History Of The Subway System

James B. Alcock

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

Introduction 5 Before the TTC: Omnibus and 6 Public Transit: 6 TTC: The early years 7 TTC: Post-war years 7 Subway boom 8 “” 13 The St. Clair Controversy 17 ‘’ Plan 17 Transit Rebellion 22 ‘One City’ Plan 23 One City’ Proposed Lines 25 Subway Revival 25 'SmartTrack' Plan 27 Revival of the Subway and LRT Lines 28 Long Term Transit Plan 28 TTC Official Opening Dates 30 TTC History Timeline 30 MAPS

Metropolitan Toronto Subways System 1966 9 Subways System 1973 14 Metropolitan Toronto Subways System 1985 15 City of Toronto Transit City 2007 23 City of Toronto Smart Track Plan 2014 28 City of Toronto Subways System 2021 29

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History of the System

Introduction

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport authority that operates buses, streetcars, subways, and lines in Toronto, , Canada. The TTC operates 149 surface transit routes, of which 148 routes make 243 connections with a subway or rapid transit station during the morning rush hour. 11 of these are streetcar () routes and the remainder are buses. In 2005, the TTC carried 431,220,000 passengers, 2,368,000 passengers daily (1,397,000 revenue passengers). The TTC employed 10,650 personnel in 2005.

The TTC operates the third most heavily-used urban mass transit system in North America (after New York City's New York City Transit Authority and the Mexico City Metro). As of 2004, there are four rapid transit lines (three are referred to as "subways", while a fourth is mostly elevated), with a total of 69 stations, as well as 149 connecting "surface" routes (buses and streetcars). The average daily ridership exceeds 2.3 million passengers: 1,197,500 through bus, 246,100 by streetcar, 45,000 by intermediate rail, and 855,300 by subway (American Public Transit Association, 2005). The TTC also provides door-to-door services for persons with physical disabilities known as WheelTrans. An approximate 2,900 trips are made through this service daily. Colloquially, the streetcars were known as "red rockets"; hence the use of "Ride the Rocket" in advertising material for the TTC (which uses the phrase to advertise the entire system), and the use of the word "Rocket" in the names of some express buses. The entire system is also promoted as "The Better Way".

Privately operated transit services in Toronto began in 1849. In later years, a few routes were operated by the city, but it was 1921 when the city took over all routes and formed the Toronto Transportation Commission to operate them. During this period service was mainly provided by streetcars. In 1954, the TTC adopted its present name, opened its first subway line, and greatly expanded its service area to cover the newly formed municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (which eventually became the enlarged city of Toronto). The system has evolved to feature a wide network of bus routes with the subway lines as the backbone.

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Before the TTC: Omnibus and Toronto Street Railway

Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by furniture maker and undertaker Burt Williams in 1849. William's franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along between the St. Lawrence Market and the Village of Yorkville for six pence.

Toronto's first transit system was a franchise for a 'street railway' in 1861 to Alexander Easton under the nam Toronto Street Railways (TSR). A second franchise was granted to the Metropolitan Street Railway of Toronto (MSR) in 1885.

In 1891 the TSR lost the franchise to William Mackenzie's . Outside of the city, transit connection to the suburbs were known as 'radial railways' (because their lines radiated from Toronto), among them the Toronto and York Radial Railway and the .

Streetcars in in 1923

Public Transit: Toronto Civic Railways

Prior to the establishment of the TTC, the City of Toronto operated the city owned system under the Toronto Civic Railways (TCR) name, which was created to serve areas to which the Toronto Railway Company refused to extend its service.

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TTC: The early years

Streetcar track work in 1917 at Queen and Bond streets 1920’s Toronto Streetcars

In 1920, a Provincial Act created the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) and, with the expiration of the TRC's franchise in 1921, the Commission took over and amalgamated nine existing fare systems within the city limits. Between 1921 and 1953, the TTC added 35 new routes in the city and extended 20 more. It also operated 23 suburban routes on a service-for-cost basis. It abandoned money-losing radial railway line (known as '' elsewhere in the continent), .

The Great Depression and the Second World War both placed heavy burdens on the ability of municipalities to finance themselves. During most of the 1930s, municipal governments had to cope with general welfare costs and assistance to the unemployed. The TTC realized that improvements had to be made despite the depression and in 1936 purchased the first of the newly- developed PCC streetcars. The war put an end to the depression and increased migration from rural to urban areas. After the war, municipalities faced the problem of extending services to accommodate the increased population. Ironically, the one municipal service that prospered during the war years was public transit; employers had to stagger work hours in order to avoid overcrowding the streetcars. Toronto continued their programme of purchasing PCC cars, running the world's largest fleet, including many obtained second-hand from U.S. cities that abandoned streetcar service.

TTC: Post-war years

Public transit was one of the essential services identified by Metro Toronto's founders in 1953. On January 1, 1954, the Toronto Transportation Commission was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission and public transit was placed under the jurisdiction of the new Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The assets and liabilities of the TTC and four independent bus lines operating in the suburbs were acquired by the Commission. In 1954, the TTC became the sole provider of public transportation services in Metro Toronto.

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Subway boom

A referendum was held in 1946 on the construction of subways in Toronto, and it was overwhelmingly approved by the electorate. Approval was given to construct a full subway under Yonge Street from Union Station to and a streetcar subway under Queen Street from Trinity Park to Pape, connecting to surface streetcar routes at both ends. Construction began on the Yonge Subway immediately and was completed eight years later, but only a short tunnel section of the Queen streetcar subway was built under at Yonge. This incomplete structure remains in existence today.

The original Union Station-to-Eglinton section of the Yonge Street subway, Canada's first, was conceived and built with revenues gained during the war, when gas rationing limited the use of automobiles. The subway line opened to the public on March 30, 1954, after five years of work. Its underground portions were built entirely using cut-and-cover construction, with reinforced boards and even temporary streetcar tracks laid over the trenches to allow Yonge Street to remain open as the tunnels were built. The original Yonge Street subway line went from the railways' Union Station on Front Street north to a suburban terminus at Eglinton Avenue. Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto mayor Allan Lamport, among other important persons, rode the first train that morning, going north from the yards at , and then south from Eglinton along the entire line. At 2:30 p.m. that day, the last streetcar to travel Yonge Street south of Eglinton made its final ride. The subway reduced the trip from Union to Eglinton from about half an hour by streetcar) to less than fifteen minutes.

