Sean Marshall

Tag: Toronto

  • The bikelash comes to Bloor Street West

    Bloor Street West, near Islington Avenue, October 14 2026 as dozens of police officers confront cyclists blocking workers from removing the cycling lane

    In the so-called “War on the Car,” it feels like the provincial government is the one leading the charge.

    In the last few years, the Ontario PC government, led by Doug Ford, has pulled out all the Stops (pun intended) in favouring motorists. Though the province is funding major transit expansion in the Greater Toronto Area, it has also accelerated the construction of new highways in the suburban “905 Belt” including the Bradford Bypass (Highway 425) and Highway 413 between Milton and Vaughan. It eliminated tolls on the provincially-owned sections of Highway 407 in Durham Region. The province also raised most provincial freeway speed limits to 110 kilometres per hour, even on congested sections of Highway 401 in Toronto. It eliminated the automobile licence plate renewal fee, and reduced fuel taxes soon after getting elected. Premier Ford has also pushed for a tunnel under Highway 401 that will never get built, but will waste time and resources for a study.

    Along with these pro-driver policy decisions, the Ford government has struck back against local measures that were designed to promote walking and cycling and protect road users — especially pedestrians and cyclists — from injury and death.

    In 2025, the province, once again weaponizing its constitutional authority to override municipalities, forced the removal of speed enforcement cameras. Traffic speeds, predictably, went up. In 2024, the government used its majority to pass Bill 212, the “Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act” which prohibits municipalities from installing cycling infrastructure that would take away from general traffic lanes without ministerial approval. The legislation also gave the government authority to override Toronto City Council decisions, by removing city-installed cycling lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue/Queen’s Park Circle. All three of these routes have subways underneath and parallel other multilane routes such as Jarvis Street/Mount Pleasant Road and the Gardiner Expressway. In 2025, Bill 212 was followed by Bill 60, the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act” which outright banned the removal of traffic lanes for bike lanes (or any other prescribed purpose).

    It didn’t matter that the municipalities are responsible for their own streets. It didn’t matter that the people of Toronto elected their councils with the mandate to make these local decisions. It didn’t matter that experts and even senior civil servants in the Ministry of Transportation pushed back, as the Toronto Star reports. And it didn’t matter that a majority of Toronto voters rejected the PC government, even tossing out a PC MPP in Etobicoke-Lakeshore in the Winter 2025 snap election.

    Several suburban municipalities have used the province’s direction as an excuse to remove some of their cycling infrastructure. The enactment of Bill 60 was cited in the resolution by Brampton City Council earlier this year to remove bike lanes on Charolais Boulevard in the city’s southwest, restoring four driving lanes on a street that never needed them.

    Bike lanes on suburban collector roads including Howden Boulevard in Brampton and Aquitaine Avenue in Mississauga (pictured) have also disappeared in 2025-2026. Photo taken on a weekday afternoon.

    Make no mistake, this is a culture war, manufactured to pit cyclists that the Ford Brothers have long vilified versus the Ford Nation base of middle class suburbanites and affluent voters. Not only is it a convenient distraction from education scandals, allegations of corruption, and a teetering health system, it’s a great fundraising tool. The PCs don’t need their supporters to chip in to fight the war for the car — they’ll do it with or without your $25 donation — but they’ll sure take your money.

    😔 The transportation minister assures me I’m next though

    — Mark Shaw 🇨🇦✌️🇪🇺 (@markshawtoronto.bsky.social) 2026-10-16T16:03:52.206Z
    Fundraising on culture wars and road violence

    After winning an appeal in August of a lower court decision that had blocked the removal of lanes (in that earlier decision, the judge found that the province had no evidence that cycling infrastructure causes congestion), Ford’s government wasted no time dismantling a 1.1 km section of the Bloor Street bike lanes in Etobicoke, between Clissold Road (just west of Islington) and Royal York Road. Though Bloor Street is a municipal road, the province took it upon itself to begin removal work, overriding the city.

    On this section of Bloor, the City of Toronto installed short concrete curbs augmented with plastic flexiposts to separate the bike lanes from parked cars and general traffic, often an interim measure before major road construction allows for more permanent infrastructure. This was a relatively easy bike lane to remove, at least without active opposition from cyclists and safe street activists.

