Meet "The Streetcar"

Before moving to Toronto, I never used the Streetcars except for one touristic ride in San Francisco, and now I take the streetcar more than I take the Subway, and it’s making my life, to go around downtown, much easier..

My first ride was interesting, because I didn’t have 3 dollars change which is the fare for a trip, I only had 50 dollars so the driver was kind enough and let me stay until I reached my destination.

The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in proximity to the city's waterfront. Much of the streetcar route network dates back to the 19th century. Unlike newer light rail systems, most of Toronto's streetcar routes operate in the classic style on street trackage shared with car traffic, and streetcars stop on demand at frequent stops like buses.

Toronto’s streetcars are not heritage streetcars run for tourism or nostalgic purposes; they provide most of the downtown core’s surface transit service, and four of the TTC's five most heavily used surface routes are streetcar routes. Toronto’s streetcar network carries 250,000 passengers each day, more than GO Transit’s entire daily ridership.

Over the past 90 years the TTC has had four streetcar vehicle series, but the first streetcars hit the road before the TTC even existed. Horse-drawn streetcars arrived in Toronto in 1861, followed by the first electric- powered vehicle in 1892. The TTC was established in 1921 and the “Peter Witt” streetcars began driving the streets until they were retired in 1963. The familiar “PCC” or “Red Rocket” was introduced in 1938, and the last of this fleet was retired in 1995. The current fleet includes the CLRV and the ALRV – ready to retire after over 30 years of service, to introduce the made for Toronto Bombardier Flexity.

The streetcars in Toronto are another element to add life to the city, and keeping it buzzing with people and making their life a bit easier, and for me it’s another friend, where we meet almost daily, giving me the chance to go around while escaping the crazy never ending cold.