Yes, it’s been a tad quiet in here recently. We’re in the summer doldrums for transit news, and not yet into the fall which brings a rebound in activity, and in 2026, the municipal election.

A while ago I started a series “How Slow Is My Streetcar?”, and pushed out a few articles that, I must admit, were heavy on charts and thin on analysis. My intent was to leave that until most of the routes were covered, but my activity drifted elsewhere. The work on other routes is now substantially complete, and I will publish all of the charts and stats for them in one go, together with an omnibus commentary.

Sitting in the wings are the TTC’s Service Standards Review and 2027 Annual Network Plan for which public consultation might start soon. I say “might” because, with the election, it’s an odd year and TTC staff might keep their proposals under wraps until the new Council and TTC Board are in place.

2027 as a budget year will be challenging for presentation of any major changes with an uncertain political landscape. We know that Mayor Chow has pledged a reduction in the monthly fare cap from 47 to 40 effective in September 2027, but nothing specific beyond that. As for additional service, there will be the constant tug between responding to and encouraging ridership growth, and dealing with slower travel times and that old bugbear “congestion”.

Although there are route and neighbourhood-specific proposals for better transit priority, the overall effects of traffic conditions, signal priority and operating practices are network-wide issues. Red lanes on one street will do nothing for most riders on the rest of the system.

Ambition for a much higher transit share of the travel market requires a city-wide view, and goals will not be served by a few fantasy subway, LRT or BRT lines that won’t see construction, let alone operation, for a decade.

There’s lots to write about in coming weeks, but first I will get the streetcar route analyses out of the way during the August lull. Stay tuned.

PS: Over 1,500 people visit this site every day just to check if there is anything new. The count is much higher when an article appears, but there’s a base of regular visitors that lets me know someone is “out there”. Thanks for reading!