Compiled by Jeffrey Kay
Originally appeared in TRANSFER POINTS, Vol. XXVI, No. 4, April 2000, and
Also published on Alan Gryfe’s Route Histories Website
Additional information from Peter Coulman

October 10, 1948

Service begins on a new diesel bus route, replacing the SPADINA streetcar. Buses operate from a new loop at the southeast corner of Fleet Street (now Lake Shore Boulevard) and Spadina Avenue via north on Spadina to Bloor Street, looping via east on Bloor, south on Huron and west on Washington. Night service is included.

October 10 - November 26, 1948

Pavement widening between College and Bloor forces buses to be temporarily rerouted to loop at the north end via east on College, north on Huron, west on Bloor, south on Robert and east on College.

December 4, 1949

Service extended north on Spadina Road to Dupont Street, looping via east on Dupont, south on Madison and west on Bernard. Additional rush hour short turn service provided between Wellington (looping counterclockwise through Clarence Square) and Bloor.

September 7th, 1956

Route assigned number 77.

Service begins on a morning rush hour branch operating over the busy part of the route, from Fleet Street north to College, looping via east on College, south on Huron and west on Cecil before returning south on Spadina. Buses operate every 5 minutes, 30 seconds over the 3.2 miles, with a 22 minute round trip. Combined headway over this portion of the route is every two minutes.

The main route (operating from Fleet to Dupont) operates at 3 minute intervals during the morning rush, 7 minute intervals during the midday, 5 minute intervals during the afternoon rush and 9 minute intervals into the evening. Weekend service is provided every 4 minutes. The Bloor/Wellington branch provides additional rush hour service every 3 minutes, 22 seconds.

A further branch operates from College (following the loop described above) and Wellington, with three trips at the end of the morning rush and 1 trip at the end of the afternoon rush.

A total of 22 buses were scheduled to operate during morning rush hours.

April 1, 1957

Rush hour service simplified, with short turn runs now operating from Fleet Street to loop at Bloor, via east on Bloor, south on Huron and west on Washington, replacing the College loop.

Regular 77 service operates every 2 minutes, 9 seconds during morning rush our, every 7 minutes midday, every 5 minutes during the afternoon rush hour and every 9 minutes into the evening. 77A “Bloor-Wellington” buses operate every 2 minutes, 44 seconds during the afternoon rush, 7C “Bloor-Fleet” buses operate every 4 minutes, 37 seconds in the morning rush, while a limited number of trips operate on the 77D “College-Wellington” service. 23 buses now scheduled to operate in the morning rush. Weekend 77 service is unchanged.

July 25, 1962

With the construction of the Gardiner Expressway, a new loop is built on the east side of Spadina, under the Gardiner Expressway, replacing the loop at Fleet Street.

February 28, 1966?

Rush hour short turn service extended north from Bloor to Dupont. This extension may have been introduced coincident with the opening of the BLOOR-DANFORTH SUBWAY, or it may have been introduced beforehand.

Note that 77 SPADINA buses were not rerouted to serve a bus terminal at Spadina station, as no such terminal was built at the time. Transfers were required to switch between buses and the subway at Bloor Street.

September 2, 1973

Daytime service extended north on Spadina from Dupont to loop via Davenport, Kendall and MacPherson. Rush hour and night service continue to use the on-street looping at Dupont.

June 23, 1974

Service extended from Lake Shore Boulevard via south on Spadina, east on Queen’s Quay and north on Bay Street, looping via east on Front, north on Yonge and west on Wellington. On weekdays, buses from Bay Street runs via west on Lakeshore and south on York to Queen’s Quay, but on weekends and holidays, buses would run south on Bay all the way to Queen’s Quay. Service operated daily, 18 hours a day. Service operates to Davenport on weekdays, and loops at Dupont on weekends.

Short turn service continued between Davenport and Lake Shore Boulevard, and night service continued to operate between Dupont and Lake Shore.

