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The Toronto Transit Commission ( TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers in the Greater Toronto Area, with numerous connections to systems serving its surrounding municipalities.
Established as the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921, the TTC owns and operates Toronto subway with 70 stations, more than 150 bus routes, and nine streetcar lines. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . The TTC is the most heavily used urban mass transit system in Canada.
In addition to buses, streetcars, and subways, the TTC also operated the Toronto Island ferry service from 1927 to 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department (now Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation). The TTC also operated a suburban and regional intercity bus operator, Gray Coach Lines, from 1927 to 1990. Gray Coach used interurban coaches to link Toronto to points throughout southern Ontario. In addition, Gray Coach operated tour buses in association with Gray Line Tours. The main terminal was the Metropolitan Toronto Bus Terminal on Elizabeth Street north of Dundas Street, downtown. In 1954, Gray Coach expanded further when it acquired suburban routes from independent bus operators not merged with the TTC as it expanded to cover Metro Toronto. By the 1980s, Gray Coach faced fierce competition in the interurban service in the GTA. The TTC sold Gray Coach Lines in 1990 to Stagecoach Group, which split the operation between Greyhound Canada and the government of Ontario three years later. The Gloucester subway cars, the first version of TTC subway cars, known as "red rockets" because of their bright red exterior, have been retired. The current T-series trains also have a red interior color scheme. The name lives on as the TTC uses the phrase to advertise the service, such as "Ride the Rocket" in advertising material, "Rocket" in the names of some express buses, and the new "Toronto Rocket" subway cars, which began revenue operation on July 21, 2011. Another common slogan is "The Better Way".
In 1997, the Progressive Conservative government under Premier Mike Harris implemented the "Common Sense Revolution" which, among other things, cut in provincial financing support for the Eglinton West subway line, and cut $718million in municipal transit support, placing the entire burden of financing the system on municipalities and leaving the TTC with a $95.8million/year funding shortfall. The TTC cut back service with a significant curtailment put into effect on February 18, 1996. Since then, the TTC has consistently been in financial difficulties. Service cuts were averted in 2007, though, when Toronto City Council voted to introduce new taxes to help pay for city services, including the TTC. As a result, since 2011, the TTC became the largest transit operator in Anglo-America not to receive provincial or state funding. The TTC has received federal funding for capital projects from as early as 2009. The TTC is also considered one of the costliest transit systems per fare price in North America. For the 2011 operating year, the TTC had a projected operating budget of $1.45billion. Revenue from fares covered approximately 70 percent of the budget, whereas the remaining 30 percent originated from the City. From 2009 through 2011, provincial and federal funding amounted to 0 percent of the budget. In contrast to this, the Société de transport de Montréal receives approximately 10 percent of its operating budget from the Quebec provincial government, and OC Transpo receives 9 percent of its funding from the province. The fairness of preferentially funding transit in specific Canadian cities has been questioned by citizens.
On August 12, 2020, the Province of Ontario promised $404million for TTC operations to compensate for reduced ridership and revenue loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more funding to come later. The TTC projected a shortfall of $700million in 2020.
The TTC also runs Wheel-Trans, a paratransit service for the physically disabled with special low-floor buses designed to accommodate wheelchairs and to make boarding easier for ambulatory customers with limited mobility.
The TTC ordered 153 Nova LFS Artic articulated buses with all newly ordered buses in service by January 2015. At long, the Nova LFS Artics hold about 112 passengers, compared with 65 on a standard bus.
Newer TTC buses have
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From 1985 until 2023, Line 3 Scarborough, a partly elevated light metro line served the district of Scarborough.
The three subway lines are served by 678 cars grouped in trains of four cars on Line 4 Sheppard, and six cars on Line 1 Yonge–University and Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. The three subway lines share non-revenue track connections and use the same technology. The rolling stock in use consists of the Toronto Rocket on Lines 1 and 4 and the T-series trains on Line 2. Line 3 Scarborough had a fleet of 28 S-series cars grouped into trains of four cars each and was not compatible with other subway lines, given that the S-series cars used . It shared no track connections or equipment. Due to the increasing difficulty of performing critical maintenance work on the S-series trains, the existing Line 3 Scarborough service was initially scheduled to be decommissioned permanently in November 2023; instead, the line closed four months ahead of schedule after a derailment on July 24, 2023. The line has been replaced by TTC bus service until the Line 2 Scarborough subway extension to Sheppard and McCowan opens for revenue service in 2030 at the earliest.