It was the first subway line to replace surface routes completely. It was also later the site of as experiment with aluminum subway cars which led to their adoption throughout the system and by other transit systems. Several expansions since 1954 have more than quadrupled the area served, adding two new connected lines and a shorter intermediate capacity transit system. The University line opened nine years later, continuing from Union back north under University Avenue to St. George station; it was intentionally designed to serve much the same area as the Yonge line, in order to increase capacity in anticipation of the planned east-west line. It was decided to build the first east-west line along and instead of Queen Street, and as a full subway. By 1966, the original Bloor-Danforth Line was built, going under Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue from Keele in the west to Woodbine in the east. Within two years, the Bloor- Danforth line had been extended in both directions, to Islington in the west and Warden in the east. A second platform exists under on the Bloor line originally used for a downtown circle loop since the 1960’s. However, this is unused today, except for movie shoots.

Plans were made for a streetcar subway along Queen Street, which were upgraded to a full subway in 1964, from the to Greenwood, curving north to connect to the Bloor-Danforth Subway. All that ever materialized of this line was an incomplete east-west station structure under Queen station at Yonge, which remains in existence today. The Queen Subway plan was cancelled in 1974 in favour of new lines in the suburbs.

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Yonge Subway Construction 1949

Toronto’s first Gloucester subway cars on the Yonge line 1950’s

Bloor-Danforth Subway cars 1980’s Yonge-Bloor subway platform today 10

Crowds at the opening of the Yonge Subway in 1954 – Canada’s first subway

The Bloor-Danforth Subway soon after opening in 1966

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Unused Lower Bay station on Bloor line

Unfinished Queen Subway station at Yonge 12

In 1971, then Premier Willam Davis increased transit spending after cancellation of the Spadina (Allen) Expressway construction. The 1970’s saw Toronto adopting a streetcar abandonment policy; the plan was to have low-volume services be served by buses, and more heavily-used routes to get subway lines. Later in that decade, the rising cost of subway construction and the awareness of the limitations of buses reversed that decision; Toronto is now one of the few North American cities to retain its streetcars through the 20th century, and is now slowly expanding the service. In 1973, fare zones were abolished, meaning that riders could go across the entire city on one fare. A ‘Dial-A-Bus’ programme existed for a while in the 1970’s where people could call for a bus to come and and pick them up and take them to a chosen destination. This was cancelled as too expensive to operate. A new fleet of streetcars was introduced in the 1980’s. In 1972, the Province also introduced an Internediate Capacity Transit System (I.C.T.S.) known as 'GO Urban' that would be a mini-subway plan crossing the city, using new technologies. The Scarboirough Rapid Transit line is all that materialized of this extensive plan.

Changes to the composition of the Metro Toronto council moved the balance of power towards the suburban areas, and soon afterwards in 1973 the Yonge subway line was extended north to Road, and the next year it was as far north as . Five years later, the Spadina line opened, going from the north terminus of the University line to . In 1980, the Bloor-Danforth Line was extended once again, to the current termini of on the west end and on the east. Subway building then came to a standstill.

‘Network 2011’

There were no new full-scale subways or subway extensions built between 1980 and 1996. Instead, a proposed extension on the Danforth end of the Bloor-Danforth line was built in 1985 as the L- shaped Scarborough RT line (originally envisioned as a light rail line using streetcars in a dedicated right of way, but ultimately built as a mini-subway), which went from Kennedy to McCowan Station. Two years later, a new station was added south of Finch on the Yonge line, at the Centre. The Wheel-Trans service for disabled people was also inaugurated in the 1980’s. In 1985, the City adopted an ambitious plan called ‘Network 2011” which proposed subways along Eglinton Avenue and , a Spadina line extension and a Downtown . However, Premier Mike Harris cut transit funding in 1995.

The Downtown Relief line plan was never adopted. The Conservative provincial government of Mike Harris halted work on the Eglinton line in 1995 and the partially dug tunnels were filled in. The Spadina line was extended northwards, adding only one new station at Downsview in 1996.

In 1998, Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto ceased to exist and was replaced by a new City of Toronto (formed from the amalgamation of its six former municipalities). Four years later, the Sheppard Line was opened, the first new subway line in decades. But it was much shorter than originally planned, going from Yonge St. east only as far as Don Mills Road, instead of connecting with the Scarborough RT at Scarborough Centre (which remains one of the TTC's priorities for further extensions, should the funding become available). The TTC is running four-car trains on the abbreviated Sheppard Line, 2/3 the size of those on the other Toronto subways, but the stations were built to accommodate full-length trains should sufficient traffic develop. Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty restored Provincial transit funding after 2003.

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In January 2005, the cash-strapped TTC introduced a plan to curtail costly subway expansion and look at expanding the rapid transit network less expensively. This could involve busways, or expanding the streetcar system with more modern vehicles and less running in mixed traffic.

Nonetheless, the TTC recognized the importance of rapid transit for the growing , and was already in the planning stages, including an environmental assessment, for an extension of the Spadina line north to . The key to this next large step, as well as the completion of the Sheppard line to the east, lay in the hands of the Province of Ontario and the Federal Government of Canada who had both promised better funding for public transit in the city.

On May 29, 2006, a wildcat strike took place after TTC employees walked off the job suddenly, primarily caused by safety concerns and late shifts. The strike was immediately deemed illegal by the Ontario Labour Relations Board and they were immediately ordered back to work, but not without causing severe disruption in the city on what was a very hot day. The strike, however, was not without consequence to TTC management, as the general manager, Rick Ducharme officially tendered his resignation just one week later.

Toronto Streetcars today Wheel-Trans Vehicles

TTC Bus Today Scarborough Rapid Transit line today

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The St. Clair Controversy

The TTC had provided dedicated streetcar routes in their own rights of way down the centre of existing arterial roads along and along Queen’s Quay while maintaining existing road space. In 2006, construction began on a dedicated streetcar right-of-way along St. Clair Avenue West from Yonge Street westerly towards . This plan meant that a concrete barrier would be constructed in the middle of the road and some residential cross-streets would be closed off. It also meant that the road would have to be narrowed from six lanes to four and that some on-street parking would have to be eliminated. This plan met with great opposition from the local neighbourhoods, particularly from merchants and businessmen along the route who feared that their businesses would lose customers who could no longer park there. After completion of the line, many businesses packed up and left.

In 2002, the City of Toronto had adopted a new Official Plan which proposed that these dedicated streetcar routes be eventually contructed along arterial roads across the city as a cheaper alternative to subway construction and to boost ridership. City planners and politicians felt that the St. Clair project was a pilot for this plan and had to be completed, so despite the heavy opposition and court challenges from local citizens, City politicians voted to proceed with it. The plan would only improve transit service along St. Clair by a few minutes.