January 28, 1978

Coincident with the opening of the SPADINA SUBWAY Spadina bus service is split at the new bus terminal at Spadina station, located on Spadina Road just north of Bloor Street. Service north of Spadina station is operated by the 103 SPADINA NORTH route. Southern services are renumbered.

August 21, 1978

The Bay Street loop is revised to operate via east on Front, north on Scott and west on Wellington.

February 8, 1987

Overnight service on Spadina is renamed to operate as 317 SPADINA as part of the TTC’s new BLUE NIGHT NETWORK. The first 317 SPADINA night bus operates just after 1:00 a.m. on the morning of February 9, but these overnight trips are classified as being part of the previous day’s schedule.

June 23, 1990

Service begins on the 604 HARBOURFRONT LRT, replacing Spadina bus service on Queen’s Quay. Spadina buses use a new loop shared with 604 HARBOURFRONT streetcars. However, Spadina buses continue to operate along Queen’s Quay and Bay early on Sunday mornings.

June 20, 1994

Additional midday weekday short turn service added north of Wellington.

September 10, 1994

Additional Saturday short turn service added north of Wellington.

Mid 1990s

To increase the frequency of southbound buses during the morning rush hour, 77A “Wellington” buses operate in revenue service southbound only, running out-of-service “express” northbound.

March 30 - May 4, 1997

Trackwork in the Spadina/Queen’s Quay area in preparation for the opening of the 510 SPADINA closes Queen’s Quay loop for all transit vehicles. 77B buses operate, combining 77 SPADINA and 510 HARBOURFRONT streetcar into one route. Buses operate from Spadina station via Spadina, Queen’s Quay and Bay, looping via east on Front, north on Scott and west on Wellington to Bay, returning westbound via Queen’s Quay, north on Rees and west on Bremner.

July 26, 1997

Last day of service. Route replaced the next day by 510 SPADINA streetcars.

77 Spadina Image Archive

	This image of the bus loop at Spadina and Fleet Street was taken on November 9, 1948, after the suspension of streetcar service earlier in the year. This photograph is courtesy the Toronto Archives.
	The Toronto Transportation Commission owned only ten Mack "Old Looks", but what could have been obscure rarities were actually well-known. The C-50s were the TTC's first 40-foot long, 102-inch wide buses, and these crowd-movers were always assigned to the busy Spadina route. This photo shows number 1194, shortly after delivery, on Wednesday August 1st, 1951. This picture comes courtesy of the TTC, and Alan Gryfe.
	TTC Mack-built C-49-DT bus #0504 operates westbound on Bernard, in service on the SPADINA bus in this February 1956 shot. The bus was a demonstrator designed to compete with the GM Old Look model. It didn't take, and bus #506 was the last Mack-built bus to operate on the TTC. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy the Pete Coulman collection.
	A map of the TTC's 77 SPADINA operations, effective January 1, 1958. Image donated by Pete Coulman.
	An official operators' guide of the 77 SPADINA route, effective January 1, 1958. Image donated by Pete Coulman.
	Gray Coach bus #1297 has been pressed into service on the TTC, showing a 77 SPADINA rollsign as it lays over at Bernard and Madison in this 1962 shot. This photo is from the Anthony Holt collection and was donated by Pete Coulman.
	TTC GM New Look bus #7772 heads westbound on Wellington, approaching Bay in 77E SPADINA service. Richard Glaze took this photograph circa June 1976.
	TTC GMC "New Look" bus 7165 sits in Clarence Square at the south end of the 77A "Wellington" branch. Date unknown (but likely the late 1970s); photo taken by Bub Hussey.
	TTC GM New Look bus #3567 heads southbound on Bay Street, passing Union Station, in service on 77 SPADINA in this August 1981 shot. The photographer is unknown and the image is from the R. Lubinski collection.
	TTC GM bus 8892 departs Spadina station southbound to Bay Street in this July 1984 shot. Photo by C. Smythe.
	TTC A15-class rebuilt PCC #4607 passes GM New Look bus #8892 at Queen's Quay Loop on July 26, 1990. This photo was taken by Robert McMann and is courtesy the John Knight collection.