TTC pitches early Sunday morning starts, 6-minute streetcar service to boost ridership

A Toronto Transit Commission sign is shown in Toronto on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Enhanced streetcar service and earlier Sunday morning access are just a few of the ideas being floated by the TTC to get ridership back on track.

In a report that’s set to go before the transit agency’s strategic committee on Tuesday, it states that ridership on the network remains at 80 to 83 per cent of 2019 levels. Revenue is also down, at 92 per cent, while costs have climbed to 137 per cent compared to what it was before COVID.

The TTC says its cost recovery ratio is shrinking from 65 to 70 per cent in 2019, down to 46 per cent in 2025, resulting in “challenges” to the agency’s financial stability.

As such, the report lays out its 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy to attract riders back to the network amid several factors it says are slowing growth, including rising costs globally, a reduction in discretionary travel, and job losses.

“The most significant opportunity for ridership growth comes not from creating new travel where it no longer exists, but from ensuring the TTC is the most attractive, reliable and competitive option for the trips people are still making,” the report reads.

Some of those initiatives include beginning Sunday morning subway service earlier starting in 2028, at a cost of $2.9 million. Subway service on Sundays currently starts at 8 a.m.

Another is enhancing streetcar service to every six minutes. Most streetcar routes typically operate on a cadence of 10-minutes or better. That measure would also start in 2028 and cost $23.9 million.

Enhancements to express buses and overnight service are also on the table, at a cost of $14.7 million and $13.9, respectively.

In total, the strategy is estimated to increase the TTC operating budget by roughly $73 million by 2028. If the service initiatives are adopted, they would need to be approved as part of the 2027 budget process.

The report points out that growing ridership is not a solution to fiscal sustainability, and that even with strong ridership, “sustainable operating funding” is required to close the gap.

“In this context, the initiatives outlined in this report should be understood as supporting ridership and customer outcomes, while long‑term fiscal sustainability requires separate, stable operating funding and broader measures to address the structural fiscal imbalance,” the report reads.

TTC staff will present the strategy to the board at its meeting next month.