Politicians and planners felt that if it was not completed, the whole plan would be in jeopardy. As parts of the line were completed in 2007, the fears of the residents and merchants became real as many businesses starting losing customers due to the new lack of parking. The residents and merchants formed a group called ‘Save Our St. Clair’ and vowed to continue to fight the plan as it inched westward. Meanwhile, the City of Toronto was preparing plans to extend this type of service to other parts of the city. Despite the opposition to the St. Clair plan, the City continued work on the route and expected to finish it by 2010, when work on other lines throughout the city would begin. It was felt that the new light rail lines could be built easily throughout the city as they were far cheaper than subways (40 million per kilometre for an LRT versus $200 million per kilometre for a subway line, despite the fact that subways carry 400,000 passengers per day while LRT only carry 60,000). After the Provincially-funded extension of the Spadina Subway to Vaughan would be built, then full subway construction would come to an end and the city would concentrate on the new cheaper LRT lines. The St. Clair situation angered people in other areas.

‘Transit City’ Plan

The TTC continued to be the sole provider of public transit within the City of Toronto, as well as operating contracted services into the neighbouring York Region. Regional commuter service (both bus and rail) is operated by GO Transit, the vast majority of which goes to downtown Toronto's Union Station. Connection buses of the Mississuga, Brampton, York Region, and Pickering and Ajax transit systems enter Toronto at various points. Extension of the Spadina subway line north from Downsview to York University and into Vaughan, north of the City, was approved in September 2006 with construction imminent. Plans also called for completion of the new Sheppard subway eastwards to the Scarborough RT at the . An extension of the Bloor subway west from Kipling to Sherway Gardens is on the TTC’s long-term

17 plans and also a possible extension of the Scarborough RT eastwards to the Malvern area of Scarborough near Markham Road. However, due to cost, these would not be built as subways, but would be constructed as surface LRT lines.

Another issue is the future of the Scarborough RT. The technology was getting old and needed to be replaced. Scarborough politicians continue to lobby for it to be replaced by a proper Scarborough Subway, which would probably take the shape of an eastern extension of the Bloor- Danforth line on the surface in place of the current RT system. However, due to high costs of conversion to a full subway, it is planned to be replaced with a streetcar LRT similar to the ‘Transit City’ plans.

The Spadina Subway extension and possibly a northern extension of the Yonge Subway will probably be the last full-scale subway to be constructed in Toronto for the time being due to the high cost of construction. The Sheppard Subway, never completed as originally planned, would now be extended as a surface streetcar LRT. The plans for the future involve construction of streetcar lines throughout the city on dedicated rights-of-way along arterial roads, separated from traffic, the first being completed on Spadina Avenue and on in the 1990’s. Though highly controversial due to the removal of road space to accommodate these lines, this type of dedicated streetcar route is being constructed along St. Clair Avenue West from Yonge Street westerly to Jane Street. Local merchants have fought this plan because they believe that it will cut available parking for their customers. Plans called for dedicated streetcar routes to ultimately be constructed all over the city along roads such as Eglinton Avenue, Finch Avenue, Jane Street and Don Mills Road. Toronto’s streetcar fleet is due for replacement again, and may be replaced by new light rail transit vehicles, similar to those used in Europe.

On March 16 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission announced a multi-billion dollar plan for new light rail transit routes across Toronto called ‘Transit City’:

• A dedicated transit corridor on Finch Avenue, in part utilizing the hydro right of way, to connect north Scarborough and north Etobicoke to the subway; • Building a dedicated rapid transit line along Eglinton Ave. W. that will connect the St. Clair street car right of way to the airport. • A west waterfront line linking Etobicoke to Union Station; • Connecting the Sheppard subway line to Scarborough Town Centre an further east; • Extending the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) line to northeastern Scarborough. The SRT is due to wear out by about 2011 and will be replaced by an LRT. • Light Rail Transit along Don Mills Road • Light Rail Transit along Jane Street • Light Rail Transit on Eglinton Avenue from Pearson Airport to Kennedy subway station which would run underground between Jane and Leslie Streets and on the surface in Etobicoke and Scarborough. The line would later be extended eastwards to Morningside Avenue and then north on Morningside to Finch Avenue.

Environmental assessment work had been done on several of these proposed lines and planning work was under way for a light rail transit route on Don Mills Road. The cost of the new system

18 will be huge. The all-in costs of building light rapid transit lines is about $30 million a kilometre. That would put the price tag for an 80-kilometre system at $2.4 billion. The city expects to move ahead with the help of funding from the gas tax, and a hoped-for $2 billion national transit strategy, of which Toronto would get a substantial slice.

In June 2007, the Provincial Government announced the funding of $17.5 Billion for the construction of Toronto’s ‘Transit City’ LRT rail network across the city. New taxes imposed by the City of Toronto would also be applied to this programme. Improvements to transit in Scarborough, where service was poor, became a priority. The Sheppard East LRT was first for assessment with construction starting in 2009, followed by assessments of an extension of the Scarborough RT to Malvern and a BRT (). These began in 2008. Environmental assessment of the mostly undergound Eglinton-Crosstown LRT began in 2008.

The route along Kingston Road was not part of the Transit City plan but was part of the 2002 Official Plan for Toronto. It was proposed that it would be a dedicated express bus route from eastward to Morningside Avenue, connecting with the future Eglinton- Crosstown LRT. Construction of the first of the ‘Transit City’ lines along Sheppard Avenue east from the eastern terminus of the Sheppard Subway at Don Mills to Morningside Avenue began in September 2009 with the aid of Provincial funding. However, opposition to the streetcar LRT plan, similar to the St. Clair controversy, would delay it into 2010. Also in 2007, TTC comissioners announced a proposal to run a ferry service in Lake Ontario from Scarborough and Etobicoke to downtown Toronto. This would be studied but access to the waterfront in Scarborough and lake icing in the winter would cause problems for this service.

TTC officials reported that the Spadina appendage of the subway system was underutilized in stark contrast to the neighbouring and parallel Yonge line. They cited peak morning passenger numbers for southbound trains, between Dupont and Spadina, to demonstrate what was happening. While a train can carry 1,000 people, those travelling southbound between the two stops in the morning rush hour carried only 570 passengers, only 57% of their potential. Therefore, Zeidler Partnership Architects proposed to put a deck over the Allen Expressway and Spadina Subway line to construct mid-rise buildings, ranging in size from 12 to 15 storeys, and parks on the covered route. This plan would put more residents near the stations of the under-used Spadina subway line and hopefully increase the number of passengers travelling on it to more desirable levels. This was welcomed by TTC officials. In 2009, it was announced that the ‘U’-shaped Downtown Relief Subway Line, first proposed in 1985, would be revived and built after 2018, though now extending from to , via Union Station. In April 2009, two years after the TTC mapped out a vision for sleek, Euro-style light rail lines stretching to the suburbs, the Ontario Provincial Government gave the City of Toronto $9 billion to begin building more of the proposed LRT lines in the ‘Transit City’ plan.

