Toronto Transit Commission

TTC logo

The Toronto Transit Commission, or TTC, is a public transportation authority that operates buses, streetcars, and subway lines in Toronto, Ontario. At one time it operated trolley buses, but it ceased those operations in 1993.

The TTC operates one of the most extensive urban mass transit systems in North America. As of 2004, there are four rapid transit lines (three subways and one light rail metro line; see Toronto Subway and RT), with a total of 69 stations, as well as 149 connecting "surface" routes (buses and streetcars). The average daily ridership exceeds 1.3 million passengers. The TTC also provides door-to-door services for persons with disabilities. Colloquially, the streetcars are known as "red rockets"; hence the use of "Ride the Rocket" in advertising material for the TTC (which uses the phrase to advertise the entire system), and the use of the word 'Rocket' in the names of some express buses. The entire system is also promoted as "The Better Way".

Fares

Fares can be paid in cash, using discount tickets or tokens, or with daily or monthly passes. Senior citizens, Toronto high school students, and children pay lower fares. In 2003, Toronto university students won the ability to purchase discounted monthly passes after years of extensive lobbying. Passengers using tokens can enter the subway through automatic gates, thus avoiding queuing at a ticket booth, and at some stations they can also be used in unstaffed entrances which are otherwise unusable; on the other hand, tokens are available for full-fare only (since the automated gates can't check the passenger's age or identification).

Fares are sold at collector's booths all subway and RT stations or authorized dealers (usually convenience stores). Tokens can be bought at automated vending machines using coins or bills(5c, 10c, 25c, $1, $2, $ 5, $10, $20) at most subway stations.

The TTC does not use a system of fare zones within the city of Toronto. However extra fares apply for routes beyond the city limits. At one time the TTC did operate with a zone fare system. The zone limits consisted of a concentric ring-like system:

Central - much of the original City of Toronto
Suburban Zone 1
Suburban Zone 2
Suburban Zone 3.

The complex system was finally abandoned in 1973. Today paying the fare once allows for one continuous journey of any distance using multiple forms of transport. Proof of payment is required only when transferring between two forms of transport, and sometimes not even then; at subway stations served by more than one line, both come into the same fare-paid area, and at many stations buses or streetcars also come into a terminal within the station's fare-paid area. At stations where this is not the case (principally in the downtown area) or when transferring between two buses or streetcars, a paper transfer is needed (obtained from the driver when boarding the first vehicle or from a machine within the fare-paid area at the starting subway station).

The TTC fare does not allow free transfers to connecting suburban routes run by other operators (such as GO Transit and York Region Transit), though discount fares are generally available.

Fare prices (in CAD) are (2004):

Adults $2.25
Students (age 13-18) without a discount card $2.25
Students (age 13-18) with a discount card $1.50
Seniors (65 years or older) $1.50
Children (12 years or younger) $0.50.

There is however a fare increase planned for March 6 2005.

In addition to the standard fare prices, tickets or tokens bought in quantities of 5 or more are discounted. There is also a monthly unlimited use card called a Metropass (Adult, Student, Senior, Discount Plan).

TTC offers additional fare plans:

Day Pass - Single or Family Group
Downtown Express Fare
TTC Two Times
GTA Weekly Pass
Proof of Payment - Queen Streetcar only

History

Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge Street between the St. Lawrence Market and the Village of Yorkville for sixpence in 1849. The city granted the first franchise for a street railway in 1861 to Alexander Easton under the franchise of Toronto Street Railways (TSR) and Metropolitan Street Railway of Toronto (MSR) in 1885. In 1891, the franchise was passed onto William Mackenzie's Toronto Railway Company for 30 years. Outside of the city there were a number of other operators, including:

Prior to the establishment of the TTC, the City of Toronto operated their own system under the Toronto Civic Railways (TCR). However, the TCR routes were operating in areas not served by the private TRC. In 1920, a Provincial Act created the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) and, in 1921, the Commission took over and amalgamated nine existing fare systems within the city limits. Between 1921 and 1953, the TTC added 35 new routes in the city and extended 20 more. It also operated 23 suburban routes on a service-for-cost basis. It abandoned money-losing radial railway line (known as 'interurbans' elsewhere in the continent), North Yonge Railways.

