Toronto as an Example of Historical Transit

Toronto was unique in that it provided frequent transit services in the 1960s and 70s to all the new suburbs, as soon as they were built. In a lot of other places across North America, the transit system really wasn’t expanded, especially that base level of bus service beyond the pre-war city. So, the places that were fastest growing, where a lot of people were moving into houses and other new homes, had no transit when they arrived. So, unsurprisingly, they were forced to buy cars. And once they had bought those cars, they used them. And it’s been an enormous challenge getting people to switch to transit in places that didn’t have transit from the outset.