Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow confirms that enhanced signal priority is now being rolled out on Line 6 Finch West, with Line 5 Eglinton to follow soon. A huge step forward to maximizing the transit user experience on our new LRT lines!

SmartTrack was never a real transit plan. GO Expansion was planned to provide the intended transit service. In March 2016, council approved integrating SmartTrack into the GO Expansion project. Focusing on the legacy of this proposal is distracting from the real issue. 1/5

In terms of money for project complexity the SmartTrack stations might be the most overpriced transit project on the planet. King Liberty GO, which is a simple surface station with 1 platform, was expected to cost $590 million, which led to it getting cut. www.thestar.com/news/gta/met...

The opening of the Eglinton Crosstown marked a major expansion of Toronto's transit network after 15+ years of construction! MTSO continues to support implementing active transit signal priority to speed up travel times on the line. In the meantime, here are some photos from the opening day!

Laird -> Keelesdale in only 20 minutes, which is 9.3km for a 28km/h average speed, comparable to the Bloor Danforth Line through the same stretch of the city. This is around what we should expect when all trains are running at full speed.

It appears that the Eglinton Crosstown is already running at 80km/h in tunnels, at least for some trips (probably trains behind schedule) youtu.be/pwIx90F9sqo?...

🚆 Join More Transit Southern Ontario tomorrow for a ride-along on the now-open Eglinton Crosstown (Line 5)! We’ll kick things off at Mount Dennis Station and ride the full line to Kennedy, then head back west while touring all of the underground stations along the way.

The wait is finally over. The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open this Sunday, and you can ride it for free on opening day!

With the train derailment that happened this morning, this is the updated schedule for GO trains this evening www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

this morning's GO train derailment brings up a number of issues people have been talking about for a while: 1) the union station approaches are old, complex, with a million crossovers, necessitating slow operating speeds to avoid derailments, and are long overdue to be rebuilt 1/3

Toronto example of timetable quirkiness. GO Transit runs 2tph peak outbound Lakeshore West trains to Oakville calling all stations. These have to return to Union to form LSE services, so run empty express in front of local eastbound trains instead of being spaced out to give 4tph inbound on LSW!

missed another light cycle westbound at Atlantic because of the restricted speed policy under underpasses. This outdated policy was due to trolley poles losing contract with the overhead during elevation changes. We don't have trolley poles on tbe network anymore!!

"State Capacity" is when the govt is able to closely monitor the construction market and issue detailed sectoral indexes that can be used to escalate contracts based on actual market conditions instead of using core inflation of gross aggregate construction indexes www.insee.fr/fr/statistiq...

In 2025, the ION LRT regularly exceeded 95% reliability for all trips.

In order to experience a high quality LRT, Toronto only needs to look to Waterloo Region. The ION LRT is fast and frequent, and has so many features that the TTC and Metrolinx can learn for LRTs and streetcars. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwJw...

Will the Eglinton Crosstown finally open this year after years of delays and budget overruns? What do you think?

a little piece of good news: line 6 is surprisingly still up and running despite the latest snowstorm. it hasn't seemed to encounter a service issue for the last 12+ hours

In this suburban community in Utrecht almost all grocery stores are located right on Tram/LRT stops. Imagine the convenience of stepping into a store to grab groceries on your walk home from the transit stop.

Do you want to share your ideas about Canada’s newest high-speed rail project?  In February, connect in-person with project experts from the ALTO team, ask questions, and learn about all aspects of the project. No registration required. Learn more at altotrain.ca!

Take a look at the new Line 2 trains. Today the province confirmed that Alstom will be building them primarily in Thunder Bay, and that the government is providing more funding to build Canadian. 1/2

BREAKING: The TTC is getting new Line 2 subway trains (55 trains), manufactured right here in Ontario in Thunder Bay. They’re based on Alstom’s Metropolis platform, and look extremely modern. More here: news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...

The details for the Alto HSR project are now live! In person and virtual consultations begin next week but you can comment on the project map and complete the survey online today! en.consultation.altotrain.ca/shaping-the-...

Every signal shall bow to the tram

Take a lesson #TTC! @redesigningttc.bsky.social @ttcriders.bsky.social

Let’s avoid making another terrible transit mistake - read my latest article now: open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...

Decision makers need to be transparent about the site selection process for major sites like hospitals, and full priority needs to be given to place them on the core transit network.

It’s an actually urban location at least. This was a process heavily controlled AFAIK by the province, and at this point is pretty well full steam ahead. I don’t know what the point of advocating for a different site — which may not be available or meet their criteria — is at this point in time.