The Great Depression and the Second World War both placed heavy burdens on the ability of municipalities to finance themselves. During most of the 1930s, municipal governments had to cope with general welfare costs and assistance to the unemployed. The TTC realized that improvements had to be made despite the depression and in 1936 purchased the first of the newly-developed PCC streetcars. The war put an end to the depression and increased migration from rural to urban areas. After the war, municipalities faced the problem of extending services to accommodate the increased population. Ironically, the one municipal service that prospered during the war years was public transit; employers had to stagger work hours in order to avoid overcrowding the streetcars. Toronto continued their program of purchasing PCC cars, running the world's largest fleet, including many obtained second-hand from U.S. cities that abandoned streetcar service.

Public transit was one of the essential services identified by Metro Toronto's founders in 1953. On January 1, 1954, the Toronto Transportation Commission was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission and public transit was placed under the jurisdiction of the new Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The assets and liabilities of the TTC and four independent bus lines operating in the suburbs were acquired by the Commission. In 1954, the TTC became the sole provider of public transportation services in Metro Toronto.

The original Union Station-to-Eglinton section of the Yonge Street subway, Canada's first, was conceived and built with revenues gained during the war, when gas rationing limited the use of automobiles. The subway line opened to the public on March 30, 1954, after five years of work. Its underground portions were built entirely using cut-and-cover construction, with reinforced boards and even temporary streetcar tracks laid over the trenches to allow Yonge Street to remain open as the tunnels were built. The original Yonge Street subway line went from the railways' Union Station on Front Street north to a suburban terminus at Eglinton. Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto mayor Allan Lamport, among other important persons, rode the first train that morning, going north from the yards at Davisville Station, and then south from Eglinton along the entire line. At 2:30pm that day, the last streetcar to travel Yonge St. south of Eglinton made its final ride. The subway reduced the trip from Union to Eglinton from about half an hour by streetcar (in good traffic) to less than fifteen minutes.

File:Ttc3a.jpg

A subway train pulls into St. Andrew station on the University Line.

It was the first subway line to replace surface routes completely. It was also later the site of as experiment with aluminum subway cars which led to their adoption throughout the system and by other transit systems. Several expansions since 1954 have more than quadrupled the area served, adding two new connected lines and a shorter intermediate capacity transit system.

The University line opened nine years later, continuing from Union back north under University Avenue to St. George station; it was intentionally designed to serve much the same area as the Yonge line, in order to increase capacity in anticipation of the planned east-west line. Another three years past that, the original Bloor-Danforth Line was built, going under Bloor Street and Danforth Ave. from Keele in the west to Woodbine in the east. Within two years, the Bloor-Danforth line had been extended in both directions, to Islington in the west and Warden in the east.

The 1970s saw Toronto adopting a streetcar abandonment policy; the plan was to have low-volume services be served by buses, and more heavily-used routes to get subway lines. Later in that decade, the rising cost of subway construction and the awareness of the limitations of buses reversed that decision; Toronto is now one of the few North American cities to retain its streetcars through the 20th century, and is now considering expansion of the service.

Changes to the composition of the Metro Toronto council moved the balance of power towards the suburban areas, and soon afterwards in 1973 the Yonge subway line was extended north to York Mills Road, and the next year it was as far north as Finch Avenue. Five years later, the Spadina line opened, going from the north terminus of the University line to Wilson Station. In 1980, the Bloor-Danforth Line was extended once again, to the current termini of Kipling Station on the west end and Kennedy Station on the east.

But after that, subway building came to a standstill. For the next 16 years, there would be no more subway extensions, and for eight years past that, any new subways. Instead, a proposed extension on the Danforth end of the Bloor-Danforth line was built in 1985 as the L-shaped Scarborough RT line (originally envisioned as a light rail line using streetcars in a dedicated right of way, but ultimately built as a mini-subway), which went from Kennedy to McCowan Station. Two years later, a new station was added south of Finch on the Yonge line, at the North York Centre.