• $4.6 billion for the 32.5-kilometre Eglinton line, which would extend from Pearson International Airport to Kennedy station in the east. About 13 kilometres would run underground, roughly between Leslie and Keele Streets. Construction was expected to begin in 2010 and be completed by 2016. Planners anticipated that the line would carry 52 million riders annually by 2021. • $1.2 billion for Finch West, an 18-kilometre line between 's north campus, near Highway 27, and the Yonge subway at . That line, also expected to break ground in 19

2010, would be running by 2013. The TTC may eventually extend the line to Don Mills, where it could connect with the Sheppard subway and LRT. The TTC predicted that it would have an annual ridership of 24 million by 2021. • The 30-year-old, 7.2-kilometre Scarborough RT would get new vehicles and be extended to Malvern Town Centre or Markham Rd., for $1.4 billion. Construction would begin in 2010 for completion in 2015.

In 2009, the Toronto Transit Commission approved the spending of $1.22 Billion to purchase a new fleet of streetcar vehicles from Bombardier to replace its aging fleet of streetcars purchased in the 1970’s and 1980’s. 204 new LRV’s (Light Rail Vehicles) would be put into service by 2011 on all regular streetcar routes and on the new ‘Transit City’ LRT routes to be constructed across Toronto. The new LRVs would be low-floor, quieter, have features such as air conditioning for greater customer comfort, and would be able to carry almost twice as many people as the TTC’s existing fleet of streetcars. The contract would include an option to purchase up to 400 additional vehicles for future use. By 2010, public opposition to ‘Transit City’ streetcar LRT lines continued to grow as people saw them as disruptive and removing road capacity. New and updated subway trains for the Yonge-University-Spadina line, will also go into service in 2011. The trains on the Bloor-Danforth and Sheppard lines are newer and will be replaced later.

New LRV’s (Light Rail Vehicles) to replace New trains for Toronto’s Toronto’s streetcars by 2011 subway system by 2011

In 2010, $4 Billion of funding for ‘Transit City’ was delayed by the Provincial Government due to budget difficulties. This meant a cutback in the plan to the delight of its growing number of opponents who pushed for a return to subway construction. , elected mayor in October 2010, announced that ‘Transit City’ was now dead and opted for ‘Transportation City’ which would have a system of subways instead of LRT’s. It would include the Yonge and Spadina line extensions, completion of the Sheppard Subway and an underground Eglinton LRT east from Black Creek Drive, which would continue to the northeast replacing the Scarborough RT line.

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Transit Rebellion

In February 2012, a rebellion by some councillors, particularly those in Downtown Toronto, led by TTC Chair Councillor against Mayor Ford’s new ‘Transportation City’ transit plan of underground transit called for a special meeting of Toronto Council to discuss transit. They brought forward two options to spend the $8.4 billion allocated by the Province for transit – on the new plan for a continuation of the Sheppard Subway and a completely underground Eglinton- Crosstown-Scarborough LRT or to bring back the 2009 ‘Transit City’ ground-level LRT plan, still championed by particularly downtown councillors.

Councillors slammed the brakes on Mayor Ford’s $8.4 billion transit plan and voted to revive most of the Transit City plan the mayor derailed on his first day in office. Led by Stintz, councillors voted 25 to 18 during a special council meeting on transit for three light rail lines from the former Transit City plan including the Eglinton Crosstown LRT (which would be at street-level in Scarborough), the Finch West LRT and the Scarborough RT converted to an LRT. The fate of transit on Sheppard remained up in the air despite the vote. Councillors also approved creating an expert panel on Sheppard transit that would be tasked with determining “the most effective means of delivering rapid transit to the greater number of riders with the funds currently allocated.” This meant that the extension of the Sheppard Subway would require further study, but was still an option. The expert panel was made up of people who leaned towards LRT over subway construction.

Mayor Ford tried unsuccessfully to get councillors to put the vote off by referring the item to the city manager for a one-month review by an expert fact-finding panel. Councillors rejected that option in a 24 to 19 vote. The Mayor vowed that he would continue to lobby the Province to stick to the subway and underground transit plan as agreed.

After a bitter two-day debate, on March 22, 2012, City Council accepted the recommendations of the expert panel on Sheppard and endorsed construction of the Sheppard LRT. This signalled the end of further subway construction in Toronto, apart from the Spadina Subway extension already under construction. This left disgruntled and angry subway supporters particularly in Scarborough and North York feeling angry and betrayed. Mayor Ford vowed to continue to fight on for subways.

The argument put forward by most councillors was that there were $8.4 billion of Provincial funding available and councillors wanted to get the most amount of transit across the city built with this money. Toronto’s transit future now lay with light rail transit (LRT) along major arterial roads as the revived ‘Transit City’ plan became official policy, endorsed by Council. The Sheppard East, Finch West and Eglinton-Crosstown-Scarborough (construction already started) light rail transit lines would now go ahead.

Also in 2012, Toronto Councillors revived the proposal for a Downtown Relief subway line, only this time it would be a much wider U-shaped line stretching from northeastern Scarborough, through downtown, and northwest to probably the Airport, following existing railway lines. This concept was meant to relieve downtown congestion, but would require much further study.

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‘One City’ Plan

On June 26, 2012, TTC Chair Karen Stintz and Vice-Chair Glenn De Baeremaeker introduced a new 30-year $30 billion plan for transit expansion in the City of Toronto which included 175 kilometres of new lines, including six subway lines, 10 LRTs and five bus and streetcar routes across the city. The plan would be paid for by an extra $180 per year charged on top of property tax paid by every homeowner in Toronto.

The plan was called ‘OneCity’ and a staff study of the plan was asked for in July, 2012. Councillors would then have until October to take the plan to their constituents before considering approval. The plan included all of the origina light rail routes of the ‘Transit City’ plan but also included two elements in Mayor Rob Ford’s election platform: A Sheppard West subway extension linking the Yonge line with the Spadina subway, and the extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway along the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) route.

