Thank you for your support. The fight to save our neighbourhood has just begun. 

"This is not about opposing transit improvement. It’s about how we improve transit, who we include in the process, and whose needs we erase along the way." - Protect Bathurst

What is happening?

The City of Toronto has approved a plan to eliminate over 480 curbside parking spaces along 7.5 km of Bathurst Street, from Eglinton Avenue West to Lake Shore Boulevard West, to install permanent bus-only lanes.

Framed publicly as a transit equity and reliability initiative, this plan was in fact designed and approved without proper safety evaluation, accessibility review, or genuine public consultation. It is a structural accessibility rollback that displaces community members who rely on curbside access - especially people with disabilities, caregivers, elders, families, and small businesses.

What Is the Core Concern?

The main concern is that this is not a routine transit improvement. It is a radical reconfiguration of public space that removes access for thousands of residents while offering no mitigation. The project was rushed through to support crowd movement during FIFA 2026 and justified using equity language that conceals its true impacts and motivations: cost-cutting, revenue generation, and international optics—not community safety or inclusion.

Toronto, known for its many unique events, festivals and gatherings through its many cultural identities welcomes an influx of people on a monthly basis throughout the year. The Toronto International Film Festival on a yearly basis has an average attendance of more than 250,000 people. [1] Whereas larger festivals that take place on a yearly basis such as Caribana is frequented by over 1 million tourists each year! [2]

Are you starting to understand the absurdity? 

During one of the drop in events for residents to submit comments and concerns, a TTC representative explained that the changes coming to RapidTO which also include changes to turning on streets, would implement an improvement in transit which would allow them to cut buses in order to maintain a schedule.

How can this be sufficient to risk the livelihood of so many businesses and residents?
How are they planning on enticing people to use the buses more if they are not planning on increasing services?
How does this benefit anyone in the neighbourhoods and communities these busses are passing through? 

Public Engagement has been unsuccessful

BIA’s, Resident Associations and Communities east and west of Bathurst and Dufferin are unaware of the changes being proposed due to the lack of Public Engagement being offered by the city of Toronto. 

Toronto and TTC have  finalized the project before consulting the public. Legally required consultation with the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee (TAAC) occurred five days before the final vote, with no opportunity to influence the design.The broader public was also excluded by design. Residents were invited to comment only after decisions had been made. Those who raised objections were told their concerns would be “noted,” not acted on. There is no evidence that any public feedback altered the project in any way.

The plan removes curbside parking that currently serves as a protective buffer between pedestrians and moving traffic, exposing pedestrians—including children, elders, and people with disabilities—to fast-moving TTC buses. It eliminates safe drop-off zones for clinics, churches, and daycares and increases the risk of dangerous midblock crossings. Despite this, no Vision Zero-aligned pedestrian safety audit was conducted or disclosed. The project violates the City’s own stated road safety policy, which commits to eliminating serious injuries and deaths on Toronto streets.

Internal TTC documents confirm that the plan is expected to generate $4.14 million in fare revenue and $2.027 million in annual cost savings. These savings are not being reinvested to offset the harms of access loss. No new TTC vehicles are being added. No accessible drop-off zones are being created. No disability mitigation plans are in place.

The plan was accelerated to align with FIFA 2026. Public space is being redesigned to move international spectators, not to serve Toronto’s most marginalized residents. The public rationale—“equity, accessibility, and climate justice”—is window dressing for austerity.

Why This Matters Now

This is not about opposing transit improvement. It’s about how we improve transit, who we include in the process, and whose needs we erase along the way.

This plan removes access from those least able to absorb its loss. It was advanced without proper oversight. It may violate both the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code. And it sets a dangerous precedent: that infrastructure can be redesigned for political deadlines, not public good.

What We Are Calling For

www.protectbathurst.ca urges the City of Toronto and the TTC to:

1. Pause implementation of RapidTO Bathurst until full, independent accessibility and safety audits are conducted

2. Release all confidential attachments to TTC Board Report TTC4.4 for public scrutiny
Separate oversight roles—the TTC Chair must not also chair TAAC

3. Reopen consultations with accessibility accommodations, multilingual materials, and real influence over outcomes

4. Redesign the plan to restore curb access, expand accessible parking, and align with Vision Zero principles

We Are Not Asking for Perfection - We Are Demanding Inclusion

This is our neighbourhood. These are our families, our clinics, our schools, our places of worship. If we allow this kind of exclusionary planning to go unchallenged, it will set a precedent across the city. We must act now - before exclusion becomes permanent, and silence becomes policy.

To read the full legal and evidentiary analysis that supports these claims, please contact us for more details. 

Help save one of the last unique communities in Toronto — www.protectbathurst.ca

Thank you. 

[1] https://www.britannica.com/art/Toronto-International-Film-Festival
[2] https://www.destinationtoronto.com/leisure-blog/post/toronto-caribbean-carnival/