Why did streetcars outnumber buses when the TTC began, only to have the situation reversed today?
The first buses, like the first automobiles, were less than comfortable vehicles. With solid rubber tires bouncing upon uneven roads, buses weren’t as popular with passengers as streetcars, nor were they as fast. As a result, the first bus routes were feeder lines ferrying passengers to streetcar terminals. Over time, however, bus and automobile technologies improved, as did the conditions of our roads. Also, the overall ridership of our transit agencies started to drop as passengers were pulled away by the private automobile. Whereas streetcars can carry far more than buses when they travel on private right-of-way, demand is not high enough to justify such infrastructure on most of the TTC’s bus routes. As the costs of installing streetcar systems increased, the TTC soon realized that the buses were more cost-effective vehicles to serve the rapidly-growing, lower-density suburbs developing around the city. The rest, as they say, is history.