The timeline was critical because the provincial cabinet had not yet signed off on converting the SRT to light rail transit and the new plan depended on being able to leverage the then upcoming property reassessment process. It was hoped to start collecting the revenue in 2013. The funding proposal would involve getting the province to approve a regulatory change that would allow the city to capture 40 per cent of the higher property values from the following year’s reassessment. That would amount to $45 per average household annually, accumulating to $180 a year on average, which would remain on property tax bills. It would mean $272 million a year in new tax revenue for the city. The $272 million would form the city’s third of an annual $1 billion transit investment, with the province and Ottawa kicking in a standard one-third each.

The plan was being proposed as the provincial agency rallied support for a regional transit investment strategy to raise about $40 billion. That was the cost of implementing the rest of the ‘Big Move’ regional transit plan for the wider Greater Toronto Region. The province had already committed to the first $11 billion of that plan, including $8.4 billion for four lines in Toronto: LRT on Finch West, Sheppard East and Eglinton, and the conversion of the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) into LRT extending from the Eglinton line. Queen’s Park gave Metrolinx until June 2013 to figure out how to raise the rest of the money. But with the Liberals then in a minority government and close to the next election by the time the strategy would be published, there were fears that no party would be willing to commit to new taxes.

The first funds from the Stintz-De Baeremaeker plan would go toward converting the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) route into a subway line, at a cost of about $2.3 billion. The project would have a head start from the $1.8 billion the province had already committed. Although a subway would be routed somewhat differently from the SRT, it would have the advantage of not shutting down the SRT for four years — unlike the current plan at that time, which called for putting SRT riders on buses for that period, while the new LRT was built. The second priority in the new OneCity vision would be an east waterfront LRT, at a cost of about $300 million. Waterfront Toronto had allocated $90 million toward transit on the lakefront east of Yonge St., and developers there had been bracing for a temporary transit solution such as bus rapid transit.

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All of the lines in the OneCity plan had been approved at one time or another, and in some cases the environmental assessments have been done for years. OneCity rebranded some of the routes such as a downtown relief subway line, which had been renamed the “Don Mills Express” line. It also aligned with some regional transit projects, including the air-rail link, which the councillors say could be converted to public transit by adding three more stops. A second set of tracks to GO’s Stouffville line would allow for a Scarborough Express above-ground subway or train that would deliver riders from to Union Station.

One City's Proposed Lines

• Six subway lines, 72 km, $18 billion Replace the Scarborough RT with a subway from Kennedy Station to Sheppard and McCowan; extend the Yonge subway to Steeles Ave.; build a Sheppard West subway to Downsview Station; build a Don Mills Express subway line from Eglinton to Queen St.; upgrade the Bloor-Yonge subway station; build a Scarborough Express line from Steeles Ave. to Union Station; build an Etobicoke Express Line from the airport to Union Station using the air-rail link.

• 10 LRTs, 73.5 km, $9.5 billion Extension of the Sheppard East line to Meadowvale, the zoo, and Malvern; build a Scarborough Malvern LRT; extend the Eglinton LRT to the airport; extend the Finch West LRT to Humber College and the airport; build a Jane LRT from Steeles to Bloor; Waterfront West LRT from Union Station to Long Branch; a Finch West LRT from Keele to Yonge St. and a Don Mills LRT from Steeles to Eglinton

• Five bus and streetcar lines, 25.7 km, $1.2 billion Waterfront East streetcar line from Union Station to Parliament St., Ellesmere bus rapid transit from Scarborough Centre to Sheppard and Kingston Rd.; Kingston BRT from Victoria Park Station to Eglinton and Kingston Rd.; extend the St. Clair streetcar from Keele to Jane; a Wilson BRT from Wilson Station to Keele St.

Soon after the ‘One City’ plan was announced, the Provincial Minister of Transportation announced that the Province would not fund it or permit new taxes for it. They remained committed to building the four LRT lines already approved and would not alter their plans. City councillors, on the other hand, still wanted to pass the ‘One City’ plan and try to convince the Province to support it. Mayor Rob Ford, however, was very opposed to the plan and insisted on continuing his support for a subway plan only, which was endorsed by a large percentage of Toronto’s population, particularly in the suburbs. The ‘One City’ plan contained both subways and LRT, as well as express rail, meant to please everyone, but it did not, mainly due to the cost. On July 11, 2012, City of Toronto Council rejected the One City plan as too costly, leaving the City with only four LRT lines and the Spadina Subway extension for the future.

Subway Revival

In October 2012, Andy Byford, the new General Manager of the TTC recommended that the Downtown Relief subway line be the next priority for subway construction. Mayor Rob Ford took his advice and debate began on building this ‘U’-shaped line from Eglinton and Don Mills south

24 to King or Queen Streets and then west to High Park, then swinging north to join the Bloor line. This would be followed later on by an extension of the Yonge Subway line from Finch to Richmond Hill in York Region.

On October 24, 2012, the TTC asked transit officials to look at reversing city council’s recent decision to replace the Scarborough RT with an LRT. Instead, they want to examine the prospect of extending the Bloor-Danforth subway line to Sheppard Ave. and McCowan Rd. TTC commissioners voted to make construction of the downtown relief line the city’s next transit priority, ahead of the extension of the Yonge line north into York Region. But shortly after that vote, Councillor De Baeremaeker moved his surprise motion to have TTC staff study the merits of replacing the Scarborough RT with an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway rather than the provincially-funded Scarborough LRT. De Baeremaeker was confident council would support the idea and hoped the mayor, and the province would get on board with a subway in Scarborough. He disagreed the commission was sending mixed messages by supporting a downtown relief line as the next priority and then, minutes later, asking staff to study building a subway into Scarborough. Councillor Peter Milczyn successfully moved a separate report request to have staff study the feasibility of completing the subway “loop” from Sheppard Ave. and McCowan Rd. to on the Sheppard subway line.

In April 2013, Councillor Karen Stintz, Chair of the TTC, announced that she wanted to look at extending the Bloor-Danforth Subway eastward to McCowan to replace the Scarborough RT line, instead of replacing it with an extension of the proposed Eglinton-Crosstown LRT, by then under construction. She was responding to the pro-subway lobby in Scarborough. By September 2013, Council voted to extend the Bloor-Danforth Subway along Danforth Road and McCowan Road north to Sheppard Avenue. This was met with Federal and Provincial funding approval, and planning and construction would take ten years to complete.