    Workers removing flexiposts from small concrete curbs that would later be removed, Wednesday October 14

    Work was scheduled to begin the evening of Tuesday, October 13, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. The work was originally intended to only occur after 6PM, to minimize effects on traffic. But after hundreds showed up that evening to block removal work, it was quickly rescheduled for the next day, with work slated to begin by 11 AM. Still, several dozen showed up, and after blocking the work yet again, dozens of police from all over the city came out to put an end to that. The resistance was peaceful, and there was just one arrest of a cyclist refusing to get on the sidewalk that day (a second was arrested in the evening).

    Near Etobicoke and Islington on Wednesday morning, before police arrived

    One also noticed that the untendered contractor — Verdi Alliance — was not proud of its work on behalf of the province. It covered up the logos on its vehicles with paperboard and duct tape. Logos on its temporary conditions road signage (the orange signs in construction areas) were also covered in tape. One could feel some sympathy for the workers on site, who faced several days of being yelled at, as they are usually assigned for legitimate road work, perhaps installing cycling infrastructure elsewhere.

    Workers placing a “bike lane closed” sign on Bloor Street near Roya York with the Verdi Alliance logo at top right taped over
    Verdi Alliance truck at Bloor and Royal York with logos covered up on Thursday, October 15

    Returning mid afternoon on Thursday, October 15, I had just missed witnessing the rough arrest of a paralympic athlete who was blocking removal of the concrete curbs near Royal York Road with their wheelchair. I heard yells of “shame” in front of the Crooked Cue tavern, whose owner has been one of the loudest anti-bike lane voices in the last few years.

    To me, the piles of removed concrete curbs in the abandoned bike lane made me think of the piles of old wooden ties from disused railways being ripped up. I had a similar feeling of melancholy when I saw railways like the Orangeville-Brampton line disappear.

    Piled concrete curbs and metal anchors in the Bloor Street bike lane in Etobicoke made me thing of railway ties and spikes as an abandoned railway is torn up
    The Orangeville-Brampton Railway being torn up in early 2022

    While visiting the Kingsway neighbourhood, I could not help but notice how affluent and conservative the Bloor-Royal York area is. In the last weeks of a municipal election, Brad Bradford’s signs dominated over incumbent Olivia Chow’s on large residential lawns. There were many luxury SUVs, such as BMWs, Porsches, and Land Rovers, being driven or parked on the side streets. Teenagers exiting Royal York Station wore the uniforms of prominent Rosedale and Forest Hill private schools. Cycling infrastructure was probably always going to be a hard sell here, where the older urban city meets the postwar suburbs.

    Off of Bloor Street, most residential streets are made of large houses on roadways without sidewalks. Of the election signs I saw, most were for right-wing mayoral candidate Brad Bradford and council candidate Ted Opitz, who previously represented the neighbouring riding as a Conservative MP.

    Pedestrians walk north on Brentwood Road, a residential side street without sidewalks, despite a nearby Toronto Public Library branch.

    But my sadness and anger became a white hot rage after crossing in a marked crosswalk at Bloor and Brentwood: I was nearly nailed by a driver in a Land Rover SUV who violated the HTA by failing to stop at the stop sign and solid stop line protecting the crosswalk and bike lane. This turned out to be a very common occurrence at this intersection, as I sat on a bench and recorded drivers blowing through.

    Clearly, drivers here do not care about the safety of anyone else. And the province is catering to them above all others. If pedestrians or cyclists are injured or killed by aggressive, distracted, or speeding motorists, that’s just the cost of living in Doug Ford’s Toronto.

    Most drivers at Brentwood Street at Bloor Street West don’t stop at the stop line and roll through the crosswalk

    Correction: I amended the information about Bills 60 and 212 to be more accurate.

  • Open Streets in Hamilton

    Open Streets in Hamilton

    The road was closed, but the street was open

    On Sunday, September 27, I took the GO train to Hamilton with my bike to experience Open Streets Hamilton, an annual event that shuts down just over three kilometres of King Street East between John Street and Gage Street from 10AM to 4PM. An official program of the City of Hamilton, pedestrians and cyclists get to enjoy a car-free experience, with five activation hubs, with live music, play spaces, and booths set up by city-affiliated agencies like the Hamilton Street Railway and Hamilton Public Library as well as local non-profit and activist organizations. Businesses along King Street were welcomed to take their business outside with displays and tables for passers-by to browse.

    The Hamilton Public Library’s bookmobile near King and Sherman
    Drum band at King and Victoria

    Hamilton’s Open Streets was a delight. A pleasant, sunny day certainly helped, but it was nice to see so many people sharing the space, all at a gentle pace. Cyclists taking advantage of the car-free King Street were respectful of pedestrians having the whole right-of-way and especially careful around the five hubs. Cyclists looking for a faster route could easily go just two blocks north to Cannon Street, which has a continuous two-way cycletrack as far east as Sherman Avenue.