Waterloo Region priorities: Views of the forest > Good public transit connections One thing about North Americans is that we value the view/concept of nature over the actual sustainable practices & infrastructure that conserve the very nature we love.

At the back cab of the Finch LRT you can see the speedometer, including the programmed speed limits. It would be useful if a pair of transit advocates could film a full ride with both the view out the front and the speedometer at the back so we can document the speed limits youtu.be/lectZKgdwTo

GO Transit will be free again this year on New Years Eve from 7pm to 7am! 55 extra train trips and dozens of buses will depart Union Station after 12am All 8 lines and stations excluding St. Catharines & Niagara Falls will have service

just took line 6 this evening, two weeks since opening. a smooth 8 min to jane, and then an 8 min ride back (faster than scheduled). -dwell times average 20s per stop -in both directions, my train never hit a red light except at jane st -green transit phase insertion/rotation being tested 1/2

Good news! Signal priority changes are being implemented on Finch West. We're hearing that trip times have generally been reduced over the past few days. Now the TTC needs to get rid of the overly conservative driving practices for streetcars on the route

In partnership with Transit Action Ontario and TTCriders, we presented recommendations in November to Metrolinx concerning the renaming of transit stations. These proposals take into account the introduction of new stations and various regional transit considerations.

What does Item MM35.15 mean? Toronto's City Council is implementing active transit signal priority for light rail transit and streetcar systems! However, we need to ensure that signal priority is done in conjunction with an increase in streetcar speeds and reliability! Read more in our bio.

Here is our letter in support for the motion in tomorrows council meeting to speed up LRTs and streetcars. We also urge that a review of Finch West LRT operating practices and the TTC streetcar's outdated track switch system be included in this motion.

In 2021 The City exempted the Finch LRT from the 50 km/h speed limit (allowing it to go 60), citing the importance of short round trip times. Unfortunately the TTC later enacted 25 km/h intersection speed limits, making 60 km/h unattainable between signals anyway. www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis...

Thanks to the signaling system, Line 6 drivers can hardly ever drive faster than 30km/h all in the name of safety. The vehicle on a fixed guideway in the middle of the street needs to travel at half the speed limit. Meanwhile cars and big trucks close to the curb can travel at 60km/h.

We endorsed a letter from Technologists for Democracy, requesting Cineplex Digital Media to provide more clarity on how personal information will remain protected with their use of recording and facial detection performed on premises like the Union Station Bus Terminal. Read about it in our bio.

Yes! Here are images of the St Clair streetcar with the current # of stops, and then with proposed stop reductions (which are still fairly close - see line 2 stations for reference), configured as you suggest, with tips 400 metres from stops but in a diamond shape to better model walk time in a grid

“Preserve the relationship with Metrolinx” You mean go into deep secrecy over things that really should be public.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will most likely open on February 8th 2026. The City and Metrolinx were in conflict over the opening date, with Metrolinx wanting to open the line on December 28th. globalnews.ca/news/1157065...

Massive development is planned for the Downsview Airport lands, unfortunately current plans to extend the Sheppard Subway stop at Sheppard West station. It would be a huge mistake not to extend the line an extra stop or two to serve this development from day one. Image via @futuremodelTO

Here is the motion going to the TTC board tomorrow regarding travel speeds, signal priority and service on Line 6, Line 5 and the streetcars.

GRT budget, bike lane politics, weekend GO service, and lots more in our news roundup for the last month:

Durham's council was forced to sign NDA on Metrolinx's Bowmanville expansion plan: councillor www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

With all the talk about the frustratingly slow Finch West LRT and upcoming political action. It's important to remember that the streetcar network, which carries over 200,000 riders a day, has faced many of the issues slowing down Finch West for decades.

This isn't something that needs to be funded through a budget. Signals on Eglinton and Finch already have signal priority installed. The problem is the way these signals prioritize (or don't) transit. Such as left turning cars going before LRT vehicles. 1/2

Discourse around transit signal priority in Toronto needs to improve. Here's councillor Josh Matlow advocating for funding for TSP on Line 5 and 6 in the upcoming budget. But Eglinton and Finch already have TSP installed!

Good news! Fare capping is coming to the TTC next fall! Fare capping, which replaces monthly passes with an automated system which won't charge you past a set number of rides, is a no brainer improvement that'll save riders money and make transit easier to use. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Today is the first weekday of Finch West LRT service. And riders are bringing up the fact that the service simply is too slow. We hope that decision makers are hearing the avalanche of complaints about speed and will make changes to speed up service ASAP. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgkr...