Toronto Transit Commission incidents


This article lists major incidents of the Toronto Transit Commission since 1954.

Accidents and other incidents

20th century

2000s

Ridership decline and impact

By late March 2020, TTC ridership had dropped by 70 to 72 percent due to measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Ridership had dropped 80 percent on the subway, 76 percent on streetcars, 62 percent on buses and 75 percent on Wheel-Trans. The TTC estimated its weekly fare revenue dropped from $25million to $7million. By late March, the TTC was operating 80% of its normal service with reduced ridership and lower staffing levels.
Because of the reduced ridership, the TTC cut a number of services starting March 23. All downtown express bus routes and all but 3 of the 900-series express bus routes were suspended. Streetcar route 508 Lake Shore was suspended and route 503 Kingston Rd was shortened to run only along its namesake street.
By late April 2020, TTC ridership had fallen to 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and the TTC was losing $90 million per month. On April 23, the TTC announced it would temporarily lay off 1000 operators plus 200 non-unionized staff. The TTC still intended to operate between 70–80 percent of its pre-pandemic service.
In early May 2020, the TTC announced a further 15 percent reduction in service starting May 10. Rush-hour services on Line 1 Yonge–University and Line 2 Bloor–Danforth would be reduced to match midday and early evening frequency. Service would be cut on 120 bus and streetcar routes. All seasonal bus route extensions would be deferred. The remainder of the 503 Kingston Rd route was replaced full-time by the 22A Coxwell bus. These service reductions were expected to last at least until the end of August 2020.
On May 24, 2020, due to reduced ridership and fare revenue, the TTC temporarily laid off 450 employees as a cost-saving measure.

Protective changes

To maintain physical distancing from bus operators, boarding and fare payment procedures were changed on buses by late March. All passengers who did not require the wheelchair ramp had to board by the rear door of the bus. By April 8, the TTC was installing thick vinyl barriers on buses to separate the front of the bus from the passenger seating area; the barriers were collapsible to allow access for ramp users from the front door. The TTC stopped accepting cash, tokens and older tickets to pay fares on buses and bus operators stopped handing out paper transfers. However, the TTC allowed riders without a Presto card or Presto ticket to board buses, but asked that they pay the fare later if transferring to a streetcar or the subway. The TTC suspended fare inspections. The TTC permitted operators to wear masks on the job.
Despite the drop in ridership, there was still crowding on several bus routes, preventing physical distancing of the recommended among riders. Crowding occurred when workers from manufacturing areas were boarding at a shift change. To address crowding, the TTC deployed extra buses on affected routes by April 1 and recommended that riders try to travel after 8a.m. Crowding was not observed to be a problem on subways and streetcars.
Washroom breaks became a problem for some bus and streetcar operators. While most surface routes connect with a subway station equipped with washrooms, some routes may take up to two hours to return to a subway station. Thus operators, who had informal agreements with private businesses to use their washrooms, found those facilities closed during the pandemic. Lack of washroom facilities became a health and safety issue as operators could be hurried and distracted. To remedy the problem, the TTC placed portable washrooms along some routes.
In January 2020, the TTC began performing extra cleaning and disinfection of vehicles and stations with a focus on touch and grab points. By mid-April 2020, the TTC was installing hand sanitizer dispensers at subway stations, aiming to complete installation at main entrances by April and secondary entrances by May. Dispensers are located just inside the paid area, and staff monitor them for customer usability. In late April, the TTC blocked off seats on buses, streetcars and subway trains to promote physical distancing among passengers; the TTC used caution tape initially to block seats until more formal seat coverings and signage became available. Starting May 4, bus operators were allowed to designate their bus as "drop off only" and display those words on the LED sign on the front of the bus. "Drop off only" meant that no additional passengers would be allowed to board. This change was to maintain physical distancing and prevent overloading the bus.
The TTC closed its Customer Service Centre above Davisville station on March 17, and its Lost Articles Office and Photo ID Facility effective March 19. In late March, the TTC allowed Presto card holders on the 12-month pass plan to cancel the plan without penalty. The cancellation was effective from April onwards, and lasted until card holders set up a new auto-renew subscription.
The TTC has assigned Wheel-Trans vehicles for the transfer of Toronto Community Housing residents with COVID-19 symptoms to healthcare facilities. The TTC operators for such trips are equipped with personal protective equipment, and the vehicles are given an intense cleaning after use. All Wheel-Trans vehicles are restricted to carrying only one passenger at a time during the pandemic.
In late April 2020, the TTC, working with Toronto Paramedic Services, converted five decommissioned TTC buses into ambulances to transport COVID-19 patients. Each bus can carry 3 stretcher patients, 8–10 ambulatory patients, 3 paramedics to attend to patients, and a TTC driver. These buses may be used to transfer patients between health facilities, to handle large incidents, and to provide shelter for facility evacuations.
Initially, the TTC supplied masks only to Wheel-Trans operators and maintenance workers dealing with hazardous substances. By mid-April, the TTC changed its policy after pressure from its union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113. Subsequently, each bus operator received two masks along with gloves, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. The TTC later provided the same equipment to streetcar operators.
On May 19, 2020, the TTC strongly recommended that all passengers wear a mask and keep away from employees and other passengers. Effective July 2, 2020, passengers were required, with few exceptions, to wear masks when riding on the TTC. Despite a potential fine of $195, the TTC stated that it would not be enforcing this requirement. Instead, the TTC decided to use 100 "COVID-19 ambassadors" to encourage passengers to wear a mask. The goal was to have 90 percent of passengers wearing masks, and by July 10, the TTC estimated that 89 percent of all riders were wearing masks despite the lack of enforcement. Prior to the mask policy, only half of riders were wearing masks.

