Toronto has done public transit wrong for years. Coming from Montreal where the subway is cheaper and runs WELL, and having been to Tokyo where public transit is LEGENDARY and driving a car is a Fool's Errand, I can safely say people in the GTA need to get off their asses and support public transit rather than fighting it. I'm just glad I decided to live close to where I work (now 3km away), as i feel nothing but shock and sympathy for the fools that spend 2+ hours of their lives in gridlock commuting daily while I can walk/bike to work in minutes.
The TTC should adopt Japan Rail's "Pay as you Go" system - they charge users by DISTANCE traveled, not one unilateral fee that lets you ride as far as you want. They have expertly measured the distance and time between each stop, and users simply pay fare according to how long they're using the service for, to the nearest distance category. For instance if you're traveling < 10km, the rate is like 180 Yen (= ~$1.60 CAD); traveling 20km?, the rate becomes like 250 Yen ($2.25); going a ridiculously farther distance like 25-30km? You pay 320-380 Yen, etc.
They use a swipe card honor system, where you have to swipe to get on (not charged yet), and then you have to swipe to get off, at which point your e-card is debited and if you haven't selected a high enough fare ticket to cover your ACTUAL distance traveled (e.g. you miscalculated or changed stops), the exit turnstile slams shut and directs you to a convenient top-up machine to pay the missing difference (if you paid by tokens/cash, instead of the e-card). No penalty fee or recriminations, just an honest mistake is assumed.
The same goes for their commuter rail system, which is an intricate network and both the subway and rail permeate EVERY sector of the city. It must have cost a FORTUNE to put in all that infrastructure, but guess what? It's THERE NOW AND EVERYBODY AND THEIR DOG USES IT GLADLY. There is seldom a slowdown (practically unheard of unless someone gets hit, and they're so socially conscious over there that even would-be jumpers have the courtesy to kill themselves elsewhere without inconveniencing everyone).
Toronto has waited TOO LONG, and lived by the ridiculous personal vehicle North American culture despite seeing the inevitable choking of the city with congestion, which is only going to get worse, not better with time unless public transit moves efficiently where cars cannot: i.e. either underground (Subways) or WAY ABOVE GROUND (monorails). The problem now is that real estate is so expensive that this dream will likely never be realized. Who can afford to buy out all the land necessary to dig underneath major arteries like Eglinton, or Steeles? In my opinion, Toronto needed at least two more East-West parallel lines that cut through the city along those roads, and another two North-South lines, perhaps near Don Mills and Islington/Jane Creek area...
Streetcars, sharing the same clogged roadways as the cars they're trying to circumvent, is retarded, and I can only assume that some poser San Francisco-wannabe proposed them back in the day when Toronto was still quaint and trying to be New York Jr... Funny thing being, NY's subway system also rocks and dwarfs ours.