A runner’s viral video displaying him outrunning the town’s new $2.6-billion Finch West LRT has helped immediate actual change at Toronto’s Metropolis Corridor.
Final Friday, Mac Bauer posted a video of himself beating the brand new gentle rail line in a ten.27-kilometre race by 18 minutes. The clip exceeded 1,000,000 views on social media, and on Tuesday, Toronto Metropolis Council voted in favour of implementing transit sign precedence on the Finch LRT beginning early 2026.
Mayor Olivia Chow introduced the difficulty to council on Dec. 15 after seeing the video. At some point later, the council voted 22-1 to approve transit sign precedence for Toronto’s first new transit line since 2002. The change will give the Finch LRT, an east-west route serving greater than 200,000 commuters alongside the town’s northern hall, the appropriate of manner at intersections.
“Final week I rode the Finch LRT with the Premier [Doug Ford],” Chow stated whereas chatting with the media. “It’s smoother, but it surely strikes too slowly. Individuals need quick, handy service. With transit sign precedence, there will likely be much less ready at purple lights and extra time transferring.”
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Bauer, 31, raced the LRT from Humber Faculty within the metropolis’s northwest finish to Finch West Station, protecting the ten.27-kilometre route in 46 minutes by means of ice and snow. The prepare took one hour and 4 minutes, equal to the tempo of roughly a 4:30 marathon.
A sub-2:50 marathoner, Bauer has constructed a social media following by racing numerous Toronto transit routes on foot. He stated he by no means anticipated the video to go viral, however welcomed the massive change. “I’m excited to return and battle it once more,” he laughed.
Bauer wasn’t the one one to place the province’s $2.6-billion mission to the take a look at. A CBC Toronto reporter rode the total Finch LRT line from east to west and again once more, discovering every path took greater than 47 minutes, slower than the ending instances of greater than 2,200 runners on the 2025 Toronto Sporting Life 10K.
Chow added that if transit sign precedence doesn’t considerably enhance journey instances, the town will contemplate further measures, together with restrictions on parking and left turns alongside the Finch hall. “Much less ready at purple lights and sooner, dependable commutes are coming,” she stated.