Reinstatement of services

On May 19, 2020, the Lost Articles Office reopened, with only one person at a time being allowed in its vestibule. The office had been closed since March 20 because of the city lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Similarly, the TTC reopened its Customer Service Centre on May 25, allowing only two customers at a time in the office. On June 22, the TTC restored full service on route 503 Kingston Rd that had been partly suspended on March 24 due to reduced ridership.
By late June 2020, although subway and streetcar ridership remained at 18 percent of pre-pandemic levels, bus ridership had reached 37 percent as compared to 14 percent in late April. By this time physical distancing was becoming difficult with 18 percent of bus trips exceeding the maximum of 15 passengers per bus.
In June 2020, the TTC resumed fare inspections but only to advise and encourage passengers to pay their fates. On July 2, all-door boarding was implemented on buses. Passengers could pay cash, tokens and senior and youth tickets and obtain a transfer at the front door of a bus; this reversed a change made in early April.

COVID-19 incidents

On March 19, 2020, the TTC temporarily closed the Duncan garage at the Hillcrest Complex after a mechanic tested as positive for COVID-19. The TTC sent 170 co-workers home to self-isolate for two weeks and had the garage disinfected. The mechanic testing positive had worked one shift on March 11 before being sent home after feeling ill. Since the garage was used for major overhauls and rebuilds, its temporary closure had no impact on daily bus operations.
On April 23, 2020, the TTC sent 70 staff at the Queensway garage home to self-isolate for two weeks after 5 co-workers tested positive for COVID-19. The TTC had the garage disinfected. The garage was not closed; some managerial staff were assigned maintenance work, and the TTC intended to reassign some maintenance work to other garages.
By June 2020, there had not been any confirmed cases of COVID-19 being spread by passengers riding on public transit. This observation contradicted predictions at the beginning of the crisis that public transit would be a major venue for the spread of virus. 65 out of 15,000 TTC employees contracted COVID-19, but it is unknown whether they contracted it on or off the job. Toronto Public Health did not trace any of the 13,500 COVID-19 cases to public transit. TPH spokesperson Dr. Vinita Dubey warned that this did not mean the virus was being transmitted on public transit as the long 14-day incubation period makes it difficult to determine where and when infection occurred.

Suicides

The TTC has long maintained a policy of not releasing suicide information and statistics to the public or the media for fear of the possibility of "copycat suicides". In 2008, the Toronto Sun launched a year-long appeal before Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner to have the TTC release information on the number of suicides and attempts between 1998 and 2007. The Information and Privacy Commissioner ordered the statistics be made available, and they were released to the public on November 26, 2009.
From 1998 to 2007, 150 people died by suicide by coming into contact with a TTC subway train. Since 1954, when the Yonge subway line first opened, there have been more than 1,200 incidents on the TTC.
After being forced to make the information public, the TTC ensured that it also released information demonstrating the efforts being taken to intervene and prevent such incidents in the future. The TTC's "Gatekeeper Program" is an internal course available for front line staff to learn and identify the warning signs of someone who may be suicidal, and help them or try to prevent them from doing so on the transit system. The TTC also has partnerships with St. Michael's Hospital and other institutions to assist with both prevention programs and counselling programs for staff who have witnessed such incidents. The TTC maintains that it will continue its policy of not reporting suicides and suicide-related statistics, however in February 2010, statistics from 2008 and 2009 were released in a public report to the Commission regarding suicide and suicide prevention. On November 10, 2014, separate suicide attempts were made, halting service on two lines. Following this, platform screen doors were discussed, but the TTC does not yet have a plan for funding the $800 million required to upgrade all 75 subway stations, which also includes the December 2017 extension of the University segment of Line 1 to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station.

Statistics

The below statistics are the subway suicide incidents and attempts from 1998 through 2016:
Year Suicides Attempts Total Incidents
1998121325
199922426
2000211233
2001121729
2002161127
200317926
200415823
200514620
200681119
200713922
200811819
200914418
2010191029
20118816
201211820
20138917
201491726
201511516
2016437

Note: Data obtained from Toronto Transit Commission report that does not distinguish between attempted and completed suicides.

Track delays

In 2018, the TTC reported that trains were delayed for 1572 total minutes and that there were over 110 unauthorized track-level incidents.

Motorists entering streetcar tunnels

There have been over twenty incidents of motorists illegally entering the streetcar portal west of Queens Quay station between 2014 and 2017. The figure increased to 25 from 2014 to March 2018. Because of these incidents, the TTC installed drop-down gate bars to deter motorists from entering the portal in October 2018; the gates cost $61,000 to install.