See Also
- Transit Toronto General FAQ
- Transit Toronto Bus FAQ
- Transit Toronto Streetcar/LRT FAQ
- Transit Toronto Subway FAQ
- Transit Toronto Trolley Bus FAQ
- Transit Toronto Regional Transit FAQ
- Do you have questions you want answered? Contact us!
What is Transit Toronto?
Transit Toronto is a web site wherein fans of the Toronto Transit Commission have gathered information on the system. It is our goal to show you, with articles and photographs, how the system ticks, what goes on behind the scenes, and the subtleties of the equipment, be it the TTC's subway, its streetcars, its buses, or its sister systems in the Greater Toronto Area.
Are You Connected With the TTC or GO Transit?
Nope. This site is in no way, shape or form an official web site for the Toronto Transit Commission, GO Transit, York Region Transit, Mississauga Transit or any other transit agency in the Greater Toronto Area. We certainly aren't being paid to produce the HTML you see here. So, if you have a complaint about the TTC and you're mad as Hell, don't e-mail us, and don't call us, because we can't do a darn thing about it. Likewise, since we don't work for the TTC, we don't know everything about their inner workings, and we can't tell you why the TTC doesn't extend the Scarborough RT to Pickering or why buses run in Rosedale, so don't ask us.
So Why the Heck Are You Doing This?
Just "Because".
There is a group of people known as railfans, whose interest in trains or transit systems leads them to devote considerable time and energy to their hobby. We're a lot younger than your average railfan, I think (we're all in our mid-thirties), but we've probably caught the bug. But there's more to it than that.
Aaron Adel loves Toronto and is very nostalgic for his childhood years in the 1980s. Before this page moved to its own server and gained its own domain, it was a part of a larger page detailing the activities of a circle of friends who called themselves the Huities (French for 'eighties'). Growing up in Toronto, and having a good time of it, means fond memories of the Toronto Transit Commission. The TTC was THE way for teenagers to get around the city (I myself didn't learn how to drive until I was twenty-three, and living in Kitchener). As Torontonians, we took great pride in how well the system stood up amongst the world, when it was in its glory days. The subway was a big part of Toronto, a big part of Aaron's childhood, and so he launched the Toronto Subway Page.
And then there's me, James Bow. I'm much the same way. I grew up in Toronto in the 1980s, and the TTC was THE way for me to get around my city. My appreciation, however, was more for the streetcars than for the subways, and so when I contributed material to Aaron, much of it had to do with streetcars. Thus the Toronto Subway Page morphed into Transit Toronto.
And since the site was set up (in 1997), the focus of this page broadened. We have many contributors, now, adding news, current and historical pictures, articles on the histories of specific bus routes or streetcar lines, editorials on where public transit should be going in the coming years. But what hasn't changed is the enthusiasm we all have to public transportation in the Greater Toronto Area, its history, and the prospects of improving it.
What is the Purpose of this FAQ?
The FAQ is here to further the goal set when Transit Toronto was originally set up as the Toronto Subway Page: to inform you, the user. We get a lot of questions, some of which we can actually answer, and so we've made this FAQ to provide those answers automatically. We hope this FAQ can provide you with interesting information about Toronto's subways, streetcars, buses and trolley buses, as well as the other transit agencies operating in the Greater Toronto Area.
Where can I find out more about the history of the TTC?
You can start by reading our brief history of the TTC and from there peruse our streetcar, subway and bus route history pages.