There’s nothing like seeing two subway trains leave the station, looking at the “next train” signs, and seeing “2 minutes” and “3 minutes”. Oh, and this was 11am on a Sunday. Frequency is freedom.
Replies
I've been told on this platform that i was being dramatic because i was saying that having trains very 8-9 minutes instead of 4-5 during weekend was actually very bad. The person didn't understand that a shorter interval between trains can make a difference between a bad or a good transit experience
aug 31, 2025, 8:54 pm • 2 0 • view
Nous étions dans la métro vers midi, aujourd'hui et c'était un service au 9 minutes.... Atroce. Le train était plein et je ne mentirai pas, mais c'était pas plaisant. C'est ainsi à tout les weekends.
aug 31, 2025, 8:54 pm • 1 0 • view
11am on a Sunday!? (And where is this?) Try 11PM on a Friday, especially after a game. Of course they can run on time when nobody's using them.
aug 31, 2025, 11:49 am • 1 0 • view
This is the TTC in Toronto and when I went for a concert it was this frequent right after despite how many people were taking it.
aug 31, 2025, 11:55 am • 5 0 • view
I love countries with clean, safe, and efficient public transportation. Mine was amazing but they've been getting bad in recent years and it went from a few minutes until the next bus to sometimes an hour until the next bus. 🥴
sep 1, 2025, 8:54 am • 0 0 • view
Also, we use to be able to take just one bus for 90% of the places we'd go and it would come at minute intervals. All we had to do was wait for the one number and get almost anywhere.
sep 1, 2025, 8:59 am • 0 0 • view
Now there are a lot more buses and you have to take several that sometimes spontaneously change routes to try to get to the same places. Don't know why my country can't handle public transportation since the past 3 years. It's so hard to get anywhere suddenly. I spend most my travel time waiting. 😭
sep 1, 2025, 8:59 am • 0 0 • view
(The actual official frequencies are 2-3 minutes on peak and 4-5 off peak, so this is a little more frequent than expected.)
aug 31, 2025, 12:31 pm • 22 0 • view
If the headway is 5 minutes then the average wait is 2.5 minutes. So this is pretty much average.
aug 31, 2025, 7:25 pm • 3 0 • view
This was the “next train” indicator immediately after both trains left (we’d just arrived on one). Might have been a fluke, might have been better frequency in the run up to TIFF, not sure!
aug 31, 2025, 7:33 pm • 2 0 • view
FWIW It's the EX that gets the frequency Massive efforts go into ensuring nothing stops Torontonians from getting there
sep 1, 2025, 3:25 am • 1 0 • view
Ah okay. Service has been quite erratic recently on Line 1, with long gaps >6min in some areas with trains bunching up 2 minutes apart in others. It's actually impressive how irregular the service is considering they have automatic train control.
sep 1, 2025, 1:35 am • 1 0 • view
It was the two in opposite directions that made it interesting enough to post. Still could be bunching in both directions though. It might not be representative of weekend service but at least it is for rush hour in the week!
sep 1, 2025, 3:08 am • 2 0 • view
Sunday buses are once an hour from my nearest bus stop in the Black Country near Birmingham, England. Twice an hour from another bus stop a little bit more of a walk to be fair.
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 1 0 • view
Though where I grew up in rural Hampshire there are just no Sunday buses at all - likely the case in most UK towns & villages. Whilst when I lived nearer to Bham city centre there were a lot more buses - pre smartphone didn't really need a timetable Mon-Sat til late - though still less on Sunday.
aug 31, 2025, 5:28 pm • 1 0 • view
(Hence why any Londoners complaining about their public transport get jumped on on UK social media)
aug 31, 2025, 5:29 pm • 2 0 • view
Ungrateful cockney eel pie munching oyster card holding....
aug 31, 2025, 7:06 pm • 1 0 • view
We’ve lost that freedom in Philadelphia.
aug 31, 2025, 11:55 am • 2 0 • view
(Cries in OC Transpo short trains every 10 minutes when the system is actually working)
aug 31, 2025, 12:16 pm • 3 0 • view
Every 10 mins is still good. Iirc every 13 mins is the max at which people will stop expecting to turn up and go and look to schedules and all that.
aug 31, 2025, 7:05 pm • 0 0 • view
Every 12 minutes on Line 2!
aug 31, 2025, 7:24 pm • 2 0 • view
Everyone loves to hate on the TTC to justify bringing their cars from the burbs to the downtown core so they can hate on traffic in the downtown core.
sep 1, 2025, 1:34 am • 2 0 • view
in my opinion, schedule headway is what distinguishes "rapid transit" from commuter and long-distance trains and buses. If you start running peak-hour trains at 12-minute intervals and off-peak trains at 30-minute intervals, it will lead to a downward spiral where ridership only goes down.
sep 1, 2025, 12:30 am • 1 0 • view
I live in Montréal and that shocked me when I went to Toronto. The wait time between métros here is laughable.
aug 31, 2025, 11:54 am • 7 0 • view
I live in TO & visited Montreal this summer & didn't mind the slightly longer waits because, well let's face it I was on vacation and not stressed about getting anywhere but also the stations/platforms are a breath of fresh air compared to TO in terms of architecture and upkeep!
aug 31, 2025, 1:01 pm • 3 0 • view
But of course once you're used to that and take it for granted I'm sure the charm wears off and you just want your (very loud) train to arrive. On the other hand, the bus wait times in Montreal could use some Toronto level improvements. Many trips ended up being just as fast to walk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
aug 31, 2025, 1:03 pm • 1 0 • view
The TTC trains' loudness definitely put me off somewhat, even my noise cancelling headphones had trouble keeping up!
aug 31, 2025, 4:23 pm • 1 0 • view
The two systems are loud in different ways, for sure. Something about the MTL trains, possibly the rubber tires makes them more high pitched in a way I'm not used to. Conversely TTC trains make all sorts of odd loud noise - like the AC on some of them is unreasonably loud so the time.
aug 31, 2025, 6:51 pm • 2 0 • view
Isn't Montreal every 3 minutes on the green and orange lines?
aug 31, 2025, 1:38 pm • 2 0 • view
Yeah it's really not that bad.
sep 1, 2025, 12:54 am • 1 0 • view
I travel a lot outside of peak and yeah it is, 11am on a sunday you would get maybe every 5-6 minutes.
sep 1, 2025, 12:58 am • 2 0 • view
Maybe I grew up in a part of Terrebonne with two buses all day but the 7 minutes I waited for the metro at St Henri at midnight last night was fine. I'm more angry about not having a 24h metro.
sep 1, 2025, 1:27 am • 1 0 • view
Yes, it’s similar to Toronto on peak, but off peak and weekends are somewhat worse than Toronto
aug 31, 2025, 2:28 pm • 1 0 • view
It's often 5-10 minutes intervals on the orange and green out of rush hour. I have had to wait 15+ minutes before on the green line!
aug 31, 2025, 4:21 pm • 2 0 • view
This compared to the more frequent buses in my city being every 30 minutes, and often 20 minutes late. It’s an hour and a half commute to work by bus when it could be a 25 minute drive. Yet orlando has great public transportation by American standards. Ffs
sep 1, 2025, 2:29 am • 0 0 • view
People-centric cities are awesome!
aug 31, 2025, 2:05 pm • 2 0 • view