Even so, plans were developed to build new subway lines along Eglinton and Sheppard Avenues, as well as an extension to the Spadina line. However, Conservative provincial government of Michael Harris halted work on the Eglinton line was stopped in 1995 and the partially dug tunnels filled in. The only subway expansion was on the Spadina line, adding one new station at Downsview in 1996.

In 1998, Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto ceased to exist and was replaced by a new City of Toronto (formed from the amalgamation of its six former municipalities). Four years later, the Sheppard Line was opened, the first new subway line in decades. But it was much shorter than originally planned, going from Yonge St. east only as far as Don Mills Road, instead of connecting with the Scarborough RT at Scarborough Town Centre (which remains one of the TTC's priorities for further extensions, should the funding become available). The TTC is running four-car trains on the abbreviated Sheppard Line, 2/3 the size of those on the other Toronto subways, but the stations were built to accommodate full-length trains should sufficient traffic develop.

In January 2005, the cash-strapped TTC introduced a plan to curtail costly subway expansion and look at expanding the rapid transit network less expensively. This could involve busways, or expanding the streetcar system with more modern vehicles and less running in mixed traffic.

The TTC continues to be the sole provider of public transit within the City of Toronto, as well as operating contracted services into the neighbouring York Region. Regional commuter service (both bus and rail) is operated by GO Transit, the vast majority of which goes to downtown Toronto's Union Station. Connection buses of the Mississauga, Brampton, York Region, and Pickering and Ajax transit systems enter Toronto at various points.

Subway lines

Main article: Toronto Subway and RT

Toronto subway system consists of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line, a U-shaped line starting in 1954 and last changed in 1996; Bloor-Danforth Line an east-west line starting in 1966 and last changed in 1980; Sheppard Line completed in 2002 and the only line running entirely underground; Scarborough RT - completed in 1985) and though it runs primarily above ground, and uses shorter trains based on highly different technology, is still essentially similar in operation to the other lines, and is depicted on the same Subway & RT maps and included in the same level of administration.

A list of vehicles used:

Gloucster Railway Wagon and Carriage Company G-class (G1, G2, G3 G4)
Montreal Locomotive Works M-class (M1)
Hawker Siddeley RT75 (H1, H2, H3, H4)
Urban Transportation Development Corp. (UTDC) RT75 (H5 and H6)
Bombardier RT75 (T1 and T2)
UTDC RT-ICTS (CCR)
RT-4 Platform Maintenance Car (ex-Peter Witt streetcar)
RT-5 The Tunnel grout car
Nippon Sharyo RT-10 - nicknamed 'Tokyo Rose'
Nippon Sharyo RT-12 battery-electric locomotive
Nippon Sharyo RT-11 flat trailer
Nippon Sharyo RT-13 crane
RT-14 and RT-15 Subway Rail Grinders - ex PCC streetcars (retired)
RT-14 and RT-15 Mark II - The Subway Wall Washers - ex-G class subway cars
AVRA RT-14 and RT-15 Mark III Snow Clearing Equipment
RT-16 Mark II Subway Wall Washer Car
AVRA RT-17 Mark III Subway Wall Washer Car
Anbel Corp. RT-18 Diesel Hydraulic Locomotive
Niigata RT-20 crane/flat car
Nippon Sharyo RT-22 non-motored flat car
RT-38 and RT-39 Garbage cars - ex-Gloucester and H1 subway cars
Plasser American RT-41 Tamper

Streetcar service

The streetcar system is found only downtown area, none running further north than St. Clair Avenue, about 5 km from the waterfront.

The TTC operates 11 streetcar routes which are altogether 305.8 km long. Because the TTC has maintained a large portion of its pre-World War II streetcar system, the streetcars operate in prewar style, spending most of their time in mixed traffic, and stopping at frequent request stops like buses rather than having established stations. On the Queensway, Spadina Avenue and Queen's Quay, however, the streetcars have a separated right-of-way in the road median, and on Bay Street between Front Street and Queen's Quay streetcars operate underground. Despite objections from local merchants, the TTC plans to construct a separated right-of-way on St. Clair Avenue West, from Yonge Street to just past Keele Street, to be completed by 2007. There are underground connections to the subway at Union, Spadina, and St. Clair West stations.

