TTC Meeting to Debate on Car-Free King Street

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Upcoming monthly meeting of the TTC on Monday is anticipated to debate on the proposal of a car-free King Street. The chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, Karen Stintz, is expected to present a motion to study the feasibility of testing a streetcar lane on King as Toronto hosts the 2015 Pan Am Games.

While speaking to reporters outside City Hall last week, Stintz mentioned that “If we take the time to consult with the businesses that are going to be impacted, to work with the local councillors on why this initiative may not have succeeded in the past and that we look at it in a contained pilot project, I think it will be successful.” She added that “our public transportation has not been keeping pace with the development that we’ve been approving.” Ford brothers, namely Mayor Rob Ford and Coun. Doug Ford, alleged on Sunday that they do not support the proposal. Rob Ford has stated that he instead prefers subways.

TTC CEO Andy Byford mentioned that the study will comprehensively consider the impact on businesses and cars, while the Transportation Services will be completely consulted upon too. He added that still it is his job advocate for transit. Byford mentioned last week that “the King car is the busiest streetcar in our network. It carries around 57,000 people every day.” He alleged that “the streetcar network does suffer from the impact of interaction with traffic…let’s at least analyze the impact.”