    King Street narrows between John and Wellington Streets through the tree-lined International Village BIA

    Toronto used to hold two annual Open Streets Sundays on Bloor and Yonge Streets as well, from 2014 to 2019 (there was one on Sunday, August 21, 2022, as well). However, the hours were shorter — 10 AM until 2PM, and it never came back as an annual event, unlike the experience in downtowns elsewhere.

    By extending Open Streets into the later afternoon, Hamilton helped to encourage businesses to participate and to get a wide variety of participants through the day. Though Open Streets in Toronto was supported by the Downtown Yonge BIA, there was limited commercial activity along the routes, likely due to the short hours.

    King at Barnesdale, towards the east end of the Open Streets. Note the café on the block put out seating and shade canopies.

    In 2026, Toronto only had two blocks of temporary pedestrian activation — Church Street between Alexander and Wellesley Streets in the Village. Happily, that experiment ran for over six weeks, and restaurants and bars took advantage of the extra space. It worked well, despite nearby road construction and concerns about safety and traffic congestion. But it was just a taste of what Toronto can and should do.

    Hamilton shows that open streets are popular and Toronto needs to bring them back. Hopefully the mayor and council elected later this month will have the courage and ambition to get Torontonians outside and on the streets.

  • Streets are for people: a visit to St. John’s Water Street

    Streets are for people: a visit to St. John’s Water Street

    Pedestrians and cyclists enjoying a sunny Sunday morning in St. John’s

    In late June of this year, my spouse and I had the chance to visit St. John’s, along with a few other destinations in Eastern Newfoundland and Saint Pierre, France. I highly recommend the visit, though even late June can be a bit cool and wet there.

    During our last two days, several blocks — about 700 metres — of Water Street, the main commercial street in St. John’s, was closed to all motor vehicles, and remains so until September 7, Labour Day. This is an annual event, supported by downtown businesses, and is one of the positive legacies of the social distancing era of 2020-2021.

    Though fenced-off restaurant patios spill on to Water Street, there are plenty of public spaces to sit, too

    This is much less a street festival (though there are plenty of organized events) and more of an open street initiative. Though restaurants’ patios spill out into the street, there are plenty of public picnic tables set up for anyone to use, both in sunny and shaded areas. There are several portable toilets, complete with adjacent hand-washing sinks, which provide relief without having to pay to use a washroom.

    Portable washrooms, hand-washing station, and portable bike parking on Water Street

    Pedestrians and pedal cyclists are welcomed, though cyclists are instructed to go at a slow speed, and e-bikes passing through must have their power assist off.

    Sign explaining e-bike policy for the Downtown Pedestrian Mall

    Of course, there are security guards and gates set up to keep motorists out, apart from emergency vehicles and local deliveries. But I did not notice any police cars stationed at any of the intersecting streets, and the few RNC officers I saw were on general foot patrol. Though several Metrobus routes normally serve Water Street, these are diverted one block away to Harbour Drive.

    Security minding traffic gates at Water and Adelaide Streets, the southern end of the pedestrian mall

    Though St. John’s is a much smaller city than Toronto (its metro area is less than 4% the size of Toronto’s CMA), it is also much more car-dependent, with only a basic bus transit system, and very little cycling infrastructure. Yet, they are able to pull this off for ten weeks a year, on an annual basis. The last Open Streets event in Toronto was in 2022, and those were only held two Sundays of the year. Yes, there are wildly successful street festivals, such as Taste of the Danforth, which just had its record-breaking comeback, but they aren’t the same as they are rammed with crowds, and those only take place over two or three days.

    This year, at least, Toronto gets to enjoy just a little taste of what should be expected in this city. Until August 21, two short blocks of Church Street are open to pedestrians, from Alexander Street to Wellesley Street, with some of the same features I saw in St. John’s.

    Moveable car traps and metal barricades block Church Street, looking north at Maitland

    One key noticeable difference are the harder barriers to prevent motor vehicles from entering. Yellow wheel traps are lined up next to metal barricades, decorated with colourful banners. Though understandable given recent history in Toronto and Vancouver with vehicular attacks on sidewalks and a street festival, they sadly act to fence in what should be an open street and pedestrians must enter on the sidewalks. Unlike St. John’s, cycling is prohibited as well.