After a long period in which its policy was to eliminate all streetcar routes, in part because subway development was thought to eliminate the need for them, the TTC returned to building new streetcar routes in the 1990s with the Spadina route, which opened in 1997. In 2000 it extended the Harbourfront route, and further extensions of the Harbourfront and St. Clair routes are being considered.

The previous policy of eliminating streetcars accounts for the concentration of streetcar lines within 5 km of the waterfront. As the city developed northward, transit service was provided by extension of bus routes rather than of streetcar routes. Later the subway was extended north with bus routes feeding it. The Oakwood route, which operated north of St. Clair, was eliminated in accordance with this policy and replaced by an extension of a trolley bus line (since converted to diesel).

Two other lines which operated north of St. Clair were abandoned for other reasons: the Rogers Road route to free up streetcars for expanded service on other routes, and the Mount Pleasant route ostensibly because of traffic problems it created.

Retention of streetcars was in large part due to resistance by citizens' groups who succeeded in persuading the TTC of the advantages of streetcars over buses (which carry fewer passengers, and because of their lack of permanence don't have as much of an effect on land use) on heavily-travelled main routes.

Here is a list of street cars of past and present:

Birney Car - ex-TRC
Canadian Car and Foundry/Brill Peter Witts - Large with trailers
Canadian Car and Foundry/Ottawa Car Company Peter Witts - Small Witts
St. Louis Car Company and CCF President Conference Committee Car A1
St. Louis Car Company PCC A2-8
St. Louis Car Company PCC A9-10 - ex-Cincinnati
St. Louis Car Company PCC A11 - ex-Cleveland
St. Louis Car Company PCC A12 - ex-Louisville
St. Louis Car Company PCC A13 - ex-Brimingham
St. Louis Car Company PCC A14 - ex-Kansas City
St. Louis Car Company PCC A15 - A8 rebuilds
SIG/Urban Transportation Development Corp. Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) L1 and L2
Urban Transportation Development Corp. Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) L3
W30-W31 Rail Grinder - ex-PCC streetcar (retired)
W28 Rail Grinder - ex-TRC Preton car (retired)

Buses

Buses is a large part of the TTC operations today, but before 1960s it played a minor role to streetcar operations. Buses service in Toronto started in 1921, but it was not until the creation of the TTC did buses become a part of public transit. There were a few independent bus operators continued to provide inter-urban bus services:

Hollinger Bus Lines (East York 1921-1954)
Danforth Bus Lines (North Toronto-King City 1926-1954)
West York Coach Lines (York 1950s)
Roseland Bus Lines (North York 1925-1954)

Here is a list of historic and current buses used by the TTC:

AEC 404 - double-decker bus
Fifth Avenue Bus Company L and J - double-decker bus
White Motor Company 50A
Packard ED
Pierce Arrow
Yellow Coach Y-Z (227, 229), Y, Y-O-254, Z-AQ-273, Y-U-316
REO 96HTD - ex-Hollinger Buslines
REO W
Fitzjohn FTG - ex-North York Bus Lines
Fitzjohn Falcon - ex-Hollinger Buslines
Fitjohn Hercules JXLD - ex-Hollinger Buslines
Ford Transit
Aerocoach P-46-37 and 371
Prevost 50-PI-33
Fagoel/Brill Twin Coach 44S
GM PD-4103 and 4104
GMC TDM 4512
GM TDH 5105
Flyer D-800-A/D-800-B
Flyer D901
New Flyer Industries D-40-87
New Flyer Industries D-40-88
New Flyer Industries D-40-89
New Flyer Industries D-40-90
Rek-Vek Ind. Club Car
GM/GMC TDH Fishbowl 4517
GM/GMC TDH Fishbowl (5301, 5302, 5303, 5304)
GM/GMC T6H (5305, 5307N)
GM/GMC-TA60-102N - articulated buses (later acquired by Mississauga Transit)
GM/MCI New Classics TC 40102N
OBI Orion I
OBI Orion III Ikraus - Articulated
Nova LFS - demostrator
New Flyer Industries D-40 (87, 88, 89, 90), D-40-LF
GM/GMC TDH Fishbowl (5301, 4517, 5302, 5303, 5304) T6H (5305, 5307N)
Ontario Bus Industries (OBI) Orion V, V Lift, Orion V CNG
OBI Orion VI- Low Floor
Nova RTS

Today, the TTC operates over 1500 buses.

