Categories
Transit

The TTC double-charged me again when I used Presto

Happily, Presto’s customer service stepped up. The problem is that the TTC continues to force a 19th- century transfer policy on a 21st-century solution.

Categories
Politics Toronto Transit

A new low for the Scarborough Subway champion

Note: a version of this article has been cross-posted to Spacing Toronto For 2016’s annual Torontoist Heroes and Villains feature, I nominated Toronto Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) as villain of the year. (“Pedestrian blaming” won that dubious honour.) But I remain proud of my choice. As I wrote back in December: […]

Categories
History Toronto Transit

Hallam Street and the Harbord Streetcar

Hallam Street looking east from Dufferin Street, January 2017 Hallam Street, which runs east-west from Shaw to Dufferin, north of Bloor Street, is unusually wide for such a quiet, short road. Hallam Street doesn’t provide a convenient thoroughfare for motorists, and nearly every storefront is either vacant, or converted to other uses. Despite being located in […]

Categories
History Toronto Transit

Mapping Toronto’s street railways in the TTC era (1921-2016)

Yonge Street at St. Clair Avenue, 1922. The TTC was busy in its first few years joining together the various street railway systems together and expanding services. Here, work is underway to extend city streetcar service to Glen Echo Loop and connect with the former Toronto Civic Railway’s St. Clair line.  City of Toronto Archives […]

Categories
History Maps Toronto Transit

Mapping Toronto’s streetcar network: The age of electric – 1891 to 1921

In 1891, after obtaining a new 30-year franchise, the Toronto Railway Company went to work electrifying Toronto’s streetcar system.

Categories
History Maps Toronto Transit

Mapping Toronto’s streetcar network: The horsecar era – 1861 to 1891

Toronto Street Railway horse car on Yonge Street at the Canadian Pacific Railway crossing, after 1885. From City of Toronto Archives, Fords 16, Series 71, Item 3367 Over the last few months, I have researched many books and maps and created a series of maps that attempt to illustrate the history of Toronto’s street railways, […]

Categories
Brampton Transit

Unanswered questions about Toronto’s next subway extension

The TTC subway extension to York University will open a year from now. What will happen to transit passengers once their buses no longer serve the campus?

Categories
Toronto Transit

Why Presto and the TTC don’t mix

After Presto double-charged me on a simple TTC transfer, I explain why the TTC needs to modernize its fare policies.

Categories
Politics Toronto Transit

Toronto’s new rapid transit plan

Yesterday, City Council decided, by a vote of 27-16, to go ahead with the $3.1 billion one-stop extension of the Bloor-Danforth Subway to Scarborough Centre, rejecting Councillor Josh Matlow’s last-ditch attempt to resurrect the LRT replacement and extension of the ageing Scarborough LRT line. Council — Mayor Tory included — also voted to spend resources studying three more […]

Categories
Toronto Transit

Open the streetcar doors, TTC

4401: A Space Odyssey As part of Doors Open Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission opened up the Leslie Barns for public tours. The new streetcar facility was built to house and maintain the new fleet of Bombardier-built low-floor streetcars. Of course, the streetcar delivery schedule has been disrupted by Bombardier’s incompetence; while there are only eighteen new streetcars […]