Compiled by Jeffrey Kay
With additions from Mike Vainchtein

• See Also: 353 STEELES EAST BLUE NIGHT

March 30, 1974

Coincident with the extension of the Yonge subway to Finch station, a new route is established replacing the portion of 60 STEELES running east of Yonge Street. Buses on 53 STEELES EAST run from Finch station via north on Yonge and east on Steeles to Pharmacy, looping via south on Pharmacy, west on Passmore and north on Victoria Park. (Note: this section of Passmore Avenue was later redesignated as an extension of Gordon Baker Road)

April 16, 1984

A new Monday through Friday rush hours and midday branch established, extending service east of Pharmacy to Kennedy, looping via south on Kelvin Grove, east and south on Conangate, east on Purcell and north on Kennedy.

March 30, 1986

Rush hour service on the 53A Kennedy branch increased to every 7-8 minutes.

June 23, 1986

Service extended east of Kennedy to Brimley, turning back on an off-street loop on the east side of Brimley, just north of Steeles.

November 24, 1986

Service extended east of Brimley to McCowan Road, turning back in the off-street loop on the east side of McCowan just north of Steeles.

November 22, 1987

Service on the McCowan branch increased to seven days a week. Service on Pharmacy reduced to short turns during Monday through Friday peak periods and evening, and on Saturday during the daytime.

February 6, 1989

Rush hour express Service established between McCowan and Finch station. Buses on new express branch operate local between McCowan and Victoria Park and then express to Finch station, stopping at Don Mills and Bayview only.

June 24, 1990

Local and express service extended east of McCowan to Middlefield, turning back in an off-street loop on the east side of Middlefield, just north of Steeles.

July 22, 1990

Evening and Saturday short turn service to Pharmacy discontinued. All vehicles operate to Middlefield during these periods.

February 13, 1994

Rush hour service extended beyond Middlefield to Markham Road, looping via north on Middlefield, east on Elson and south on Markham Road. Up to this date, Orion articulated buses were used on selected Express trips; as of this date, these buses were used on all trips on the 53E (note branch redesignation) Express branch.

April 18, 1994

Eastbound express routing revised. For an unknown period up to this date, express service had been travelling to Finch station via Willowdale and Finch instead of Yonge (this could have been as early as the start of express service in 1989). From this date forward, all eastbound express buses follow the normal route via north on Yonge and east on Steeles, avoding a difficult right turn at Willowdale and Steeles. To save time, westbound express buses operate via Steeles to Bayview, then clockwise through the off-street loop on the northwest corner, then south on Bayview and west on Finch to Finch station.

April 1, 1996

Midday Monday through Friday service extended east of Middlefield to Markham Road, following the existing rush hour on-street loop.

July 28, 1996

Route now designated accessible, with all off-peak and most peak trips operated by lift-equipped Orion V buses. Articulated buses continue to operate on the rush hour express branch.

October 14, 1997

The direction of the afternoon rush hour looping at Pharmacy is reversed to operate via Victoria Park, Gordon Baker and Pharmacy.

September 8, 1998

A new morning rush hour short turn service is introduced, operating from the Yonge/Steeles loop to Finch station. Northbound buses run non-stop without passengers while southbound trips are signed “53 to Finch Station”. For internal purposes, this service is known as branch 53D, but by January 1999 these additional AM trips were identified internally as route 153 Steeles East. This route was listed once as a separate route on the Ride Guide.

February 15 1999

Markham Road looping expanded with 53B and 53E buses now looping in the east via north on McCowan (instead of Middlefield), east on Elson and south on Markham Road, returning west on Steeles.

January 4, 2000

Articulated buses removed from morning peak operation and are only used during the afternoon peak.

September 3, 2000

Articulated buses withdrawn entirely as the vehicles are retired. Service increased on the 53E express branch to compensate for the lower capacity of the replacement buses.

January 7, 2001

An earlier trip added and service increased from 30 minutes to 15 minutes in the early morning to reduce overcrowding. The first westbound bus now leaves Markham Road at 5:30 a.m. New trips were added at the end of the morning rush hour on February 18 to further reduce overcrowding. More trips added to the start of the afternoon rush hour on September 2.

May 13, 2001

Operations on the on-street loop for the 53 Steeles East (Finch Stn-Pharmacy) buses in the morning peak period changed so that most customers don’t have to wait while the bus lays over. Buses now lay over at the first southbound stop on Pharmacy Avenue south of Steeles Avenue.

May 12, 2002

Monday through Friday early evening and Saturday daytime service extended from Middlefield to Markham Road (53B). Service only cut back to Middlefield (53A) Monday to Friday late evenings, Saturday evenings and all day Sundays.

September 1, 2002

On this day and on all Sundays following until October 6, this route is extended south of Finch station on Yonge to York Mills station between 9 a.m. and noon. This was to accommodate the shutdown of this section of the Yonge subway to passenger service while the Sheppard subway underwent testing.

March 29, 2004

AM shuttle trips from Steeles and Yonge southbound are now designated internally as 53D instead of 153.

September 5, 2004

Sunday and holiday daytime service is extended east of Middlefield to Markham Road (53B). Middlefield branch now only operates Monday through Friday late evenings and Saturday and Sunday evenings.

June 25, 2007

A new rush hour branch (53F) is added to provide service to a new residential community at Staines Road. Buses operate every ten minutes in the mornings and every twelve minutes in the afternoons, starting from a counter-clockwise loop via Staines Road and Quietbrook Crescent via north on Staines and west on Steeles. Buses serve all stops between Staines Road and Victoria Park and then only stop at Woodbine, Don Mills, Bayview and Finch Station.

Late evening service is added, seven days a week, to the 53B Markham Road branch of the Steeles East bus.

November 23, 2008

As part of the TTC’s Ridership Growth Strategy, non-express service is extended to Staines Road during Monday-to-Friday midday and evenings, Saturdays and Sundays as the 53A branch of the route, replacing the Middlefield branch. Supplementary service is provided during the daytime and early evening by the 53B Markham Road branch, in addition to express services.

January 2, 2011

The loop at Staines Avenue is expanded to serve the developing neighbourhood there. At all times of the week, all 53A “Staines” and 53F “Staines Express” buses operate east on Steeles, south on Staines, north on Morningside, east on Oasis, east on Seasons, and north on Staines to Steeles, returning via the reverse route. Service removed from Quietbrook Crescent.

53 Steeles East Image Archive

	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.
	TTC Orion VII 1203 parked at Finch getting ready for a run on Route 53B Steeles East, taken on November 17, 2007. Photo by Michael Seong
	TTC Orion VII 1206 parked at Finch getting ready for a run on Route 53B Steeles East, taken on November 24, 2007. Photo by Michael Seong
	TTC Orion VII Hybrid #1713 seen on Bishop Avenue near Finch Station on route 53 STEELES EAST. The photo was taken on December 19, 2009 by Ryan Flores.
	Map of 53 STEELES EAST route, effective November 23, 2008.