Sururban/Inter-urban Buses

Gray Coach Lines was suburban bus operator founded in 1927 by the Toronto Transit Commission. Gray Coach used inter-urban coaches to link Toronto to outlying areas throughout Southern Ontario. In addition, Gray Coach operated tour bus operations in association with Gray Line tours. The main terminal was at the Toronto Bus Terminal on Elizabeth Street, downtown. In 1954 Gray Coach expanded further when it acquired suburban routes from independant bus operators not mergered with TTC bus routes following the creation of Metro Toronto. By 1980s, Gray Coach faced fierce competition in the inter-urban service in the GTA and the TTC was forced to sell in 1989 to British carrier Stage-Coach Holdings Ltd and again in 1991 to Greyhound Lines of Canada and Ontario Northland.

Here is a list of historic and current buses used by the Gray Coach:

AEC/CCC Ranger Coach
Flxible Clippers - acquired by Independant Bus Lines
GMDD SDH-5302 - glass roof sightseeing bus
MCI MC-9, 5B, 1023A3
MCI 5B
MCI 1023A3
GM Highway Palour Coach

Trolley bus lines

The TTC once operated trolley buses on 10 routes, mostly on downtown routes and a few in the northern limits of the old City of Toronto. Many of these routes replaced streetcar routes, using the old overhead power lines which were adapted to dipole service. The buses consisted of a standard bus platform with electric motors with two poles connected to electrical lines above. The system was scrapped due to high operating cost and the age of the vehicles used; this decision has been criticised by some, who note that the prices of gasoline and natural gas have increased dramatically in the subsequent years.

Routes served by trolley buses:

4 Annette
6 Bay
40 Junction
47 Lansdowne
61 Nortown/Nortown West
63 Ossington
74 Mount Pleasant
89 Weston Road
97 Yonge
103 Nortown East

Here is a list of trolley vehicle types:

Packard/Canadian Brills ED
Canadian Car Foundry T44-T1, T44-T2, T44-T3 and TC48-T5
Marmon-Herrington TC48-T5
Western Flyer E700A-T8
GM T6H 53XX-T9/Brown Boveri Buses - leased from Edmonton Transit

A WheelTrans bus on a regularly scheduled stop at Dufferin Mall

Accessible Services

The TTC also runs WheelTrans, a para-transit service for the physically disabled with special buses designed to accommodate wheelchairs. The para-transit system was created in 1975 and operating on behalf of the TTC, Metro Toronto and the province of Ontario. Wheel Trans was taken over by the TTC in 1986. Wheel Trans buses run according to a regular route while others are dispatched through pre-arranged appointments. Some of the system's services are contracted out to outside operators (mainly taxis) using specially equipped mini vans.

A list of current and past vehicles used by Wheel Trans:

Thomas Built Mighty Mite
Thomas Built Minotaur
Wayne Transette
OBI Orion II and II Community Bus
Overland (Ford) ELF
Brill R23 Twin Coach - pre-Wheel Trans
Station wagons

Since the late 1990s, some regular routes allow disabled passengers to use low floor buses with space for a wheelchair (Orion V, Orion VI, NFI D40LF, Nova LFS) or kneeling buses (Nova RTS). In addition, some subway stations have elevators installed to allow disabled users to ride the subway, namely when Bombardier T1 and T2 cars are used.

Some of Wheel Trans service is contracted out to Toronto Para Transit and uses modified mini vans (Chevy Venture and Chrysler minivans).

