๐จ๐ฆ Toronto ยท Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in Toronto
A subway spine with streetcars filling the gaps, one card across the region, a single fare between agencies, and a monthly fare cap that replaced the pass in September 2026.
The thing people get wrongThere is no adult monthly pass to buy any more; most TTC passes ended on 31 August 2026. Since then the TTC stops charging after 47 paid trips in a calendar month on the same card, about the old pass price, and the One Fare programme already removed the double charge between the TTC and the regional agencies. A lot of advice online still predates both.
Indicative figures
- TTC single fareC$3.30Adult, frozen for 2026; two hours of unlimited transfers.
- Monthly fare cap47 paid tripsSince September 2026, replacing the C$156 monthly pass. Same card every time.
- Union to Pearson~25 minUP Express, direct.
Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ your Insider confirms the current numbers in Toronto before you commit to anything.
PRESTO and paying
PRESTO is the regional fare card, usable on the TTC, GO Transit and the surrounding municipal systems, and it works in a phone wallet as well as a plastic card. The TTC also accepts an ordinary contactless bank card tapped directly at the gate. A TTC fare buys unlimited transfers in any direction within a two-hour window, which makes short errands with a stop in the middle effectively free. The adult fare has been frozen at C$3.30 for a third year.
- PRESTO card, phone wallet or contactless bank card all work on the TTC.
- Two-hour transfer window: unlimited rides and transfers, in any direction.
- Monthly fare cap: after 47 paid trips in a calendar month on the same card, the rest of the month is free.
- One Fare means transferring between the TTC and GO or a 905 agency does not double-charge you.
Subway, streetcar and bus
Line 1 runs a U through downtown and Line 2 crosses it east to west; between them they carry most of the city, and almost every neighbourhood decision comes back to how far you are from one of them. Streetcars serve the downtown east-west corridors and are slower than they look on the map because they share the road. Buses cover the rest of the city on a dense grid that runs well into the night.
GO Transit and the airport
GO trains and buses connect the wider region to Union Station, which makes Mississauga, Etobicoke and further out realistic commutes. The UP Express runs from Union to Pearson airport in around twenty-five minutes and is the fastest way to the airport by a wide margin. Billy Bishop, on the islands at the foot of downtown, serves shorter regional flights and is walkable from the core.
- GO fares are distance-based and use the same PRESTO card.
- UP Express: Union to Pearson in about 25 minutes.
- Billy Bishop is a ten-minute walk plus a tunnel from downtown.
Driving, winter and insurance
Car insurance in Ontario is expensive, and a driver with no Canadian record is rated as inexperienced regardless of decades of driving elsewhere โ bring a history letter from your previous insurer, because some companies will credit it. Highway 407 is a tolled express route billed by plate and it is not cheap. Winter tyres attract a mandatory insurance discount and are worth having on their own merits; the city clears main roads well and side streets slowly.