Sean Marshall
Rear door boarding on TTC buses is just one measure the TTC has taken to address the COVID-19 crisis Note to readers: I have since written an updated version article (with a revised map) on Spacing’s website. While most people are urged to stay home as much as possible during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there […]
When the Toronto subway system was extended by six stops to York University and Vaughan, it marked the first time the TTC’s rapid transit system extended beyond the city’s boundaries. But it also exposed a major failing of the Golden Horseshoe’s transit structure: the complete lack of fare integration. In 2017, the provincial government announced […]
Imagine any retail store welcoming its customers the way the Toronto Transit Commission does these days. This week, at least two TTC streetcars were wrapped with messages promoting the transit agency’s new aggressive anti-fare evasion campaign. Any passenger caught by fare inspectors or special constables without a valid fare is subject to a fine of […]
Updated January 22, 2020 The TTC-GO fare discount will officially come to an end on Tuesday March 31, 2020, with the TTC and Metrolinx unable to come to agreement to keep the fare subsidy going without provincial support. As I argue below, this is a major blow to any hopes for an integrated regional transit […]
The CLRV streetcars were the first transit vehicles I remember riding. Though the new streetcars are larger, fully accessible, and air conditioned, I will miss the CLRVs.
Stop 17 shelter in Thornhill On Yonge Street in Thornhill, a small green hut sits beside the busy roadway at the entrance to Cricklewood Park. On the side of the small building, a wood sign says “Stop 17.” Hundreds of buses and thousands of cars pass by this hut daily, yet few may know about […]
Despite many recent improvements to TTC design and wayfinding standards, two recent changes miss the mark.
504 King Streetcar diverting onto Spadina on Thursday, September 5 For the sixth year in a row, King Street between University and Spadina Avenues was closed for four straight days. This closure was for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) “Festival Street,” which took place between Thursday September 5 and Sunday September 8. In addition, […]
Westbound Rogers Road Streetcar at Old Weston Road, 1972. Photograph from Toronto Archives – Fonds 1526, File 72, Item 61 Forty-five years ago today, on Friday, July 19, 1974, the Rogers Road Streetcar made its last run. The route ran from a loop at St. Clair and Oakwood Avenue to Bicknell Loop, located on Rogers […]
“Bonanza’s” opening credits, where a burning map gives way to the show’s cast, is a great metaphor for Toronto’s transit planning.
Sean Marshall