Ferry Service

The TTC had once operated the ferry service from Toronto Island. Starting from 1927 to 1954, the TTC used the following ferry boats:

Mayflower 1890-1938 - built by John Doty Engine & Ferry Company and acquired from the Toronto Ferry Co.
Primrose 1890-1938 - sister ship to the Mayflower, built by John Doty Engine & Ferry Company and acquired from the Toronto Ferry Co.
Bluebell 1906-1955 - built by Polson Iron Works Limited for Toronto Ferry Co.
Trillium 1910-1957 - built by Polson Iron Works Limited for Toronto Ferry Co.; re-enter service 1976 with Metro Parks:

Miss York 1918-1929
Miss Simcoe 1918-1929
Clark Bros. 1918-1927
John Hanlan 1918-1927
Luella 1882-1934 - built by W. Armour & Company for Toronto Ferry Co.
Ned Hanlan 1902-1966
T.J. Clark 1918-1960
Alymer 1918-1929
Buttercup 1918-1929
Jasmine 1918-1929
William Inglis 1935-present - built by Toronto Drydock Co.
Sam McBride 1939-present - built by Toronto Drydock Co.
Thomas Rennie 1958-present - built by Toronto Drydock Co.
Ongiara 1960-present

TTC Special Constable Services

Security on the system was limited to random patrols by Metro Toronto Police officers, but the Commission added security officers to provide in-house policing.

Today, the TTC Special Constables Services provides security throughout the system. The transit officers have similar powers as police officers and are sworn in by the Toronto Police Services.

TTC officers are either uniformed or plainclothes units. Most officers will patrol the system on foot, while others will ride in unmarked vehicles (usually white).

Facilities

The TTC vehicles are serviced and stored at various location throughout the city:

D.W. Harvey Shops 1987 - Hillcrest Complex
W.E.P. Duncan Shops 1985 - Hillcrest Complex
Transit Control Centre 1968 - Hillcrest Complex
Hillcrest Garage 1924 - buses and streetcars
Malvern Complex 1983 - buses
Arrow Road Garage 1988 - buses
Queensway Garage 1976 - buses
Wilson Complex 1976 - buses and subway cars
Eglinton-Comstock Garage 2002 - buses
Bircmount Garage 1956 - buses
Russell Carhouse 1913 - streetcars (ex-TRC property)
Roncesvalles Carhouse 1895 - streetcars (ex-TRC property)
Lakeshore Garage 1980 - buses
Davisville Carhouse and Yard 1954 - subway cars
Greenwood Carhouse and Yard mid-1960s - subway cars
McCowan Yard 1983 - RT
TTC Exhibition Loop 1916-present - streetcars

There are also a number of decommissioned facilities that are either awaiting disposal or have been re-developed:

Yorkville Division ?-1922 - streetcars
Woodbine Garage ?-1956 - buses (ex-Hollinger Buslines)
Sherbourne Garage 1894-1980 - buses
Keele-Vincent Yard 1966-1976 - subway cars
Danforth Carhouse and Garage 1915-2002 - buses and streetcars (ex-TCR property)
Eglinton Carhouse and Garage 1922-2002 - buses, trolley buses and streetcars
Lansdowne Carhouse and Garage 1911-1996 - streetcars , trolley buses and buses (ex-TRC property)
Wychwood-St Clair Carhouse 1913-1998 - streetcars (ex-TCR property)
Davenport Garage 1925-1993 - buses
Parkdale Garage 1947-1966 - buses
Wade Yard 1936-1996 - trolley buses
Dundas Carhouse 1897-1930 - street cars (ex-TRC)
Howard Park Garage ?-1930 - street cars
TTC Vaughan Terminal - buses and streetcars
North Toronto Terminal 1930-1948
Scarboro Beach Amusement Park

Here is a list of 'lost facilities' of the TTC:

Runnymede Carhouse 1926-1960s - proposed carhouse / never developed
Dufferin Garage 1946-1947 - proposed garage scrapped

