Text by James Bow
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To the uninitiated a transfer — at least, in the context of the Toronto Transit Commission — is nothing more than a receipt. Today, TTC patrons are entitled to pay a single fare for a ride across the system, but very few trips can be accomplished on a single vehicle. We have to switch between streetcars, or between buses. We have to get on the subway and then get off. The transfer, issued by the bus or streetcar driver or via a subway transfer machine wherever you paid your fare, proved that you paid that fare.
It sounds like an inconsequential, ephemeral thing, but for many transit fans in Toronto, the transfer was something more. It was a souvenir. It was a reminder of that trip you took to see grandma, or visit the CNE, or to head to school or go on a date with your girlfriend. For lesser-travelled routes, it was proof that you had gone places that few others had tread. And it was steeped in history. The transfers issued by buses and streetcars today still refer to fare zones, even though fare zones within Metropolitan Toronto had been abolished in 1972, and it had been literally decades since the number of fare zones had gone up to six. There was a code to how to read the transfer that most passengers didn’t pay attention to, but which railfans felt special to have unlocked.
Then there were the subway transfers. For the first few decades, they were stamped out of push-button machines with a satisfying schunk!. It became a game to collect a transfer from every station on the subway network, with special bonus points for finding those “secondary entrance” transfers like “Sheppard-Poyntz”, “Eglinton-Duplex” or “Midland-Automatic Entrance”
Some of the romance disappeared from transfers when new dispensers on the subway spat out slips of heat-treated paper silently. And as the fare readers arrived on the new streetcars, printing fare receipts (not transfers) that looked no different from parking stubs, we transit fans knew that the days of the paper transfer were numbered. Electronic fare payments are the future. They are more convenient, offer more payment options, and are utterly necessary if the dream of seamless public transportation across the Greater Toronto Area is to become a reality.
Still, long-time transit fans will be sad to see the transfers go. In memory of this vanishing memento, we have updated one of the oldest pages on the Transit Toronto website to gather and display samples of Toronto transfers through the ages. Above and to the right is a version of the TTC transfer that we put together to promote our site when we were about a year old. In the next few years, this may be the only transfer left in the city.
Toronto Transfer Image Archive
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The transfers issued by the Toronto Railway Company in 1892 were not much bigger than ticket stubs. However, they did show the route they were issued from (WINCHESTER, KING, DOVERCOURT, BELT LINE AND YONGE), the direction that the car was going (based on which corner was cut off), and a line of letters along the bottom from A to M, with a different one missing on each ticket. Note also the reversed letter J. Item donated by Steve Munro. |
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The Toronto Railway Company changed its transfer style again on April 1, 1895. Steve Munro has two transfers preserved: a YONGE streetcar transfer effective March 30 (the last day of the style's use) and a CHURCH streetcar transfer effective April 1. The former uses a punched clock face to show when the transfer is effective, while the latter shows not only the route the transfer was issued on, but where it was issued and when. Both are to be turned in on the first connecting vehicle. |
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Here we see the backs of the Toronto Railway Company transfers highlighted above, showing the terms and conditions of their use. Item donated by Steve Munro. |
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The front and back of a Toronto Railway Company transfer issued on a DOVERCOURT streetcar on Wednesday, April 6, 1904. |
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A set of TTC transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943. Note the message in support of Canada's war effort in World War II. The transfers seen here are for the BATHURST streetcar, the BATHURST bus, the BAY streetcar, the BLOOR streetcar, and the portion of the BROADVIEW bus that operated within the City of Toronto's boundaries. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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Another set of transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943. The routes seen here are the DOVERCOURT streetcar, the DAVENPORT bus and the COXWELL, CHURCH and CARLTON streetcars. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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Another set of transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943. The routes seen here include the DUNDAS streetcar, the DUPONT streetcar, the EGLINTON bus, and the "City" and "Township" portion of the EGLINTON WEST bus. Part of the EGLINTON WEST route operated outside the City of Toronto in the Township of York, and was operated under contract to the Township of York. Separate fares and transfer privileges applied. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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More transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943. The routes shown here include the FORT streetcar, the GILBERT bus (valid only on connecting services in the Township of York), the KING streetcar, the LEASIDE bus (valid only on connecting services in the Township of East York and the Town of Leaside), and the LONG BRANCH streetcar (valid only on connecting services in the towns of Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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Here we see another set of transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943. The routes shown here are the MIMICO bus (transfers valid only on connecting services in Etobicoke Township and the towns of Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch), the PARLIAMENT streetcar, the QUEEN streetcar, the ROSEDALE bus, and the RUNNYMEDE bus. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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Another set of transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943. The routes shown here are the ST CLAIR streetcar, the SCARBORO bus (valid only on connecting services within Scarboro Township), the VAUGHAN bus (valid only on connecting services within York Township), and the "City" and "Township" portions of the WESTON ROAD streetcar. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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The final batch of transfers issued on Monday, October 18, 1943, featuring the YONGE streetcar, and the backs of four other transfers. Item donated by Martin Proctor. |
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This blank transfer oddity was either a misprint, or an attempt at a generic transfer for use in emergencies or special events. It dates from the late 1970s. |
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Collecting subway transfers was a game many Toronto transit fans took part in, but you were only serious if you could find the "secondary entrance" variants. Most stations had transfers that referred just to the station, but a handful had transfers that were specific to a particular entrance of the station. These entrances were usually automatic. Seen here are two versions of the Midland RT station "Automatic Entrance" transfer, alongside variants of the Scarborough Centre RT station ("Scarborough Centre" and "Town Centre"). Item donated by Jeffrey Kay. |
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The presence of these variants was confusing to some. The best theory available was that they were issued at stations where transfers were needed to change from the subway to connecting buses or streetcars. Subway transfers were not valid at the station where they were issued (to prevent somebody from picking up a fallen transfer and walking on a bus). However, someone who paid a fare to enter at an automatic entrance might want to transfer to a bus or a streetcar at the main entrance. The special entrance transfers allowed this. Seen here are the transfers for the Poyntz Avenue exit at Sheppard (transfers were required to connect with all buses), the south entrance to York Mills station (transfers were required to connect with all buses), the Duplex Street entrance to Eglinton (to connect with the 5 AVENUE ROAD bus, which stopped beside Eglinton station, but didn't enter it), and the Pleasant Boulevard entrance to St. Clair. The last one doesn't fit the scenario above, since there were no routes operating near the station that didn't enter the station. Item donated by Jeffrey Kay. |
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Construction at the Eaton Centre meant it was not possible to change from the northbound to the southbound platform or vice versa at Dundas station without exiting the fare paid area. The "East Entrance" and "West Entrance" may have been used to help passengers who paid a fare without realizing this. The St. George-Bedford transfer serves no obvious purpose, while Glencairn-Viewmount and Yorkdale-Ranee allows people entering from the automatic entrances of these stations to walk the platform and connect with buses at the main entrance (14 GLENCAIRN and 18 CALEDONIA respectively). Item donated by Jeffrey Kay. |
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The "Yonge West" transfer is for the Yonge Street entrance onto the western end of the Yonge station platform on the BLOOR-DANFORTH subway line. It serves no obvious purpose since the connecting 97 YONGE bus is right at that entrance. The "Sherbourne-Glen Road" transfer is for the Glen Road automatic entrance, allowing patrons to walk the platform of Sherbourne station and connect with the 75 SHERBOURNE bus at the main entrance. The final transfer is the automatic entrance at Midland RT station, to access the 57 MIDLAND bus at the main entrance, across the street. Other secondary entrance transfers may exist, but obvious possibilities don't. No special transfers were identified for the Parkview Gardens entrance to High Park station, for instance, or the Emerson Avenue entrance to Lansdowne station. Item donated by Jeffrey Kay. |
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A 1970s-era subway transfer dispensing machine is seen here, preserved by the Halton County Radial Railway museum. Photo by Matthew Lem. |