All subway lines provide service seven days a week from approximately 5:45 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. the following day (last train runs at approximately 1:45 a.m. in each direction) except for Sundays, when start of service is delayed until approximately 8:00 a.m. During the overnight periods, the subway and its stations are closed to enable maintenance at track level and in the stations themselves. Overnight service is provided by buses and streetcars operating above ground. These overnight routes are issued numbers in the 300-series and are referred to as Blue Night routes, indicated by a typical TTC bus stop sign with a blue band added.
Line 6 Finch West is an , 18-stop light rail line under construction, extending west in a dedicated right-of-way lane from Finch West station on Line 1 Yonge–University to Humber Polytechnic's North Campus in Etobicoke. The line is forecast to provide approximately 14.6million rides a year, or 40,000 a day, by 2031. It has an estimated cost of $1.2billion.
The Ontario Line, which is a rapid transit line and successor to the Relief Line, is expected to be completed by 2030. The Ontario government estimates the line's cost at $10.9billion for the stretch from Ontario Place to Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East at Don Valley station (part of the under-construction Line 5). It is the largest single expansion in Toronto subway history.
The Line 2 Bloor–Danforth extension is a subway extension, which will continue Line 2 east towards McCowan Road and north towards Scarborough City Centre and to a new terminal at the intersection of McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue. The $5.5-billion extension will replace the defunct Line 3 Scarborough and is expected to be complete in 2030 at the earliest.
The Eglinton Crosstown West extension will extend the under-construction Line 5 Eglinton west to Renforth station and Pearson International Airport by 2030 or 2031 and will be mostly underground. The line will travel through all six of Toronto's districts that were amalgamated in 1998 and bring the subway to Mississauga.
Previous plans called for a second, eastward extension of Line 5 to the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, though this has since been replaced with plans for a separate Eglinton East LRT (EELRT), formerly known as the Scarborough Malvern LRT.
Metrolinx is studying an extension of Line 4 Sheppard, to replace the former Sheppard East LRT project, which would likely connect with the Line 2 Bloor–Danforth extension at McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue.
Up until 1995, the TTC operated a fleet of 765 PCC-type streetcars, 540 of which it purchased new. The rest were purchased as other cities sold their PCC streetcar fleets.
From 1987 until September 2019, the TTC operated two-car Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) streetcars, a longer version of the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) streetcars.
Following the retirement of the TTC's CLRV streetcars on December 29, 2019, the entire TTC streetcar fleet consists of the low-floor Flexity Outlook vehicles from Bombardier Transportation, the first of which entered service on the 510 Spadina route on August 31, 2014.
The Presto card is an electronic unified contactless smart card–based fare payment system, owned and managed by Metrolinx, for use across the TTC transit network, along with several other transit service providers throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) including the Metrolinx-owned GO Transit, Union Pearson Express services and on OC Transpo in Ottawa. The TTC also provides limited-use paper Presto tickets, mainly for occasional riders, which come in 1-ride, 2-ride and day pass varieties. Users tap their Presto card or ticket on a Presto reader as they enter a TTC station or vehicle. Either their fare is automatically paid through stored value, verifies if the Presto user has a valid TTC transit pass on it, or validates the TTC's two-hour Presto transfer. Their card or ticket then acts as proof-of-payment (POP) to present to TTC staff such as fare inspectors, who carry hand-held devices to verify Presto fare payments, upon request. , Presto readers are available at the entrances of all subway stations and on all buses and streetcars.
Unlike the Presto card, Presto tickets can only be used on TTC services (subway and surface vehicles within the City of Toronto). They are not reloadable and cannot be used on any other transit service providers that use Presto.
Real-time route information can be accessed from the NVAS from the City of Toronto Open Data initiative via SMS by texting the stop number displayed on the bus/streetcar stop pole, or with an app that uses NVAS data.
Route information can also be accessed by phone. Individual route schedules are available online.
Additional TTC information is circulated by "What's On" and "Rocket Rider / TTC Customer News" pamphlets on some vehicles. Information can be accessed in person at the TTC head office (Davisville station at 1900 Yonge Street), as well as at a TTC Info Centre, which opened in 2018, at Union station. Twitter users can communicate with TTCHelps for inquiries.
Most subway stations are equipped with OneStop media screens that display the time until the next train, and other information. The next vehicle feature is available on LCD screens in all stations. Since mid-2011, all buses and streetcars have had the tracking feature enabled, accessible free online and by SMS for commuters.
On February 3, 2010, the TTC launched an online trip planner, which allows commuters to plan their routes and transfers on the TTC's website. However, since its launch, the trip planner has remained in beta mode with many bugs remaining to be fixed. In October 2010, the TTC integrated its trip planner with Google Maps. Transit information in Toronto has been available in Apple Maps since the release of iOS 9 in September 2015, when Apple Inc. first launched support for public transit data.
Some bus routes of the surrounding local transit agencies run on Toronto streets along with TTC buses, mainly to reach TTC subway stations. Examples of this include YRT buses travelling on Yonge Street en route to Finch Bus Terminal, MiWay buses travelling on various streets in Etobicoke en route to Kipling Bus Terminal and DRT buses travelling on various streets in Scarborough en route to Scarborough Centre station. However, by law, other local transit agencies are prohibited from carrying passengers wholly within the City of Toronto. Therefore, YRT, DRT and MiWay buses can only drop off passengers inbound and pick up passengers outbound while within the boundaries of Toronto.
Originally, there were no free or discounted transfers between suburban agencies (which still have separate fare structures) and the TTC. But on February 26, 2024, Ontario's One Fare Program, a GTA-wide fare integration program allowing free or discounted transfers between the TTC and other GTA transit systems (within either a two-hour or three-hour window), was implemented. However, the policy only applies to fare payments made with Presto, credit, or debit card; customers paying with cash are ineligible to receive free or discounted transfers and are still required to pay a double fare.
In August 2023, Rogers implemented 5G wireless service at all the TTC's downtown stations and within the tunnels between them.
In September 2023, the federal government imposed new licence conditions requiring that cellphone and data services be available on the entire subway network by the end of 2026 and that all mobile wireless carriers, including Telus and Bell, have access to it.
, all downtown subway stations and some west-end stations, as well as the tunnels connecting them, have Rogers 5G wireless service. The service is available to customers of Rogers and Freedom Mobile; however, customers of other carriers (such as Bell Canada and Telus) can make 911 calls. 5G wireless service is available between Bloor–Yonge and Dupont stations on Line 1, and between Castle Frank and Keele stations on Line 2. The stations and tunnels between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station and Sheppard West station on Line 1 have a non-5G service.
In December 2024, the TTC announced the discontinuation of the TConnect service on December 27, 2024, due to low usage.
As per Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) guidelines, all surface vehicles and subway trains have been equipped with the on-board Automatic Next Stop Announcement System since February 2008. It operates over speakers indicating the next stop. A digital orange LED destination sign on streetcars and buses as well as the Toronto Rocket subway trains display the name of the upcoming streets/stations as the vehicle progresses on its route.
All TTC revenue service vehicles are equipped with external speakers that play automated announcements of the route and destination of vehicle travel.
The shelters in the system are installed and maintained under contracts with Astral Media (later became a part of by Bell Media) (with Outfront Media since 2006 and previously Viacom Media) and Toronto Transportation Services. Approximately 4,100 shelters are managed by Toronto Transportation. Some shelters are solar powered and include next vehicle arrival displays.
There are four versions of shelters found in the city:
There are ten sets (men and women) of public washrooms located on the TTC system, all at subway stations that are major transfer points, at the ends of subway lines, or former ends of subway lines. All (with the exception of and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre stations, which only connect with regional buses) are located within the fare paid area and thus available only to TTC passengers.
TTC Head Office is in the William McBrien Building, located at 1900 Yonge Street at Davisville Avenue, which opened in 1957. The Davisville station bus terminal occupies part of the building's ground floor. The previous TTC Headquarters was at Yonge and Front Streets in the Toronto Board of Trade Building, which was later demolished.
There are plans to relocate the head office to a yet-to-be-built site at 4050 Yonge Street near York Mills Road. The site is a commuter parking lot with a TTC entrance to York Mills station. Build Toronto is charged with helping the commission relocate, but it is facing political opposition from many mayoral candidates.
The negotiation between TTC and the Toronto Police Services Board took place in 2013 resulting in restored special constable status and peace officer authority.
There is a difference between special constables and fare inspectors. Fare inspectors have no authority to detain a person, and so it is possible to simply walk away with no repercussions. In contrast, special constables have the same authority as police officers.