    Shaded by branded patio umbrellas, the picnic tables and Muskoka chairs on the left are open to anyone

    Still, it’s a great taste of what Toronto should have more of. As on Water Street, there are both private patio spaces on the street as well as public chairs and benches, as well as extra waste bins, though no public toilets. It’s also very well used, especially later in the day. The Church-Wellesley Village is the cultural and commercial centre for Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities, as well as being in the centre of a very densely-populated area with limited open space.

    It is also oddly quiet, despite the vibrancy. That’s because there are no cars, which are a major source of urban noise pollution. The car-free environment also makes sitting on a curbside patio much more enjoyable, without the noise and smells of passing motorists. How can anyone object?

    Later in the afternoon, Church Street was busier with pedestrians

    It might be too much to ask for Montreal-style open street corridors, but Toronto should at least aspire to more, long-term open street set-ups like Water Street and Church Street. Kensington Market would be the perfect place to start. Even on our busy east-west streetcar routes on corridors such as Gerrard Street East or Queen Street West, with a bit of imagination and can-do spirit, we can accommodate those as well.

    With adding long-term implementations, we will need to rethink the costs of policing and security, which are currently a major barrier to providing these spaces in Toronto. In Montreal, security staffing is minimal on open streets such as Ave. Mont-Royal. The needs of policing and securing a regular pedestrianized area are quite different than ensuring safety at a crowded street festival.

    Ave. Mont-Royal, where security measures are minimal on the summer open street

    Such crowd-pleasing, neighbourhood-building actions as Open Streets should be on any serious mayor or council candidate’s policy platform in the upcoming municipal election.

  • Where’s the outrage when pedestrians are killed?

    Birchmount Road and Lawrence Avenue East, Scarborough

    On Friday, July 10, the driver of a westbound Toyota RAV4 SUV drove through a red light on Lawrence Avenue East and struck another vehicle travelling south on Birchmount Avenue. The SUV continued forward, mounting the sidewalk where two pedestrians were standing, and then hit a traffic signal pole. The pole, as designed, fell to the ground. The two pedestrians — a 64-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman — were killed. The drivers of both vehicles — as well as two passengers in the RAV4 — were taken to hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries.” Nearly two weeks later, there have been no updates from the Toronto Police or any news outlet letting the public know of any charges laid; there is not even any mention of who the two dead victims were.

    As it’s just another “accident,” society shrugs and continues on.

    Roadside memorial to two dead pedestrians, with a pylon covering the base of the fallen traffic pole

    A day later, just after 8PM on Saturday, July 11, two people were shot dead on St. Clair Avenue West during the Salsa on St. Clair street festival, and four more were injured. This was not a random shooting, but a violent gunfight where the assailants and those killed knew each other. There were many thousands attending the popular street festival that evening; many of those attending fled fearing for their safety.

    Elected leaders from all three levels of government were quick to denounce the violence, and Toronto Police, to its credit, refused to hyperbolize the general risk to the public. Chief Myron Demkiw reminded Torontonians that “shootings are down over 26 per cent compared to the same time last year,” followed by the recognition that such violence “…understandably shakes the sense of safety and security that Torontonians expect and deserve.”

    However, there are those whose agendas are not served by nuanced remarks like Chief Demkiw’s. Second-time mayoral candidate Brad Bradford was quick to blast senior police officials, saying it was “wrong to call Toronto a safe city.” Bradford followed with his preferred response from police which “…is to say ‘No. No more. Not now, not ever.’” For someone running on a right-wing reactionary platform, such a response would have been much more helpful against an incumbent mayor.

    It’s understandable that the St. Clair shooting has gotten lots of attention from the police, news media, and politicians. Despite a continuing decline in violent crime and Toronto’s well-deserved reputation as a safe city, brazen gun violence is frightening, especially in a crowded area where there are thousands enjoying a summer evening. People want to be safe and feel safe while outside their homes. But that also means being able to walk without fear of being struck and killed by a motorist, even when on a sidewalk.

    For intermittent street festivals, parades, and temporary pedestrian malls, a lot of attention is already placed on security, especially after recent vehicle attacks. Portable car traps keep vehicles out, while paid duty police and security guards keep watch at intersections and places in between. But we also do very little to protect pedestrians and other road users from dangerous driving. Doug Ford’s provincial government, working against Toronto and other municipalities, moved against bike lane installation (protected bike lanes that serve as a buffer between motor traffic and sidewalks) and speed enforcement cameras, which were working to reduce drivers’ speeds.

