Toronto engineer turns commuter frustration into site that exposes TTC delay data

Ever wondered why your TTC bus was inexplicably delayed by 15 minutes, or a train had to bypass your local subway stop? 

Well, an interactive website called TTC Delay Insights, developed by a Toronto-based engineer, seeks to bridge the gap between the transit agency's data and commuters by exploring patterns, station statistics, hotspots, and even offering a buffer calculator. 

Asha Asvathaman is an Applied AI and Computer Vision Engineer from Singapore and holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of British Columbia and a Master's in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Toronto.

As a regular TTC commuter, Asvathaman was once heading out to a writing workshop she'd been looking forward to for weeks, when mid-journey, TTC subway service was halted and replaced with shuttle buses. 

"I waited and waited for the bus, then had to battle everyone else to get on, only to end up missing my workshop entirely. I remember standing frustrated on a street corner, wondering: What's actually going on?" Asvathaman told blogTO. 

"TTC Delay Insights grew from that moment. The delays always felt frequent, but I never knew why they happened or how often. Was it just my bad luck, or was there a pattern? I wanted answers, but I couldn’t find them, so I decided to dig into the data myself."

In her quest for answers, Asvathaman used TTC subway delay data from the City of Toronto's Open Data Portal and manually categorized over a hundred TTC delay codes into nine clear categories, such as infrastructure issues and vehicle problems. The engineer then cleaned the data, fixed inconsistencies, and built tools to identify patterns, map hotspot stations, and visualize the delay trends in a way that everyday commuters could understand. 

The website seeks to transparently interpret TTC delay data for everyday commuters. 

"I was genuinely surprised that in recent years, Toronto has been losing over a month every year to subway delays. In 2024 alone, delays across the subway system totalled 1,090 hours, equivalent to 45 days of lost time," Asvathaman said. 

"When you consider that each delay affects hundreds of passengers per train, the collective time lost is exponentially higher." 

The engineer says she was also surprised to find out that disorderly patrons were actually the number one cause of delays, and that track fires are a persistent problem, causing significant disruptions. 

"The TTC already publishes delay data, which is commendable. But the data is technical and hard for the average rider to interpret. Moving forward, I'd love to see the TTC present this information in a more accessible, visual way on their website; showing clear trends, hotspots, and what's actually being done to address recurring issues," Asvathaman explained. 

"They could also establish and publicly report measurable goals for delay reduction, and report on passenger impact by showing an estimate of how many riders were affected by each major delay. Real transparency means not just sharing data, but making it accessible and understandable for the public." 

With the website, Asvathaman says she hopes everyday riders feel less in the dark when they're stuck on a platform, and through identifying station patterns, "can shift the conversation from frustration to informed advocacy." 

Apart from the website's many useful tools, including a delay leaderboard, Asvathaman has also developed a buffer time calculator that shows you how much extra time to add to your commute for a better chance of arriving on time, based on real historical delay patterns. 

"Ultimately, I want people to use this information to push for real improvements, whether that's better infrastructure, safety interventions like platform edge doors, or more transparent communication from the TTC and our city. Data doesn't eliminate delays, but it gives us a starting point to demand better," she said. 

The engineer also built a mini-game called TTC Delay Dodge, where you can dodge real delay types such as signal problems, disorderly patrons, and track-intruding raccoons, all while collecting coffee and Jamaican patties for points. 

A snapshot of the game.

"It started as a way to bring some levity to a frustrating situation, but I hope it gets people more engaged with understanding what actually causes delays," Asvathaman told blogTO. 

"Beyond the data and game, this project is personal. I grew up in Singapore, where I took public transit as a young girl, often without adult supervision. Those experiences shaped how I think about what transit should be."

Asvathaman says that "At its best, it is safe, clean, and reliable that even children can navigate it independently," adding that locals "deserve that same level of trust in their transit system and city. I hope this project can be one small step toward getting there."