Toronto man who races TTC streetcars on foot keeps on winning

Mac Bauer is racing the TTC's streetcar routes and hasn't lost yet. (TikTok/MacBauer)

A Toronto man appears to have answered a question that those stuck in traffic have been asking themselves since time immemorial: can I get to my destination faster on foot?

Mac Bauer is a data scientist by trade but has recently taken to racing some of the TTC’s most popular streetcar routes to see if he can beat them.

So far, he’s 5-0.

“When I was younger, you know, I took the streetcar a lot, when it was the older-style streetcar,” he told CTV News Toronto in a recent interview. “I don’t know why, but my memory of it seemed to be better. But switching to the newer streetcars, I’m really surprised at how slow they are.”

Bauer is no amateur runner, and says his favourite race is the half-marathon. This year, as he works through an injury, he’s taking on shorter distances, like 5 and 10-kilometre runs, to build up his volume and found himself reflecting on one painfully slow streetcar ride across the city.

“This (idea) kind of came from one time we were visiting some of our friends in the west, near High Park. So we had to take the College streetcar (back) from pretty much Roncesvalles all the way to Leslieville, and we were just shocked on how slow it was,” Bauer recalled. “And I remember saying to my wife, ‘You know, this is maybe 10 kilometres, and it’s going to take over an hour. Like, I can easily run faster than this.’”

Since then, he’s teamed up with a friend, who specializes in content and video creation, to document his so-called “Man vs. Machine” races before posting them to social media. Bauer maintains that he obeys all the rules of the road during the races and waits for red lights and doesn’t jaywalk.

Run #1 - 509 Harbourfront

For the first race, Bauer took on the 509 Harbourfront, a roughly 3.4-kilometre run from Exhibition Loop in the west to Union Station in the east.

“This summer, I’m settling the ultimate Toronto transit debate: What’s faster — running or the streetcar?” Bauer asked in a video posted to TikTok, which has since been viewed more than 14,000 times.

Bauer actually ran this route twice, beating the streetcar on both occasions and finishing with a time of 14 minutes on the first attempt – seven minutes and 32 seconds faster than the TTC.

Run #2 - 511 Bathurst

Next up, Bauer took on the 511 Bathurst, a 4.7-kilometre trek from Bathurst Station to Exhibition Loop.

The temperature reached a scorching 31 C on the day of the run, but Bauer said he had more than enough time to cool down and wait for the streetcar at the finish line, reaching his destination in just 18 minutes vs. the TTC’s 40.

Run #3 - 510 Spadina

The runner had the odds stacked against him for this roughly 3.5-kilometre race.

Because the streetcar departs from the bottom of Spadina Station, Bauer said he had to move quickly up the stairs to meet the train at street level, where the 510 has its own dedicated lane of traffic.

However, he was able to handily reach Queen’s Quay with a time of 16 minutes, nearly 10 minutes faster than the TTC.

Run #4 -504 King

In what he described as his “biggest challenge yet,” Bauer raced the 504 King, a grueling 12.9-kilometre journey from Broadview Station to Dundas West Station.

The run was plagued by heat and delays, but Bauer still beat out the TTC with a time of 58 minutes, including 5 minutes of waiting at red lights. The streetcar pulled into Dundas West Station at one hour and 16 minutes.

The video of this run has been viewed 57,000 times at time of writing.

What 2 things Bauer says the TTC could do better

Following his latest run, CTV News Toronto asked Bauer what message he hopes he’s getting across in posting his races to social media.

“I run a lot, and running, let’s say a four-minute kilometre, isn’t necessarily a thing that everyone can do, but by showing how much I beat it (the streetcar), I want to show that when you’re walking, let’s say, from Spadina to Yonge Street, maybe the streetcar isn’t the fastest way.”

As for what he thinks the TTC could be doing better, Bauer says reliability and safety are his top concerns.

“Their responsibility is to get you where you’re going in a reasonable amount of time and to get you where you’re going safely. And both of those, I don’t think, are necessarily true anymore,” he said, adding that better signal priority would go a long way in improving travel times.

The TTC and TTC Board Chair Jamaal Myers did not respond to CTV News Toronto’s request for a comment on Bauer’s runs in time for publication.

Which streetcar will he race next?

Bauer said he plans to race the 505 Dundas on Saturday before taking on the College and St. Clair streetcars. He said the “final boss” will be the full distance of the 501 Queen, a whopping 24-kilometre journey, later this summer.

He also plans to race the Eglinton Crosstown LRT when it (hopefully) opens later this year.