    Drivers speeding through a red light on seven-lane Lawrence Avenue East at Birchmount Road. Note the temporary replacement traffic signal affixed to the median pole on the far side of the street.

    As a society, we are horrified by gun violence, but generally give scant attention to deaths on our roads that result from motorists’ choices. No councillor, mayor, premier, or prime minister spoke out when two bystanders were killed in Scarborough. Their names have still not been released. There’s no follow up to the police investigation, and it has so far merited just one story in the Toronto Star, CBC Toronto, and CP24.

    That is a tragedy in itself.

  • The Amsterdam Bridge and the Torontobrug

    Reopened, at last

    On Sunday, May 31, the Amsterdam Bridge reopened on Toronto’s Harbourfront after being closed for five years. The footbridge, which spans a marina south of Queen’s Quay, is a popular meeting place and photo opportunity, with views of Toronto Harbour to the south and the towering skyline to the north. A gift of the City of Amsterdam, one of Toronto’s sister cities at the time, the bridge was one of the first great public spaces on the waterfront as it was beginning to transition from a derelict industrial space to the city’s new front yard.

    The Amsterdam Bridge in 2014

    The footbridge, a cable suspension structure over the marina featured a lifting section on the east side so that tall yachts could moor at the north end of the marina on request, though this was not a regular occurrence. The design mimicked some of the iconic canal crossings in Amsterdam. Sadly, due to neglect, the bridge was closed to pedestrians in 2021 and the lifting section removed.

    Plaque on the bridge commemorating the opening of the Amsterdam Bridge, a “Dutch style lift bridge” on June 25, 1978 by Amsterdam mayor Wim Polak, taken in 2014. Note the old pre-amalgamation City of Toronto coat of arms below. A replacement plaque with similar text (but with the current post-amalgamation civic coat of arms) since replaced the original.

    When the bridge reopened in 2026 just in time for Toronto hosting six World Cup soccer matches, the lifting section was replaced by a fixed span. Once again, visitors can climb the bridge, take in the views, and snap great photographs, but the “lift bridge” of the original “Dutch style lift bridge” is no more. It’s a shame too, that it took five years for this fix to even happen; Toronto needs to do better at maintaining its public assets, especially its unusual, fun, and quirky landmarks.

    Fixed deck on the Amsterdam Bridge in 2026

    Around the same time Toronto got an Amsterdam Bridge, the City of Amsterdam named a bridge for Toronto. The Torontobrug spans the Amstel River, carrying the busy Centrumring (Central Ring Road). A five-lane traffic artery outside the major tourist areas, the bridge is not iconic by any means (I biked to it during my 2013 visit to Amsterdam) but it is an important road link. There are separated cycle tracks on both sides of the bridge, so it is at least multimodal. The bridge can still open for river boat traffic when necessary.

    The Torontobrug in Amsterdam, 2013

  • Woodbine Centre, revisited

    Woodbine Centre, revisited

    You can catch me on CBC Toronto today talking about the history of Woodbine Centre and Fantasy Fair with reporter Nav Nanwa. The CBC television report has some pretty good drone shots of the mall as well.

    Here’s me standing in front of Highway 27 and the trailers stored in the old Sears parking lot

    I wrote more about the history of Woodbine Centre in November 2024, which you can read here. Looking for reports of the mall opening from 1985, I found this full page ad in the Tuesday, August 6, 1985 edition of the Toronto Star.

  • Return to Line 6: a slightly faster ride

    Return to Line 6: a slightly faster ride

    Slow ride, take it easy

    On Thursday, February 26, I went west on Finch Avenue from Scarborough to North York via the 939B Finch East Express bus to take another ride on Line 6, the problem-plagued Finch West LRT. After hearing of enhanced signal priority being introduced on Finch Avenue, I wanted to see if it had any effect on running times since my last visit a few days after opening.

    Interestingly, the 939B, which runs all the way from Kennedy Station to Finch West Station via Scarborough Centre, McCowan Road, and Finch Avenue, uses the York University Busway to get between Dufferin Street and Finch West Station. That busway, opened in 2009, was built to speed up travel times between the former subway terminus at Downsview Station (now called Sheppard West Station) and the university campus as the Line 1 extension to Vaughan was underway. When the Scarborough Busway opens — likely by the end of this year — it will use that exclusive transitway (also a temporary measure to speed buses along a subway project) as well.

    From Finch West Station, it took 44 minutes to ride to the other end at Humber College Station, 20 minutes faster than during a problematic ride back in December. The average speed was 14.1 km/h, with a short spurt of speed (up to 56 km/h) up the hill between Islington and Kipling Avenues.