Interesting facts

The two models of streetcars the TTC uses for revenue service are unique to the city. The CLRV (Canadian Light Rail Vehicle) and the double-length ALRV (Articulated Light Rail Vehicle) were designed by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC, an Ontario Crown corporation) and a Swiss private company and built in Thunder Bay. This was because most North American cities were phasing out its streetcar fleets, while Toronto (as well a few notable American cities, such as Boston and Philadelphia) stubbornly clung on. The CLRVs and ALRVs retain many features of traditional streetcar design; they collect their power by trolley pole rather than pantograph, and are unidirectional, with a cab at only one end and doors on only one side, and so require track loops in order to turn around. Plans to sell the CLRV to other cities which retained streetcar services proved unsuccessful. Until the mid-1990s, the TTC also operated PCC streetcars in regular service; it retains two such cars for private charters.

The tracks of the streetcars and subways (though not the Scarborough RT) are of a unique gauge, slightly wider than the usual standard. There are arguments over the reason why this is. One popular belief is that the City of Toronto feared that the Toronto Railway Company, which held the franchise to run streetcars before the TTC was created, would allow Canadian Pacific Railway to operate steam locomotives through city streets. The more practical reason is that early tracks were used to pull wagons smoothly in the days before paved roads, and that they fit a different gauge. Due to the cost of converting all the tracks and vehicles (and the lack of any real benefit in doing so), the unique gauge has remained to this day. When the first subway lines were built, the idea of using streetcars in the tunnels was floated (but never realized), so the unique gauge was used. The use of standard-gauge tracks on the Scarborough RT makes it impossible for there to be any connection between it and the other lines, and when RT vehicles need anything more than basic service (which can be carried out in the RT's own McCowan Yard), they are carried by truck to the Greenwood subway yards.

Advertising is common place and prominent in all TTC vehicles and locations, in fact some subway stops are periodically entirely repainted on the inside to the wishes of a paying corporate advertiser. Most recently this has occurred for the movie The Day After Tomorrow. However the amount of money the TTC receives for allowing advertising on its property is very small. For the year ending 2003, the TTC received 2.3% of its revenue from advertising, or almost 17 million dollars. Critics charge that as the TTC states a ridership of over 1.4 million passengers on average each weekday, all advertising could be removed from all TTC property for one year in exchange for a one-day addition of just over ten cents to each rider's fare.

One of the best known secrets of the TTC is the second Lower Bay subway station. This subway station was briefly used in interlining between two of Toronto's lines in 1966. A lesser known station is Lower Queen. As for Lower Osgoode and Lower Eglinton West Stations, they are either incomplete or at planning stage only.

Prior the use of the TTC website, TTC patrons were able to obtain route information from various sources:

Paper schedules and system maps from drivers and collector booths
Fax number of obtain schedules and maps
Time Line: Most stops had a phone number to obtain the schedule for the select route. This system was remove due to Year 2000 constraints. Route information is now accessed by InfoPost and TTC Info number 416-393-INFO. Some stops now display a time schedule for the particular route.
What's On and Rocket Rider/TTC Customer News pamplets located on most vehicles

The TTC also employs a tracking and communications system called CIS. A transmitter is added to the roof of the vehicle and a receiver on the right hand side of the driver. A pilot of CIS was introduced in the late 1970s and full deployment in 1991.

Safety features unique to the TTC included:

Request Stop Porgram on surface routes (9pm-5am)
Designated Waiting Areas (DWA) on subway and RT platforms
Yellow Passenger Assistance Alarms strips on subway and RT cars since the early 1980s

A series of recycling programs have been introduced:

Blue bins to collect newspapers from riders
Pilot recycling bags at Bloor-Yonge station

TTC has also been marketing their image via [Legacy Sportswear] by selling goods centre on the TTC logo, Red Rocket Theme. The Commission had tried this concept in the 1980s, but failed due to lack of interest.

References

The TTC Story by Mike Filey
Not A One Horse Town by Mike Filey
Reflections & Recollections Transfer Points January 2005
Independants Take Over - TTC Goes Metro Wide Transfer Points August-September 2004
Toronto Transit Commission Goes Metro Wide Transfer Point December 2004
TTC Archives

External links