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As two of the TTC’s busiest surface routes, it’s not surprising the 501 Queen and 504 King were the target of so many gripes.

That the 501 had a significant edge over the second-most complained about route, the 504, comes as no shock to transit analyst Steve Munro. “I can certainly understand it having a high complaints level because of the dog’s breakfast that the service was last fall,” he said, pointing out that the route has been diverted and split into three due to long-term construction. “November of last year, it was like every couple of weeks the Queen car changed how it was operating.”

He also noted that several streetcars faced numerous changes throughout the year due to construction — including the routes serving Toronto’s east end, which saw a disproportionate number of complaints.

“It was just this constant … I want to escape from the east end, but I don’t know how,” said Munro.

On the other hand, the 510 Spadina, also one of the busiest streetcar routes, had fewer complaints than expected largely because it didn’t face the same construction challenges.

The bus lines that sparked more complaints than you’d expect given their ridership, the 97 Yonge and the 49 Bloor, are both extreme cases of a common issue with TTC service, according to Munro: they run infrequently and inconsistently, making them difficult for riders to rely on.

One other outlier of note: buses on the Dufferin line — notoriously the slowest in the city — attracted much fewer complaints than expected. There’s a good reason for that, according to Munro. “That is complaint fatigue,” he said, adding he believes fewer riders complained about the “appallingly bad” service either because they think it won’t help, or they’ve come to expect a poorer quality bus.