big issues:getting around the city

The TTC is a municipal agency. It is run by a 10-member Board: four public members and six City Councillors (Go to information source). Each year, staff propose service changes based on ridership data. The Board sets service and fares, and City Council approves the budget.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) runs Toronto's buses, streetcars and subways, including the city's subway and rapid-transit lines. Together, these carry about 2.5 million rider boardings on an average weekday (Go to information source - PDF). GO trains, GO buses and the UP Express, run by Metrolinx, connect into this network.

The TTC Board sets fares, but City Council shapes them through the budget. In 2026 the City's budget froze fares for a third year. It also introduced monthly fare capping, which makes trips free after a set number of paid rides (Go to information source). Fares cover about a third of what the TTC costs to run, and the City pays for much of the rest (Go to information source - PDF). The Province also helps fund the TTC under a 2023 agreement known as the "New Deal" which is set to expire at the end of 2026 (Go to information source).

Both the City and the Province play a part in expanding transit. Two new light-rail lines opened recently: Line 6 Finch West in December 2025 and Line 5 Eglinton in February 2026. Both are owned by the Province, but the TTC runs them day to day, and the City helps pay to operate them (Go to information source, Go to information source).

The Province leads the largest projects, through Metrolinx. The federal government helps pay for them. As of 2026, four major lines are under construction or planned: the Ontario Line; the Scarborough Subway Extension; the Yonge North Subway Extension; and, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.

The Province plans and builds these lines, and the TTC will operate them once they open. The City also takes part in planning other projects, like the proposed Eglinton East LRT and waterfront transit. These are not yet funded to build (Go to information source).

The City builds and manages public roads, sidewalks, traffic signals, bike lanes and parking rules. This work runs through Transportation Services, under policies and by-laws Council approves.

Transportation Services manages traffic using a variety of tools and plans, including a Council-approved Congestion Management Plan. Transportation Services is responsible for the planning, engineering, design, maintenance, and operations of 5,600 kilometres of roads, 7,400 kilometres of sidewalks, 900 bridges and culverts, 2,542 traffic control signals, 490 pedestrian crossovers, and 817 centreline kilometres of bikeway network (Go to information source). On-street parking is set by a City by-law, Municipal Code Chapter 950.

The City does not manage the 400-series highways or the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW); the Province owns and manages those. The Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway are currently City-owned, with their transfer to provincial ownership scheduled for completion by fall 2027 (Go to information source).

The City builds and maintains cycling routes and sidewalks. Its bike lanes are guided by the Cycling Network Plan. It also builds sidewalks where they are missing, through the Missing Sidewalk Program. Both fall under the City's Vision Zero Road Safety Plan. That plan's goal is to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on Toronto's streets.

Provincial legislation can override City decisions on bike lanes. In late 2024, Ontario passed Bill 212, which requires provincial approval to install a bike lane that removes a lane of vehicle traffic.