In January 2016, the City of Toronto announced that the plans for the Bloor-Danforth Subway extension would be changed from a three-stop extension to McCowan Avenue and Sheppard Avenue to a one-stop express subway from Kennedy Station to the Scarborough Town Centre. The money saved from eliminating the other stations would build a 17-stop LRT to provide more rail transit to eastern Scarborough and connect five underserved priority neighbourhoods all within the same $3.56-billion price tag. The new LRT would be an eastern extension of the Eglinton- Crosstown line, known as Crosstown East, which would continue east along Eglinton Avenue from Kennedy Station to Kingston Road and then along Kingston Road to Morningside Avenue and then north on Morningside Avenue to the Scarborough Campus at Ellesmere Road. This was a revival of the Scarborough-Malvern route from David Miller's 2007 'Transit City' plan, but as an extension of the Eglinton Crosstown route instead of being a separate line. The elimination of the regular subway stations going north would be compensated by a local station stops on the proposed 'Smarttrack' line which would run parallel to the new subway just west of it where the Scarborough RT was.

After the Scarborough subway extension became one of the most polarizing issues at council in recent memory — with former mayor Rob Ford and Scarborough-area politicians arguing residents “deserve” a subway over a seven-stop, $1.48-billion LRT that was fully-funded by the province

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— council members from both sides agrees that the new plan was a 'vast improvement' because it gave Scarborough more transit, despite local people opposing the imposition of LRT's.

The new proposal cut out stops at Lawrence East and Sheppard Avenue. Senior sources said that by removing them, and the need to tunnel north from Scarborough Town Centre to Sheppard Avenue, the city could save more than $1 billion. It would be possible to continue the subway north in the future if the need and the funding were available.

The savings would be used towards a different LRT — one that was modified from a line first put forward in the early iterations of former mayor David Miller’s light rail plan called Transit City. That 12-kilometre LRT would be an extension of the Eglinton Crosstown line then already under construction — dubbed Crosstown East.

It would connect to both Eglinton and Guildwood GO stations while travelling through the Eglinton East, Kennedy Park, Morningside, Scarborough Village and West Hill communities identified by the city as “neighbourhood improvement areas” — typically low-income areas that lacked resources and city funding.

On July 13, 2016, some councillors tried to get the subway extension into Scarborough changed back to an LRT due to escalating projected costs. However, Council reaffirmed its support for the express subway extension by a vote of 27-16. Council also asked staff to look at completing the Sheppard Subway east to meet the extended Bloor-Danforth line and west to Downsview and extending the Bloor-Danforth line west to Sherway Gardens. This would effectively complete the subway network previously proposed.

An amendment to the subway extension plan into Scarborough was introduced in October 2016 to have the route turn west from McCowan Road when it reaches the Scarborough Town Centre and end in a field at Brimley Road at the western end of the shopping plaza.

The Toronto Transit Commission adopted a numerical identification system in 2014. The Yonge- University-Spadina Line became Line 1, the Bloor-Danforth Line became Line 2, the Scarborough Rapid Transit became Line 3 and the Sheppard Subway became Line 4.

‘SmartTrack’ Plan

In October 2014, was elected Mayor of the City of Toronto with a priority policy of improving traffic flow including synchronizing traffic signals, speeding up construction and towing away vehicles which block traffic lanes during rush hours. However, the centrepiece of his policy was 'SmartTrack' which was a high speed above-ground rail, similar to those existing in London, U.K., using existing rail lines with frequent local stops like a subway. His plan was to run it along the Stouffville GO rail line south from Markham, through Scarborough, and then west along the Lakeshore GO rail line, through Union Station in downtown Toronto, and then northwest along the Kitchener GO rail line to Eglinton Avenue, and then west along the former Richview Expressway corridor. parallel to Eglinton Avenue across Etobicoke. to Pearson International Airport. It would run across the entire city with more than 20 stops and take seven years to build. After his election, he immediately began negotiations with the Federal and Provincial

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Governments for funding of the project. With the development of the former Richview corridor, it was decided to extend the Eglinton -Crosstown LRT west instead of SmartTrack as there was not enough room along Eglinton Avenue. SmartTrack would now terminate near Jane Street.

Revival of the Queen Street Subway and LRT Lines

In 2016, it was announced that the Bloor-Danforth Subway extension would now be an express line from Kennedy to the Scarborough Town Centre with no stops in between. It would also stop there and not continue to Sheppard Avenue as previously planned. The money saved from not building the stations would now be used to construct a 17-stop extension of the Eglinton- Crosstown LRT to continue east along Eglinton Avenue to Kingston Road, then turning along Kingston Road to Morningside Avenue and finally turning north along Morningside Avenue to the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. This would be a revival of the Scarborough-Malvern line from the 2007 Transit City plan, but as an extension of the Crosstown line instead of being a separate route. The Crosstown line would also be extended west along Eglinton Avenue to Pearson International Airport. Construction of the Finch West LRT was scheduled to begin in 2017 and stretch from the Spadina Subway extension to Highway 27.

On July 13, 2016, some councillors tried to get the subway extension into Scarborough changed back to an LRT due to escalating projected costs. However, Council reaffirmed its support for the express subway extension by a vote of 27-16. Council also asked staff to look at completing the Sheppard Subway east to meet the extended Bloor-Danforth line and west to Downsview and extending the Bloor-Danforth line west to Sherway Gardens. This would effectively complete the subway network previously proposed.

City staff also recommended that the new Downtown Relief Subway follow the original Queen Street Subway route along Queen Street from City Hall, but then turn north on Pape Avenue to connect to the Bloor-Danforth Subway at Danforth Avenue, instead of further east along Greenwood Avenue as the original Queen Street Subway plan had recommended. Construction would be at least a decade away.

Long Term Transit Plans

In February, 2016, Toronto's Chief Planner came up with a long-term transit plan for the city which was basically a revival of David Miller's 2007 'Transit City' plan with light rail everywhere including Jane Street, West, Eglinton Avenue West and now a new one on Steeles Avenue East. It was to be built within the next 15 years. Funding it would be an issue. The Spadina Subway Extension from Downsview (renamed as Sheppard West) to Vaughan opened in December 2017. For the first time, Toronto’s subway system crossed the City’s northern boundary into another municipality – the City of Vaughan. Northern extension of the Yonge Subway north to Richmond Hill was still planned for the future. The election of a Progressive Conservative government in Ontario in 2018 under Premier meant a change in plans again. The new government was committed to building subways and had decided to take over Toronto’s subway system. This would mean the construction of the originally-planned three-stop extension of the Bloor-Danforth Subway (the Scarborough Subway), extension of the Yonge Subway to the north, and a Downtown Relief Subway (renamed the ) from the Science Centre to the CNE.

