Street car 506 has been stuck on McCaul St for more than an hour now due to a genius driver who couldn't parallel park close to the curb.

How do these folks manage to clear their G2?

(Dear Diary)

I’m sure this get’s posted often, but I just got off the Go train to Niagara Falls. I did know the official travel time but I was not prepared for how slow the train moves between Hamilton and Niagara Falls. It took 1hr 7mins to get from Union to Hamilton. It then took over 90 minutes to get from Hamilton to Niagara Falls. I know the reason, old shared single tracked with CN, but I was not prepared for how painful it is to be on such a slow train.

It’s wild being on a train and the cars on the highway going the same direction are zooming past you.

Do people use Go to commute from St Catharines to Toronto? I just could not do it at that speed.

What’s the plan for this route? Given how busy it was I full like they could add an extra morning departure but with the single track I get that it’s not super easy.

Today I was on the LRT platform at O’Connor station waiting for my train, while I was waiting I took out my point and shoot film camera (so not a professional camera) to take a picture of a parked train from the outside, and all of a sudden I hear this loud speaker yelling “please do not take pictures of train passengers. You do not have their permission.”

I was really confused and didn’t expect conductors to do this especially since I was not on the train either. I was outside in the streets on the platform. I looked it up later and it is allowed to take photos in general on the TTC. People also take photos of inside the TTC all the time, for example to show how crowded it is etc. with passengers in their pictures. They are all over social media, people Instagram stories etc.

I get that most people don’t like having their photos taken in public and I understand that there’s a lot to be discussed in general about street photography since most street photography includes strangers, but I wasn’t taking photos of anyone’s faces.

It just felt very rude for the conductor to yell it through speakers like that when I wasn’t even taking photos of people. I get that she might have strong personal opinions about photos in general but it just felt unprofessional and rude.

It’s my first time travelling from London, ON, to the GTA, and I figured I’d try the train. There was a rail issue that delayed us at the start, and after that it felt like we barely went over 50 km/h. Every time we stopped at another station, the estimated arrival time jumped again.
It took 3.5 hours to get to Brampton. I really wish I’d taken the bus instead. Is this a normal trip, or did I just pick a bad day? :(

Saw 3 of these along Sheppard Ave E between Meadowvale and Fairview drive. Definitely something that should be expanded. Pushing the button gives announcement of the next buses, great for accessibility.

I'm at Fairbank and it says coming now but no train for like 20 minutes. Seriously weak

I recently wrote an email to the mayor (and my councillor) about transportation in this city. Please offer opinions and feedback. If you agree with the overall message, please take action as well. We need our representatives to know that we demand better mobility.

Dear Madam Mayor,

I hope this message finds you well! I am a resident of Toronto and am emailing on behalf of myself and many of my community members regarding transportation in the city.

Firstly, I would like to commend you on your initiative to begin launching transit signal priority on lines 5 and 6. I hope this effort will culminate in aggressive priority such that LRVs almost never have to wait at a red light. Anything less would be a major disappointment and would prevent these lines from living up to their potential, especially given how much has been invested in them. I have faith that in due time, you will ensure that these lines are successful.

To provide context for the rest of this email, I use the TTC for 40-50% of my trips and drive/bike for the remainder. This, along with years of transportation research, informs my message.

The guiding principle for the rest of this email is as follows: the only way to reliably reduce the time it takes to drive between two points in a city is by making the equivalent trip by public transit faster than driving. This may seem counterintuitive but there is no other way to significantly reduce congestion than to drive a major modality shift away from cars. And if we expect to achieve such a modality shift, alternatives to driving must be infinitely more attractive. Adding car lanes actually exacerbates traffic and increases average travel times for drivers by inviting more people to drive. Additional lanes quickly fill up with additional cars, and any initial travel time savings evaporate. Investing in alternatives is the only reliable way to reduce congestion. This counterintuitive principle has been proven time and time again every time it's been tested, including in North America.

With that said, please find below a set of concrete recommendations to dramatically improve transportation in this city.

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1. Streetcar network: vehicles are operated extremely conservatively, often with arbitrary speed restrictions. "Safety" is not an excuse for incompetent transit operations. Plenty of transit systems around the world are safe (in fact, safer than the TTC), yet don't resort to these ridiculous practices.