The second system, the Communications and Information System (CIS), is used by buses and streetcars, and employs transmission facilities throughout the city. Conceived in the late 1970s and fully implemented in 1991, it consists of a computer unit on board each bus and streetcar, called the Transit Radio Unified Microprocessor (TRUMP). This is attached to a transponder receiver, which allows CIS operators to track the location of the vehicle using a computational system known as dead reckoning. The TRUMP unit also allows vehicle and CIS operators to send and receive text messaging for such things as and detour. There is also the option of voice-based communication between the vehicle and CIS operators. With the introduction of NextBus technology to provide real-time arrival information, the CIS has been updated to use a combination of GPS data and the previous dead reckoning (signpost-based) system. In the event that internally managed TTC communications are unavailable, the TRUMP unit operates on Bell Mobility's CDMA network to communicate with divisional operations and transit control.
In 2012, the TTC began research into transitioning from the outdated and antiquated CIS to a newer computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. Utilizing this technology would help improve headways, provide more reliable communications and allow divisional supervisors to locate vehicles in real time (the current GPS system only sends location updates every 20 seconds). Implementation of the system, later named the Vehicle Information System & Integrated Operations Network (VISION), began in 2016, with the contract for associated equipment awarded to Clever Devices ULC. After extensive testing, deployment of VISION on vehicles in revenue service began in the summer of 2018, with plans to fully equip the entire bus and streetcar fleet by 2019.
The third system, known as the "wayside system", consists of UHF MPT-1327 Trunking radio sets used by the three heavy-rail subway lines. They replaced older devices which communicated by the third rail, and are divided into separate systems representing their respective subway lines. This trunking system allows Transit Control to communicate directly with a single train, a zone encompassing several trains, or the entire line. (Line 3 Scarborough uses a single channel UHF system, much the same as the system used by operations staff.)
All of these systems can be monitored by a Radio scanner capable of the UHF Low band (406–430 MHz). Numeric codes—often referring to people or positions (299 Bloor – Subway Line mechanic at Bloor)—are also announced through the radio and the overhead paging system. The TTC also has several "Plans" ("Plan A" through "Plan G") that are used in emergencies but are not announced on the PA system and only referred to on the radio.
The signs feature third-party advertising, news headlines and weather information. From its inception in 2005 until December 31, 2017, the news feed and advertising for television programs were supplied under a contract with Bell Media's 24-hour local cable television news service, CP24. Since January 1, 2018, the service has been provided by Global Television Network's Toronto television station CIII-DT 41, which is owned by Corus Entertainment. The signs also provide TTC-specific information regarding service changes and delays, information pertaining to using the system, and Toronto Police Service alerts about suspects. The system can also be used when an Amber alert is issued, which also may include announcements via the PA system.
In September 2008, Dundas station was the first to feature a "Next Train" announcement integrated into the signage. The system has been expanded to many other stations since its initial rollout. Since mid-July 2009, the majority of stations have been equipped with this service and since January 2018 – coinciding with a content provider switch from CP24 to Global News – the next train arrival time notices were also updated to provide the line number and the destination of the next train. The TYSSE stations have screens that display the arrival times for the next two or three trains. Unlike the older screens, these screens neither display news nor weather headlines provided by Global News.
| +List of chairs of the TTC ! Chair !! From !! Until | ||
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| June 27, 1972 | ||
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| December 1, 2010 | ||
| Karen Stintz
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| November 30, 2014 | ||
| December 13, 2018 | ||
| November 24, 2022 | ||
| Jon Burnside | November 24, 2022 | August 8, 2023 |
| Jamaal Myers | August 8, 2023 | Incumbent |
The day-to-day operations of the TTC are managed by the chief executive officer (formerly the chief general manager or CGM). Mandeep Lali was appointed CEO in June 2025, after the departure of Rick Leary at the end of August 2024; Leary had succeeded Andy Byford in January 2018.
In 2022, TTC employees were surveyed by their union as part of Transit Worker Assault Awareness Day. 73 percent of those surveyed (out of approximately 3,100 people) reported experiencing workplace violence. In March 2023, Jennifer McKelvie, the deputy mayor of Toronto, requested section 269.01 of the Canadian Criminal Code be amended to include assault against transit workers.
The key issues for the union and its members related to job security, protections against contracting out jobs, and improvements in benefits for active members and pensioners. The president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, Marvin Alfred, confirmed the next morning that a tentative agreement had been reached late the night before and that talks had continued until almost 4 a.m. "What we have right now is a deal", he said. "We have something signed, but we're still preparing and making sure we can have something tangible for our membership," he told CBC Radio's Metro Morning.
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