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T.T.C. Official Opening Dates

TTC Rapid Transit and Streetcar Official Opening Dates Yonge Subway (Union Station to ) - March 30, 1954 University Subway (Union Station to St George Station) - February 28, 1963 Bloor-Danforth Subway ( to ) - February 25, 1966 Bloor-Danforth Subway extensions to Islington and Warden Stations - May 10, 1968 Yonge Subway extension to - March 30, 1973 Yonge Subway extension to Finch Station - March 29, 1974 Spadina Subway (St George Station to Wilson Station) - January 27, 1978 Bloor-Danforth Subway extensions to Kipling & Kennedy Stations - November 21, 1980 Scarborough RT (Kennedy Station to McCowan Station) - March 22, 1985 North York Centre Station - June 18, 1987 Harbourfront streetcar (Union Station to Queens Quay & Spadina) - June 22, 1990 Spadina Subway extension to Downsview Station - March 31, 1996 Spadina streetcar ( to Union Station) - July 27, 1997 Harbourfront streetcar extension to Exhibition - July 21, 2000 Sheppard Subway (Sheppard-Yonge Station to Don Mills Station) - November 22, 2002 St. Clair dedicated streetcar (St. Clair Station to Bathurst) – 2007 Spadina Subway Extension to Vaughan Corporate Centre – 2017 Eglinton-Crosstown Light Rail Transit (Mount Dennis to Laird Drive) – 2019

TTC History Timeline

1861 The privately-owned Toronto Street Railway Company is granted a 30-year franchise by the City of Toronto to operate public transit. Horse-drawn streetcars provide the service in the summer, and horse-drawn sleighs are used in the winter. 1891 Transit service is briefly operated by the City before a new 30-year franchise is granted, to the privately-owned Toronto Railway Company. 1892 First electric streetcar in Toronto is operated, on Church Street. Conversion of the entire system to electric operation begins. 1894 Last horse-drawn streetcar is withdrawn. 1912 Toronto Civic Railway, a City department, begins operation of several new streetcar routes in developing areas of Toronto. 1920 Toronto Transportation Commission is established, and begins planning for municipal operation of transit service after the expiry of the Toronto Railway Company's 30-year franchise. 1921 Toronto Transportation Commission begins operation, taking over the operations of the Toronto Railway Company, the Toronto Civic Railway, and parts of the City-owned Toronto & York Radial Railway. Nine separate fare systems were replaced by one TTC fare system. First of 575 new "Peter Witt" streetcars enter service. A multi-year project begins to rebuild worn out streetcar track and other facilities. First motor buses are introduced. 1922 First electric trolley coaches enter service, and are used until 1925. TTC takes over the City-owned Toronto & York Radial Railway local streetcar route on Yonge Street.

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1923 TTC takes over the National Railways -owned Toronto Suburban Railway Company local streetcar routes. First gasoline-electric hybrid bus enters service, and is used until 1926. 1927 The City purchases the Toronto Islands ferry operation from the privately-owned Toronto Ferry Company. TTC operates ferry service to the Toronto Islands during the spring, summer, and fall, and the City operates winter service. TTC operates, under contract, the municipally-owned York Township Railways streetcar routes. TTC takes over the City-owned Hydro Electric Railways – Toronto & York Division radial railway lines outside the City of Toronto to Port Credit, Lake Simcoe, and Scarborough. Lines, the TTC's intercity bus operation, is incorporated. 1930 Radial railway service to Lake Simcoe is replaced by buses. 1930 TTC operates, under contract, the municipally-owned North Yonge Railways radial railway line to Richmond Hill. 1931 Gray Coach Lines intercity coach terminal opens at Bay Street and . 1933 White poles with red bands at top and bottom introduced as marker for TTC streetcar and bus stops. 1935 Radial railway service to Port Credit is replaced by buses. 1936 Radial railway service to Scarborough is replaced by buses. 1937 First diesel-electric hybrid coaches enter Gray Coach Lines service. 1938 First of 745 Presidents' Conference Committee ("PCC" or "Red Rocket") streetcars enter service. 1939 to 1945 TTC contributes to the Second World War effort. Record numbers of passengers are carried. Women are employed for the first time as drivers, conductors, and in maintenance positions. 1947 Electric trolley coaches re-introduced. 1948 North Yonge Railways radial railway service to Richmond Hill is replaced by buses. 1952 TTC service suspended during 19-day strike. 1953 The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto is created. Tokens are introduced, for payment of adult fares. 1954 Toronto Transportation Commission is renamed Toronto Transit Commission. Yonge Subway opens between Union Station and Eglinton Station. TTC becomes the sole provider of public transit in Metro Toronto, and takes over operation of the bus routes operated by the privately-owned Danforth Bus Lines, Hollinger Bus Lines, Roseland Bus Lines, and West York Coach Lines. TTC takes over winter ferry service to the Toronto Islands from Metro Toronto. 1955 First TTC commuter parking lot opens, at St Clair Station. 1961 The Metro Toronto parks department takes over all Toronto Island ferry service. 1962 First 23-metre-long Canadian-designed aluminium-bodied subway cars enter service. 1963 University Subway opens between Union Station and St George Station. 1963 Last Peter Witt streetcars retired from regular service. 1966 Streetcar abandonment programme is approved; all streetcars are expected to be replaced by buses by 1980. Bloor-Danforth Subway opens between Keele Station and Woodbine Station. 1968 Bloor-Danforth Subway extended west to Islington Station and east to . 1969 University Subway is closed and replaced by buses between Union Station and St George Station, during the late evenings and on Sundays. 1970 Last year that fare revenues meet TTC operating expenses.

