by D. Vogt

Created on: April 30, 2010   Last Updated: October 12, 2010

The public transport system in Toronto, Ontario, is highly effective, but has enough layers that it is important to get a good sense of where to go and what to expect before you're on the ground in the middle of the city. Effectively, Toronto actually has two different public transport networks: the Toronto Transit Commission, which controls the dense network of buses, streetcars, and subway lines in metropolitan Toronto; and the GO Transit network, which is a network of less dense but much more wide-ranging bus and rail lines stretching from the heart of downtown Toronto to the suburbs and outlying cities.

- Toronto Transit Commission: Buses, Subways, Streetcars -

Public transit within the city of Toronto itself, and particularly downtown Toronto, is controlled by the Toronto Transit Commission, the branch of the city government which handles public transport issues. The TTC controls a large network consisting of three principal services: buses, the subway, and street rail (streetcars). Each day 2.5 million people ride some section of the TTC system, about one-third of them on the subway.

Streetcars are available within the downtown core; in addition, buses cover that area as well as ranging much farther out, as far as outlying tourist attractions such as the zoo. In addition, the subway system itself is a highly efficient method of travelling between sections of the city. The subway network is actually a set of four subway lines. The core two are a very long east-to-west line, the Bloor-Danforth line, which follows Bloor Street through the heart of the city. The eastern terminus of the Bloor-Danforth line is the beginning of a second, outlying light rail line in Scarborough.

The second major subway system is the Yonge-University-Spadina line, which arcs through downtown in a massive north-to-south U shape. Along the western fork likes the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum. The tip of the curve, in the southern downtown area, is located at Union station, the major bus, train, and GO transit hub, as well as in walking distance of the quay, CN Tower, and Skydome - all major attractions. Full route and schedule information is available on the TTC website.

Current fares on the TTC, as of April 2010, are $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and students, and $0.75 for children, for a ride on any of the different TTC systems. Travellers planning to make extensive use of the TTC system may want to consider buying discounted tickets (5 for $12.50), a day

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