    Screenshot from a GPS app with the distance, average speed, and time it took to get from Humber College to Finch West Station

    On the return trip, it took almost 46 minutes from Humber College to Finch West, less than 4 minutes faster than my last eastbound ride in December, and with an average speed of 13.8 km/h. The eastbound train I was riding managed to arrive at Kipling Avenue (Mount Olive Station) just as the LRT signals were turning from amber to red (motor traffic still had 10 seconds of green light), followed by the stop at the far-side station there. The train also managed to arrive at Islington Avenue as the LRT signal was turning red, resulting in another long wait. At each intersection, the trains crawled at 15-20 km/h as parallel traffic sped by, and the Alstom Citadis cars were noticeably rough riding. The section between Humber College Station and Westmore Drive is especially painful, with LRV cars making the turn at 7-8 km/h.

    On Eglinton Avenue east, the two-car Bombardier Flexity trams manage to glide through at-grade intersections at a less frustrating speed, and they noticeably provide a lighter, quieter ride.

    On the positive side, station dwell times on Line 6 were noticeably reduced, and it seems that operations are a bit more consistent after two months of operation; there were no notable gaps between LRV cars. However, there are still issues to be worked out, as Friday, February 27 saw more switch problems that closed part of the line for several hours.

    Hopefully, further operational improvements and signal priority follow, and the signal and track issues get sorted out. I’ll return later in March for another ride to see if the ride improves further. I worry, though, about the Citadis LRVs, as they are looking more and more like a defective product that may not be redeemable.

    Line 6 travel times on Thursday Feb. 26
    Eastbound
    (read down)    		Stop/stationWestbound
    (read up)
    3:28 PM (dep.)Humber College
    LRT Station    		3:12 PM (arr.)
    3:32Westmore Dr.3:08
    3:34Martin Grove Rd.3:06
    3:43Kipling Ave. (Mt. Olive)3:00
    3:47Islington Ave. (Rowntree Mills)2:58
    3:56Weston Rd. (Emery)2:48
    4:00Arrow Rd./Signet Dr.2:45
    4:05Jane and Finch2:37
    4:08Tobermory Dr.2:33
    4:10Sentinel Rd.2:30
    4:13 PM (arr.)Finch West Stn.
    (LRT Terminal)    		2:28 PM (dep.)
    45 minutesTotal time44 minutes

  • Line 5 is alive

    Line 5 is alive

    Caledonia LRT Station

    On Sunday, February 8 the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT opened to the public without any pomp or circumstance. Perhaps embarrassed by the public’s reaction to Line 6 Finch West, there were no giveaways, no parties, and no promotional materials. That turned out to be a shame, in a way, because Line 5 seems to be alright so far, a week after its initial opening. Travel times on the LRT are improved over the previous 32 and 34 bus routes, though with lesser speed improvements on the surface section versus the western portion. The two-car Bombardier Flexity trains do not crawl through intersections on Eglinton Avenue East unlike the single-car Alstom Citadis Spirits on Finch Avenue West.

    Furthermore, learning some lessons from the botched Line 6 launch, the TTC — the operator of Line 5 trains — is looking for public feedback and promises improvements to speed and frequencies later in 2026. There are certainly ways in which this line can improve further. All that said, the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT offers needed optimism for Toronto’s transit future, especially as more projects are underway.

    Mostly smooth operation of Line 5 during the first week
    (more…)
  • Line 5: a quiet opening for a troubled project

    Line 5: a quiet opening for a troubled project

    A westbound LRV train on Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough, January 2026

    After fifteen long years, the wait is over. On Sunday, February 8, the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT will finally open to the public, with the first train leaving Kennedy Station at 7:00 AM. (The first eastbound train will depart Mount Dennis at 7:07 AM.) Rides will be free on that first day, but there will be no opening celebration, no ribbon cutting, and no giveaways. At first, trains will run until 11 PM, with Line 5 shuttle buses from 10 PM until 1AM, when the 334 night bus takes over.

    After the botched opening of Line 6 Finch West, it is clear that no one in charge wants to celebrate the opening of this new transit line after years of construction delays and false hope of completion in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. So if you want to check out Toronto’s new ride, go do it at your own convenience. You won’t miss anything.

    There will be no party, like the one arranged last December at Finch West

    But even if the trains run slower than originally planned at first, there should be a ramping up of speeds and transit priority in the surface-running eastern section. The tunneled section will have speeds up to 60 km/h between stations, making it considerably faster than the buses it will replace. During a visit to Scarborough last month, it already seemed that trains were running a bit faster in the outdoor section than on Finch West, so there’s definitely some reason to welcome the LRT in its initial “soft opening” phase.

    The TTC notes that once full service is operational later in 2026, the end‑to‑end travel times will be “approximately 50–55 minutes.” That’s about twice as fast as the bus when going all the way from Mount Dennis to Kennedy. Perhaps, once the trains are running on a full schedule until 1AM and with expected performance improvements, there will be a formal ceremony to conclude this long journey.

    Notably on Sunday February 8, there will be significant changes to the bus network, including 2 discontinued routes, 13 route changes, and 4 new routes. Most notably, Routes 54 and 954 on Lawrence Avenue East will now terminate at Don Valley Station instead of at the subway at Eglinton Station. Route 35 Jane will no longer continue south of Weston Road, but will instead terminate at Mount Dennis (with new Route 27 Jane South taking over that southern section). The 47 Lansdowne will be split into two, with 18 Caledonia providing service north of Eglinton. Routes 51 Leslie and 56 Leaside will be merged (with a short 151 Leslie North bus on the north end), and the 32C branch will be replaced with the new 158 Trethewey bus. The map below shows how the TTC buses will connect with Line 5. (Route 901, between Mount Dennis Station and Pearson Airport via Dixon Road, has not yet been approved.)

    Map showing TTC bus route changes; several of these were already implemented in late 2025. Only the 901 express route to Pearson Airport has not been approved.

    I will certainly make time to check out Line 5 on Sunday, followed by a more fulsome review a week or two after opening to form an honest and thoughtful opinion.

  • Can the Eglinton LRT outrun the bus?

    Can the Eglinton LRT outrun the bus?

    Passengers boarding the 34 Eglinton East bus, January 28, 2026

    On Sunday, February 8, the long-awaited (and long-delayed) Line 5 Crosstown LRT will finally open to the public (or maybe not). The new line, 19 kilometres long with 25 stops, is nearly twice as long as the 11-kilometre Finch West LRT that opened in December.

    Unlike the troubled Finch West LRT, the Eglinton-Crosstown line is largely underground, with twelve stations, from Mount Dennis to Laird, completely separated from road traffic. A western extension through central Etobicoke to the Mississauga border at Renforth will also be completely grade-separated. There are several other major differences: the Crosstown line will be more frequent than Finch West, and will have more capacity, with two-car trains operating at all times. The equipment will be different too: Bombardier Flexity cars, the same as those used in Kitchener-Waterloo, will make the up the trains. Furthermore, the underground section will be computer controlled (which might turn out to be a complication, rather than an advantage).

    A light rail train passes traffic on Eglinton Avenue East in Scarborough

    However, some aspects will be the same. The surface-running eastern section between Leslie Street and Kennedy Road will feature 10 outdoor stops and 16 traffic signals, though the LRT will dip below ground at Don Mills Road (formerly Science Centre Station, now Don Valley Station) and under Kennedy Road into the Kennedy Station transit hub. As with Finch West, this was a Metrolinx-led project with a private consortium in charge of construction and maintenance, with the TTC in charge of train operations. So it will be interesting to see how Line 5 fares.

    With subway, light rail, buses, and GO trains, Kennedy Station is becoming a proper transit hub

    In the meantime, just as with my visits to Finch West, I decided to see how long it takes to get across the LRT corridor. In May 2024, I walked the entire route over three days, getting to know the corridor better (while documenting my stroll on a social media platform that I have since abandoned). With rumours of a mid-winter 2026 opening, I decided to ride the buses to get further context and time the rides.

    Congestion at Eglinton Avenue West and Oakwood Avenue, May 2024

    Tuesday, January 20 was an ideal day to ride the 32 Eglinton West and 34 Eglinton East buses. That was several days after the last snowfall (and a few days before the next big dump), and the roads and sidewalks were completely clear. It was a bright, sunny (albeit cold) day, and there was only one short construction zone on Eglinton Avenue, near Caledonia Road. Though only a small number of riders would use the entire Crosstown LRT line as part of a regular commute, it was worth getting a sense of how long the trip would take between each station.

    I started at Kennedy Station after taking a Stouffville Line GO train one stop from Union Station, rode the 34 Eglinton East bus all the way to Eglinton Station at Yonge Street, and then after a break (including a stop at Cinnabon), continued west to Mount Dennis Station, which is already open to GO and UP Express trains, as well as a few TTC routes. The last half of the ride coincided with high school dismissal times that resulted in some crowding, especially between Avenue Road and Dufferin Street.

    From Mount Dennis, I returned eastbound during a busy weekday afternoon rush hour, transferring to the first available 34 Eglinton East bus at Eglinton Station all the way back to Kennedy.

    Waiting for the 34 Eglinton East bus to Kennedy Station, January 20, 2026

    The table below shows the timings at each LRT stop.

    Westbound
    (read down)    		Stop/StationEastbound
    (read up)
    1:28 PM dep.Kennedy5:35 PM arr.
    1:32Ionview5:30
    1:34Birchmount5:28
    1:37Warden Ave.
    (Golden Mile)    		5:24
    1:39Hakimi Lebovic5:22
    1:42Pharmacy5:20
    1:43Victoria Park Ave.
    (O’Connor)    		5:18
    1:46Bermondsey5:15
    1:49Wynford5:08
    1:51Don Mills Rd.
    (Don Valley)    		5:01
    1:53Leslie St.
    (Sunnybrook Park)    		4:58
    1:57Laird4:50
    2:00Bayview Ave. (Leaside)4:48
    2:04Mount Pleasant4:44
    2:10 PM arr.
    2:47 PM dep.*    		Eglinton Station
    (Bus transfer)    		4:39 PM dep.
    4:32 PM arr.***
    2:52Avenue Road4:25
    2:54Chaplin4:19
    2:58Bathurst St.
    (Forest Hill)    		4:15
    3:03Cedarvale Stn.4:09
    3:07Oakwood3:56
    3:11Dufferin St.
    (Fairbank)    		3:51
    3:18Caledonia**3:44
    3:21Keele St.
    (Keelesdale)    		3:41
    3:25Mount Dennis3:37 PM
    87 minutesTotal ride time
    (inc. a 7 min transfer at Eglinton Stn.)    		118 minutes
    * This gap provided an opportunity to use the washroom, and get a coffee and snack
    ** Time noted at Blackthorn Ave, the closest stop to the LRT station entrance
    *** Took first 34A bus to Kennedy Station that departed Eglinton after my arrival; a 34C bus to Wynford Dr. and Flemingdon Park departed first

    On the surface buses, the most significant traffic delays are near the Don Valley Parkway and Allen Road, especially eastbound between Oakwood Avenue and Cedarvale Station and between Don Mills Road and Bermondsey Avenue. For anyone crossing Yonge Street, the transfer between buses takes on average seven minutes including walking and waiting time.

    Line 5, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, will run deep below the Line 1 University Subway at Cedarvale Station

    The dedicated right of way should allow transit riders to get ahead of traffic congestion, especially around Allen Road, where the trains will run in a deep bore tunnel. In theory, the median right-of-way will help get passengers past congestion near the DVP and the big box retail in the Golden Mile, but if the trams are as slow through intersections as on Finch and held up by red lights, the advantage here will be minimal.

    At Eglinton and Warden, I did see a traffic signal hold a green light a few extra seconds to allow a train to pass through before changing, so that was a positive sign. But watching the trains go by every few minutes, I noted that the transit priority system was not at all aggressive, and as on Finch, transit signals turn red 12 seconds before the general traffic signals do.

    On January 28, Eglinton and Warden, the transit signals stayed green for a short extra time to allow the non-revenue LRT train to pass through and stop at the far-side platform. The train was moving at a more reasonable clip too.

    The Eglinton Crosstown LRT, unlike Finch West, serves a regional need that requires better speeds and more capacity than a mere surface tram, especially as it will have many bus routes directly feeding into it, rather than just intersecting. Several bus routes that used to continue into Eglinton Station, such as 54 Lawrence East, will instead terminate at Don Valley (formerly Science Centre) Station, where riders going west to the subway will have to transfer. For inexplicable reasons, the short section between Don Mills Road and Laird will have one at-grade station with a signalized intersection, a weak link in what will likely be a very busy section of the line.

    Map of planned changes to TTC bus routes with Line 5’s opening. Some of the changes, including the introduction of Route 164 Castlefield and the extensions of routes 79, 161, and 168 to Mount Dennis Station have already been implemented.

    Hopefully, some of the lessons from the Line 6 opening will be applied to Eglinton before it opens. There should also be an opportunity, just as there is on Finch, to make further changes to operations where applicable during a “soft opening” period. But we can not afford yet another botched transit project, especially after 15 years of waiting.