transit network of the week . toronto

ah, toronto. your clean air, your diversity, your fashion, your brisk winters, your harbour, your cn tower, your svelte men, your row houses, your hockey, your bike lanes and pedestrian paths, your beer...a fine city to be sure. oh but your transit--quite possibly my favorite part about toronto.

transportation options on toronto's transit network include: subway, bus, brt (bus rapid transit), ferry service, and trolley cars. the numerous transit options in toronto are actually (and unfortunately) provided by several different companies:

• the toronto transit commission (ttc) is the third largest transit authority in north america (second to nyc and mexico city). ttc offers subway, bus, and streetcar transportation alternatives. (hooray for streetcars!) there are 4 ttc subway lines (tip: call them by their name, not their color.) subway stops are about 500m apart in downtown toronto. a single trip is $2.75, with discounts for token use.
• go transit (government of ontario) provides rail and bus solutions in the greater toronto and hamilton area. their hub is union station on the waterfront in downtown toronto. they operate 7 commuter rail lines, with the lakeshore lines having the highest ridership. the vast majority of go transit rail and bus passenger trips are to and from downtown toronto (96% of rail and 70% of bus trips).
• york region transit (yrt) offers bus and brt service for the york region north of toronto. their successful brt line, called viva, offers passengers faster trips (with dedicated bus lanes, transit signal priority, etc.). viva connects to the ttc subway line at finch station (on the yonge-university-spadina line), as well as downsview station (y-u-s line) and don mills station (sheppard line).
• other regional transit agencies include mississaugua transit, brampton transit, and durham region transit.
  

best part about toronto transit: the tiny fare coins. they're smaller than a dime (see photo). how many places still use coins for transit? everyone's got electronic ticketing and smart cards now...but toronoto keeps it old school. and speaking of old school, you should see their fare coin dispensers. i love it that they're sticking with it.

worst part about toronto transit: airport access. it takes somewhere around an hour and a half to get to the airport from downtown toronto, with a transit mode change (subway to bus) happening somewhere along the way. there are private bus company options, offering a faster (less than one hour) trip with no transfers for ~$20 cad one-way. to solve this obvious problem, there are plans for a high speed rail link (union-pearson) from downtown to the airport, but the project has not yet been approved.