The evidence trail
Where each part of the transit pulse begins.
Data lineage means knowing where information came from and what happened before you saw it. Our source trail explains that path in plain language.
Meet the sources
Four public sources build the civic picture.
Each contributes something different. None tells the whole story alone.TTransit operations
TTC public data
Recent bus and streetcar positions, routes, stops, schedules, subway trip updates, and published operating statistics.
- Helps show
- What is reporting now and how the network is arranged.
- Keep in mind
- A visible vehicle is not a passenger count or proof of on-time service.
TOCity geography
City of Toronto Open Data
Ward boundaries and other public geography provide a consistent way to compare parts of Toronto.
- Helps show
- Which ward or local area a transit observation falls within.
- Keep in mind
- Boundaries organize the evidence; they do not explain every local condition.
CCommunity context
Statistics Canada
Aggregated 2021 Census population and household totals add context about the communities around transit.
- Helps show
- How many people and households live in an area.
- Keep in mind
- No personal Census records are used, and community totals are not ridership.
MPlaces and walking
OpenStreetMap
Mapped streets and named public places add walking context and show what a route passes near.
- Helps show
- Walking paths and nearby named schools, parks, libraries, health services, shops, and community places.
- Keep in mind
- Map coverage can be incomplete. A nearby place is not proof that riders visit it.
From source to screen
How public information becomes a result.
Each step checks, connects, or explains the information before it appears on the site.- 1Receive
Read the public source
Live feeds are requested; reference files are loaded from their published versions.
- 2Check
Keep useful records
Stale vehicle reports and records without enough information are left out.
- 3Connect
Add place and network context
A record may be linked to a route, stop, station, ward, local area, or named mapped place.
- 4Explain
Show the result with a limit
Our approach labels observations, estimates, community information, and experiments so they are not mistaken for one another.
Trace a result
Connect each number to its source.
These examples show where a result begins, how it is prepared, and what it can safely mean.“7 vehicles visible”
TTC vehicle feedRecent reports onlyGrouped by route
What it means: seven vehicles on that route were recently visible in the public feed.
It does not mean seven vehicles were on schedule or carrying a particular number of riders.Subway train progress
TTC trip updatesNext station reportedProgress estimated
What it means: our subway approach estimates where a reported trip sits in its station sequence.
This is station-level trip information, not live train GPS.“23 named places nearby”
TTC route shapeNamed OSM placesWithin 150 metres
What it means: the mapped route passes near 23 named places returned by OpenStreetMap.
Counts may be incomplete and do not measure visits, access quality, or use.Freshness matters
Not every source moves at the same speed.
A live observation, a map file, and a Census reference year should never be presented as though they were collected at the same moment.
- Live feeds
- Show a refresh time and focus on recent reports.
- Published files
- Change when the source releases a new schedule, boundary, or statistic.
- Community reference
- Uses the stated Census year so the reference period is clear.
- Mapped places
- May be cached for reliability and carry a refresh note where used.
Limits to keep in view
What this evidence cannot establish on its own.
Vehicle visibility does not reveal how many people are aboard.
The civic product does not use fare histories or individual travel records.
Feed data alone cannot prove punctuality, crowding, accessibility, or the cause of a delay.
The interpretations are independent civic evidence, not TTC measures or decisions.
Related evidence guides
A source is only the beginning.
The methodology explains how to read each result. The processing guide shows how public information is checked and prepared before publication.