Toronto's next new bus route might be crowdfunded

Toronto's transit infrastructure is so badly in need of expansion that at least one group is taking matters into its own hands. LineSix Transit, a reference to Drake's moniker for Toronto, is a crowdfunding initiative for transit expansion in Toronto. If you fund it, the people will ride... so the thinking goes. That's especially true when the financial support comes tied to seats on the bus, as is the case here.

The first iteration of the route will extend from Liberty Village to Union Station, with a pilot between October 6th and 10th. Service runs in the morning (only), with each person who pledges $25 or more getting a guaranteed spot on the bus. The crowdfunding goal is a modest $2,500 for the pilot, of which $1,400 is already accounted for.

While I think that afternoon service would be more useful (and popular) than service from Union in the morning, this little experiment should serve as a valuable testing ground to see if there's an appetite a DIY approach to transit expansion. What do you think? Could this be a way to improve commuter service in Toronto?

Photo by Ben Roffelsen in the blogTO Flickr pool.