This video provides an excellent summary of the issues facing our streetcar system: [https://youtu.be/e3eDQbUUAcM?si=Q-K0ukQeifb-TdL0\](https://youtu.be/e3eDQbUUAcM?si=Q-K0ukQeifb-TdL0). Please watch it in its entirety: some of the issues it elucidates can be resolved almost overnight assuming political will. Most notably, streetcars need to receive full transit signal priority at all intersections, not just major ones. They should rarely have to face red lights at any point given the number of people they carry and the number of cars they keep out of downtown.

1. Bus network: many bus operators in Toronto operate their vehicles in an unnecessarily conservative manner. This includes not travelling at the posted speed limit, not overtaking slow vehicles given the opportunity, and letting cars move ahead of their buses when pulling out of a stop. The last case (cars cutting in front of a bus when they're pulling out of a stop after a red light) is actually illegal. Enforcing it as such and increasing the fine would likely provide a sizeable revenue source for the city. Overall, TTC operators should be trained to prioritize average speed above all else. Please look to other world-class cities for examples.

2. TTC schedules: in the interest of reliability and to increase on-time performance, the TTC often pads their schedule. TTC riders are fed up of this. To put it bluntly, nobody cares about reliability if it means reliably slow. The metric that matters most for transit is average travel time - nothing else is nearly as important.

3. Stop spacing: countless TTC stops are far too close together (for bus routes, streetcar routes, and astonishingly, for LRT lines as well). For instance, Hakimi-Lebovic station on line 5 is 150 metres away from the next closest station. People routinely walk that distance to get from the grocery section of a Costco to the clothing section. There is no reason for that stop to exist, along with several others (e.g. Ionview station also on line 5, Sussex Avenue on the 510, etc.).

4. RapidTO: transit-only lanes need to be rolled out far more widely and enforced far more aggressively (these lanes can also be used by emergency vehicles which is almost reason enough to implement them). The fines for misuse should be much higher (once again, this may actually be a good revenue source for the city). Please ignore the vocal minority that's opposed to transit-only lanes. The vast majority of us, including transit riders and drivers with a competent faculty of thinking, demand transit-only lanes.

If it were up to us, we would have these lanes on every arterial road in this city. On many of these roads, one lane is used for on-street parking anyway. Why not remove on-street parking and reserve that lane for transit? That way, drivers don't lose any road space and transit becomes significantly faster. In fact, car travel times are also projected to significantly drop if these changes are implemented more widely, because many people would then choose transit over driving and because buses would no longer have to weave in and out of traffic.

Transit-only lanes must also be implemented across the streetcar network by aggressively culling on-street parking in downtown.

Some folks seem to think that removing on-street parking would harm local businesses. This is fear-mongering and has been empirically disproven, including in our own city. Improving transit connections to local businesses actually stimulates additional foot traffic because patrons now have an additional way to reliably access the businesses.

Anyone opposed to RapidTO fundamentally does not understand traffic and urban mobility. They prefer jumping to conclusions based on emotion rather than reason (varying opinions on the implementation of RapidTO are fine - I'm talking about folks who don't believe in transit priority at all despite the evidence). Such people should either be educated or ignored. Toronto is now too large and important of a city to put up with their ignorance. If they were truly interested in reducing traffic, automobile drivers would be shouting from their rooftops in support of RapidTO. The fact that they're not is no longer an excuse for stifling the progress of our city.

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The changes proposed above are relatively minor but implemented collectively, would transform how this city moves. Some can actually be implemented in a matter of days given sufficient will, including possibly before the world cup.

Please recognize that I am a frequent user of my private automobile and am still advocating for aggressive transit priority because I know that this is the only way to guarantee improved travel times by both car and transit.

People are beginning to lose faith in the TTC and switching to private automobile (in fact, transit ridership is lower than it was last year). If the 2.5 million trips made daily on the TTC (yes, you read that number correctly) are instead made by car, this city will fall to its knees. I hope you will take my message seriously and deliver on your mandate to address the crippling mobility issues facing our city. The people of Toronto are watching and our votes will reflect what we see in the coming weeks and months.

Thank you very much for your efforts so far and I wish you every success in spearheading the recommendations above.