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Senior citizen fares introduced. TTC service suspended during 12-day strike. GO Transit regional bus service begins. Most service operated under contract by Gray Coach Lines, until 1989. 1972 Streetcar abandonment programme is cancelled, and work begins to rebuild and retain the streetcar network. 1973 Yonge Subway extended north to York Mills Station. Zone fares eliminated on TTC services within Metro Toronto. Sunday/Holiday Pass is introduced, valid for family or group travel. GO Transit dial-a-bus service begins in North York, and operates until 1976. Service provided under contract by TTC using mini-buses. 1974 Yonge Subway extended north to Finch Station. TTC service suspended during 23-day strike. 1975 Exact cash fares introduced. Wheel-Trans established, operated by a private contractor using lift-equipped vans. TTC mini-bus service begins operation, on the and Glenorchy routes. Regular buses replace mini-buses on Maple Leaf in 1978 and on Glenorchy in 1981. 1978 Spadina Subway opens between St George Station and Wilson Station. University Subway re- opens during the late evenings and on Sundays. TTC service suspended during eight-day strike. 1979 First Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (CLRV) enter service. 1980 Unlimited-ride monthly Metropass introduced. Bloor-Danforth Subway extended west to Kipling Station and east to Kennedy Station. 1985 Scarborough RT opens between Kennedy Station and McCowan Station. 1986 Gray Coach Lines purchases intercity coach and school bus operator Trentway-Wagar Inc. 1987 North York Centre Station opens. of expanded overnight bus and streetcar routes is introduced. 1988 First production Articulated Light Rail Vehicles (ALRV) enter service. TTC assumes full responsibility for Wheel-Trans operation. TTC ridership reaches record level of 463.5-million annual customer-trips. Gray Coach Lines purchases one-third interest in charter airline Vacationair. GCL stake is sold in 1989. 1989 First CNG-fuelled buses enter service. TTC service disrupted during 41-day labour dispute. 1990 Community bus service for seniors and people with disabilities introduced. Harbourfront streetcar opens between Union Station and Queens Quay & Spadina. Gray Coach Lines is sold. Last original red " Gloucester " subway cars retired from service. Day Pass replaces Sunday/Holiday Pass. Valid for one person from Monday to Saturday and for family or group travel on Sundays and holidays. 1991 TTC service suspended during 8-day strike. 1992 Free commuter parking introduced for Metropass customers. 1993 Electric trolley coaches retired from service. 1994 Unlimited-ride GTA weekly pass introduced, valid on TTC and other surrounding transit agencies. 1995 Last PCC streetcars retired from regular service. 1996 Spadina Subway extended north to Downsview Station.

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Downsview Station, Bloor-Yonge Station, and Union Station become the first accessible subway stations. First lift-equipped accessible buses enter service. First of 372 “T-1” accessible subway cars enter service. 1997 Spadina streetcar opens between Spadina Station and Union Station. Queen Station and Spadina Station (Bloor-Danforth Subway) become accessible subway stations. 1998 First low-floor full-sized accessible buses enter service. The amalgamated City of Toronto replaces Metro Toronto and six area municipalities. 1999 Bathurst Station, Finch Station, Kennedy Station, Kipling Station, and St. George Station become accessible subway stations. TTC service suspended during two-day strike. 2000 Scarborough Centre Station becomes an accessible subway station. Harbourfront streetcar extended west from Spadina & Queens Quay to Exhibition. 2002 Davisville Station, , Dundas West Station, and Queen's Park Station become accessible subway stations. Sheppard Subway opens from Sheppard-Yonge Station to Don Mills Station. All five stations on the new subway – Sheppard-Yonge Station, Bayview Station, , , and Don Mills Station – are accessible subway stations. 2004 Eglinton Station and Main Street Station become accessible subway stations. 2005 Day Pass becomes valid for family or group travel on Saturdays. Transferable Weekly Pass is introduced. Adults do not require photo identification. Monthly Metropass becomes transferable. Adults no longer require photo identification. becomes an accessible subway station. 2006 and become accessible subway stations. First production diesel-electric hybrid buses enter TTC service. TTC service suspended during one-day strike. Construction of St. Clair dedicated transitway begins despite heavy opposition from businesses along the route. 2007 Plan for 80 kilometres of new light rail transit lines called ‘Transit City’ announced. The Province announced that $17.5 Billion of funding would be provided for the plan. St. Clair dedicated transitway opens from St. Clair subway station on Yonge Street to Bathurst Street. Construction continues further west. TTC considers running a ferry service in Lake Ontario from Scarborough and Etobicoke to downtown Toronto. Architects propose a deck over the Spadina Subway line and Allen Expressway north of Eglinton to build more housing units to increase ridership on this under-utilized subway. 2008 Environmental assessments for Sheppard East LRT, Scarborough RT Extension to Malvern, a Kingston Road LRT and Eglinton-Crosstown LRT begin. 2009 Construction of Sheppard East LRT, the first of the ‘Transit City’ projects begins. Plans announced for ‘U’-shaped Downtown Relief Subway Line from Pape Station to Dundas West Station to be built after 2018. Construction of the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT and Scarborough RT extension to Malvern with Provincial funding are announced. New LRV (light rail vehicles) purchased to replace streetcars by 2011. 2010 $4 Billion of Provincial funding for ‘Transit City’ delayed due to budget difficulties brings progress on the plan to a halt.

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2011 Mayor Rob Ford announces that ‘Transit City’ streetcar LRT plan is dead and that subways will be built instead starting with completion of the Sheppard line. 2012 A transit rebellion by some City councillors restores parts of the ‘Transit City’ plan with the Eglinton-Crosstown-Scarborough, Sheppard East and Finch West LRT lines approved. A wider Downtown Relief subway line is proposed. 30-year $30 Billion One City transit plan introduced including six subway extensions, ten LRT lines and three BRT (bus rapid transit) routes and two streetcar line extensions. General Manager of the TTC recommends that the Downtown Relief subway line be the next priority for subway construction, followed by a northern extension of the Yonge subway line into York Region. TTC Commissioners ask staff to study replacing the Scarborough RT with a Bloor-Danforth Subway extension to McCowan and an extension of the Sheppard Subway also to McCowan. 2013 Council votes to extend the Bloor-Danforth Subway eastward and northward along Danforth Road and McCowan Road to Sheppard Avenue, instead of an extension of the proposed Eglinton- Crosstown LRT to the northeast. The Scarborough RT would be removed. Downtown Relief subway line to be studied and route to be determined. 2014 Mayor John Tory proposes a new 'Smarttrack' plan which would be surface subway with frequent stops built along existing GO railway lines through Toronto from Markham to . The Toronto Transit Commission adopts a numerical identification system designating the subways as Lines 1, 2, 3 and 4. 2016 Council decides to make the Bloor-Danforth Subway extension express to the Scarborough Town Centre and extend the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT east to the U of T Scarborough Campus and west to Pearson International Airport. Council asks staff to look at completing the Sheppard Subway east to meet the extended Bloor- Danforth Subway and west to Downsview, and to look at extending the Bloor-Danforth Sunway west to Sherway Gardens. 2017 Spadina Subway extension from Downsview to Vaughan Corporate Centre opens; becoming the first subway extension to go beyond the boundaries of Toronto. Toronto's first stretch of underground light rail transit under Eglinton Avenue opens. 2019 Construction begins on the Finch West LRT from the new Spadina Subway extension west to Highway 27. The Provincial Government takes over Toronto’s subway system and announces the completion of Scarborough, Yonge North and Downtown Relief Subways (renamed the Ontario Line). 2021 The Federal Government announces $12.5 Billion in funding for subways in the Toronto area.

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