We raced to see if walking is faster than taking the TTC King streetcar in Toronto
If you’ve ever sat stuck in gridlock on the TTC’s 504 King streetcar only to see pedestrians casually outpace your ride, trust me, you’re not alone.
And if, amid this unmoving traffic nightmare, you’ve ever wondered how much time you could save by just walking, you have plenty of company there too.
So, on a busy summer Friday night, we put the walking vs. streetcar matchup to the test with a little experiment to see who could make it from Union Station to Ruby Soho on King Street West first: the TTC commuter or the pedestrian.
The contestants parted ways in Union Station’s Great Hall at 9:49 on a Friday night.
Anton Wong departed north on foot toward King Street to catch a westbound 504 streetcar, while Taylor Patterson walked (briskly) west from the transit hub. Here’s what happened next.
@blogto We did a test to see if it’s faster to walk OR to take the King streetcar!đź‘€ #tiktoktoronto #torontotiktoker #torontotiktok #toronto #torontoontario #torontocanada #torontolife #ttc #torontocommute #torontotransit #torontotransitcommission #yyz #unionstationtoronto #kingstreetwest #fyp #foryou #race #challenge #rubysoho #rubysohotoronto ♬ original sound – blogTO
Anton has been racking up the wins in similar transit race experiments, but he may have met his match this time, as Taylor hoofed it at impressive speeds, saying, “I’m a fast walker — I will run if I have to.”
After missing a King streetcar at Bay, Anton was at a major disadvantage from early on.
Meanwhile, Taylor was in the clear lead without a care in the world, showing off his best Freddie Mercury impression as he moved like a self-described Flash Gordon through the Friday night hustle and bustle, even taking a shortcut through The Well.
Anton was growing increasingly frustrated on his streetcar as pedestrians easily outpaced the vehicle’s frequent stops and slow crawl through shared lanes of traffic.
Taylor arrived at Ruby Soho after 16 minutes of walking, easily beating Anton to the destination four minutes ahead of the combined walking-streetcar method.
It goes without saying that there are many lower-traffic hours where you are going to make far better time taking the streetcar — especially if you cut a minute or two off the commute by taking the subway one stop to either King or St. Andrew.
However, if you’re planning on hitting King West for a Friday night of fun, you might be better off getting to your destination on foot.
Follow Channels and Categories