park, Cherokee, Seneca College, Don Mills Road, Leslie, Bayview, and Finch station.

January 5, 2009

A new 39G branch established, extending service east from Finch and Neilson via east on Finch, south on Morningside, east on Old Finch, south on Morningview Trail, west on Sewells Road, north on Littles Road, returning via west on Old Finch, north on Morningside, and west on Finch. Service operates rush hours only, operating express following the same stopping patterns of the 39E Neilson express, but providing local service east of Neilson.

October 12, 2010

Route reorganized. Most express services replaced by the new 199 FINCH ROCKET bus. Local service increased on the 39D “Neilson” branch to operate every three to seven minutes throughout the weekdays, and five to ten minutes at any other time, barring night service. 39G service to Old Finch and Morningview is changed to operate local all the way to Finch station.

Service increased on the 39/39F branch operating between Finch station and Seneca College. Buses operate express eastbound in the morning and westbound in the afternoon as 39F buses, stopping only at Finch station, Bayview, Leslie, Don Mills and Seneca College. Return trips operate local, serving all stops.

Service on the 39A (McCowan) and 39B (Birchmount) branches no longer scheduled, although these may still exist as occasional short turns.

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39 Finch East Image Archive

	An official TTC map of 39 FINCH EAST operations, effective January 1, 2013.
	An issue of TTC's "Headlights", describing changes to bus services coincident with the extension of the YONGE SUBWAY to Finch on March 30, 1974.
	In summer 2009, Orion V bus 7009 flies past new Orion VII hybrid 1708 while heading westbound on Finch Avenue East. Photo by Jonathan Chen.
	TTC New Flyer D-40-90 rebuild #6594 operates eastbound on 39D FINCH EAST at Victoria Park. Photo by David Cavlovic.
	Orions were a common visitor to Finch station. Here, TTC Orion V 7132 is pulling away from the 39D FINCH EAST bus bay for a long journey east. Photo by David Cavlovic.