King Street pilot extended

Toronto just extended the King St. pilot until next summer

The year-long transit experiment that threw Toronto into a veritable tizzy last winter is, well, no longer a year-long pilot project.

Toronto City Council voted 19-3 on Thursday to extend the King Street Pilot Project, which essentially prioritizes public transit users over motorists, until July 31, 2019.

This will give council sufficient time to "consider the findings" of the pilot before deciding on whether or not to make all of the changes to King Street permanent.

It will also save the many public art installations and outdoor cafes that have popped up in King Street's curb lanes (at least until the end of next summer.)

The vote should come as welcome news to the some 80,000 commuters who now take the King streetcar line to and from work every weekday.

Business along restaurant row may have a bone to pick (even if it's just an imaginary one) but residents of downtown Toronto are, on the whole, experiencing faster, more reliable commutes now that car traffic is restricted between Bathurst and Jarvis Streets.

It remains to be seen if and how traffic rules will change, should the transit priority corridor become permanent, but for now, cars should carefully heed all the no parking, no left turns and mandatory right turn arrows.

People who ignore the transit pilot's rules (and trust me, they still exist) continue to risk $110 fines, two demerit points per incident, and getting screamed at by pedestrians for blocking entire intersections with their "forgetfulness."

Yeah, we see you.

Lead photo by

The City of Toronto


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Disturbing video shows Toronto car theft suspect slam into cop and send him flying

Toronto's new park with fake beach and lookout tower to open this summer

People are losing it over driver that lodged their truck under a bridge in downtown Toronto

Several species of lobster-like creatures spreading and causing havoc across Ontario

Ontario is the least satisfied with life out of every Canadian province and it's getting worse

All the ways Canadians will get more money from the government this summer

Toronto news headlines from 1881 are just as weird as today's

Long-closed Toronto park with hidden waterfall won't fully reopen until at least 2026