Weep for Winnipeg: the TTC has been ranked the best transit system in Canada

Complaining about the TTC is a favourite pastime in Toronto, the city where no transit-investment plan is too good to cancel. And so it may come as a surprise that Walk Score, the Seattle-based urban-research firm, has ranked this city’s transit system the absolute best in Canada.

Using a methodology that rewards cities for the breadth, density and frequency of their transit services, Walk Score determined that Toronto, with a score of 78 out of 100, narrowly beats out both Montreal (77) and Vancouver (74). Any city in the 70-to-89 range is considered to have “excellent transit.”

The rest of Canada’s large cities don’t even come close. Winnipeg is number four on the list, with a score of 51. Mississauga is nowhere to be found in the top ten, but Brampton and Hamilton are there, with scores of 48 and 42, respectively.

What’s more, Toronto ranks favourably even when compared to major cities in the U.S. Only New York and San Francisco score higher.

Maybe Toronto doesn’t appreciate what it has. Or maybe Walk Score has never experienced Yonge-Bloor station on a bad day. (Actually, it’s probably a little of both.)