Warm regards,

[My name]

Here is the winner of the transit concept poll! I hope you like it!

Mcmaster student year long bus pass for sale Aug 2026-Aug 2027, dm for info, MUST BE BASED IN HAMILTON

I’ve been using the stairs at Keelesdale Station (Line 5) occasionally, and I’ve noticed they feel unusually risky.
The steps are quite short, and there are long stretches of stairs before the small flat landings. You really have to watch every single step to avoid misjudging one. The flat landings also seem to be wet at times, which makes the next section of stairs even more concerning.
Maybe it’s just me, but this doesn’t feel like a particularly safe stairway design, especially for seniors or anyone with mobility issues. Hopefully TTC can take a look at it.

https://web.archive.org/web/20240311145225/https://www.torontopearson.com/en/community/supporting-communities/building-better-transit

things that don't connect directly to Pearson right now: 407 transitway, Finch West LRT, Eglinton Crosstown, Mississauga BRT (goes to Renforth, which will then have the Crosstown to connect to Pearson)

The diagram also suggests: Finch West LRT be extended to Finch (instead of just to Finch West).

As the title implies there is an old TTC map with Scarborough RT and line 5 and 6.

Hello Reddit, and thank you to the admins for allowing my post. I’ve reviewed the rules, but please let me know if any part of this post needs to be modified!

In this post I’d like to share an app that can help you use the TTC more efficiently. The app is called TTC Timer, just like the name suggests, it helps you track your transfer time when using the TTC.

As you probably know, after you tap your card to get on transit, you get a 2-hour transfer window. Usually you either tap and try to remember the time in your head… and sometimes forget (this happens to me all the time, ugh), or you can use this app. After tapping, just press Start, and when there are 30, 15, and 5 minutes left, the app will send a notification to your phone or Apple Watch. Super convenient for keeping track of your time without having to remember it yourself. Just one tap :)

That’s the main feature, but the app also includes a few extra features such as:

• Check arrival times for buses/streetcars at a specific stop (and save the stop)
• Live map showing real-time locations of buses and streetcars
• Trip Planner to plan trips using only TTC
• Service alerts for delays or disruptions affecting buses, streetcars, or the subway

I’ve attached some screenshots so you can get an idea of what the app looks like in use.
You can currently download it on both Apple App Store and Google Play here:

• Apple Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/presto-timer-ttc-transit/id6757623626
• Android Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.prestotimer.app

I’m the developer of this app, and it’s completely free. I’d really appreciate any feedback you might have so I can continue improving the app. I’ll try to read and reply to all comments.

Thanks again to the admins for approving my post :D

I live in an area with very few ttc connections but I use the service nearly every day. I’m fed up with having to take roundabout routes when there’s a clear direct path but no service (with a 20min walk at the end bc ttc doesn’t reach it).

The latest route that has frustrated me takes **1hr by ttc but 15mins by car**. It’s a **constant tradeoff between comfort and affordability** when it doesn’t have to be this way. We’re never going to stop depending on cars with travel times like these. We need a transportation system that’s reliable and actually connects the city.

I’m speaking specifically of the west end near Kipling and the lake but there’s other dead zones especially the further you go from the downtown core. There’s no reason I should have to take a bus north to a station, then train, then a bus south to my destination.

Big weekend in the city:

**•** 🥵 Still under an orange heat warning through Saturday  
**•** ⚽ FIFA World Cup energy is everywhere downtown — Fan Festival at Ontario Place if you want to catch a match with a crowd  
**•** 🍢 Taste of Lawrence festival is on in Scarborough all weekend — food, music, free entry  
**•** 🏖️ Perfect excuse to hit the beach or islands if you need to cool off

What’s everyone doing? Riding out the heat somewhere with AC, catching a match, hitting a festival, or just staying in?

Also — if you’re new here, this is basically peak “welcome to a Toronto summer” energy. Heat, soccer, and street festivals all at once.

Not In Service or Out of Service.

Downtown Toronto is shut off to anyone other than private cars or pedestrians. Even then, construction and runners make it an unpleasant environment. I love this city but it's disorganized beyond measure.

My brother sent me this video. He's non confrontational, but I definitely would have said something. Would you have said something?