Toronto Transit Commission - 501 Queen

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is a public transport authority that operates buses, streetcars, subways, and rapid transit lines in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1954, the TTC has grown to comprise three subway lines and an elevated rapid transit line with a total of 69 stations, as well as 149 connecting surface routes (buses and streetcars) of which 148 routes make 243 connections with a subway or rapid transit station during weekday rush hours.

The TTC operates the third most heavily-used urban mass transit system in North America (after the New York City Transit Authority and the Mexico City Metro)] In 2008, the TTC carried 1.5 million passengers per day, and there were 466,700,000 passenger trips in total. The average daily ridership exceeds 2.45 million passengers: 1,232,300 through bus, 276,000 by streetcar, 35,600 by intermediate rail (RT), and 906,800 by subway.

Toronto's streetcar system is one of the few in North America still operating along classic lines and has been operating since the mid-19th century (horsecar service started in 1861 and 600V DC overhead electric service in 1892). Streetcar service dates back to the Toronto Street Railways horse-drawn cars and continues today with the current electric cars. New TTC routes since the 1940s have generally been operated by other modes, and the less-busy streetcar routes have also been converted. Streetcar routes are now focused on the downtown area, with none running farther north than St. Clair Avenue, about 5 km from Lake Ontario.

Plans were made for a streetcar subway along Queen Street, which were upgraded to a full subway in 1964, from the Humber loop to Greenwood, curving north to connect to the Bloor-Danforth Subway. All that ever materialized of this line was an incomplete east-west station structure under Queen station at Yonge, which remains in existence today, and structural provisions for an east-west station under Osgoode Station at Queen and University Avenue. The Queen Subway plan was cancelled in 1974 in favour of new lines in North York, however plans from Toronto and Ontario now necessitate its construction within the next 20 years to relieve pressure from the growing ridership on the Yonge subway line.

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Travel & Events

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• public transit
• Toronto
• Ontario
• Canada

[Stinkyfart]

This may be an obvious question, but is this a Street car? As often as I've been to Toronto and lived there, I never rode a Streetcar.

[chuengfun]

@Stinkyfart Yes. The 501 Queen is an electric street car similiar to a tram.

[brokensoul619]

I remember riding the street cars back in the good old days. St Clair West dude aww yee

[Kamal767]

@kaizerzydeco While I won't argue that the TTC is underfunded, in the span of a few years they have replaced their aging buses and subways, and will completely replace the streetcars very soon! It's the largest equipment replacement in TTC's history. So what you said isn't really true.

[kaizerzydeco]

It's too bad the TTC is no longer sufficiently funded to allow for expansion or even vehicle replacement. If things keep going the way they are the whole system will eventually run into the ground.