City councillor calls for new TTC platform doors, but finding funds for them remains an issue

Mayoral-hopeful Coun. Brad Bradford is calling for a host of safety measures across Toronto’s subway system, including a specific focus on platform edge doors, with a motion before city council this week.

TTC staff are already looking into the doors, with their cost being a significant roadblock to any installation attempts made over the years. How Bradford intends to overcome that issue is still unclear. 

The idea of platform edge doors is not new: speaking to reporters Monday, Bradford said it’s been studied since the 1990s, and with good reason. In 2024, trespassers on TTC tracks caused 90 hours of subway delays. 

An attempt to pilot the doors at TMU Station didn’t work out in 2025; there was hope they could be installed as part of renovations to Bloor-Yonge station but the work remains unfunded, according to the TTC website. 

Bradford's motion calls for a pilot project with doors at "high-priority" stations.

In a report on the 2026 TTC budget, staff wrote that spending money on infrastructure maintenance is the priority over putting it towards “aspirational initiatives” like the doors.

“My motion calls for the mayor and city hall to put their money where their mouth is and commit to starting construction on the first platform edge doors by the end of next year,” Bradford said Monday. He said his motion comes after someone was stabbed at Yonge-Bloor station last week, a day after a fight on a North York bus resulted in a stabbing on the street.

A report from last year pegged the cost of doors at one station at $44 to $55 million, which would rise to $4.1 billion across all stations on Lines 1, 2 and 4. But the doors would also have financial benefits: a report last year found barriers at all platforms would save the agency $16 million annually by reducing delays.

“It would be nice to live in a world of limitless money and then we could do platform edge doors tomorrow. But that's not the real world,” said Joe Mihevc, a member of the TTC board. 

Asked how he intends to pay for them, Bradford said that will have to be a discussion with the federal and provincial governments. 

His motion calls for city and TTC staff to develop a funding plan for a multi-station platform door pilot project, which would include adding them to the Bloor-Yonge renovation plans. 

Coun. Josh Matlow, another TTC board member, said he agrees with the intent of Bradford’s motion. He said he’s also been frustrated that a pilot project hasn’t been able to move forward. 

“That being said though,” Matlow added, “it's not responsible to simply say go do something if you don't know how to pay for it.” 

In Toronto last Wednesday, Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson was non-committal when asked about funding the doors.