TTC

No, not The Toronto Curmudgeon, TTC over here stands for Toronto Transit Commission.

The Commission  runs the trains, trams and buses in Toronto and manages to link most of the city really well.

As a visitor to the city I've found the subway to be a great way to get around and to explore each area.
Whilst not covering the entire area, the subway gets to most main intersections from where the trains and buses take over.

This is not as extensive as London Undergound, Paris Metro or New York Subway but is streets (literally) ahead of Auckland and Wellington train services.

Auckland train system goes to railway stations in some suburbs which are kilometres away from shopping and commercial services

Wellington train stations drop travellers off at stations that are far from shops and services.

 What Toronto (and Paris, London, New York and many other major cities) provides is a train system, mainly underground that has stations at each major intersection in the city. A traveller, emerging from the subway station is right in the middle of the shops, businesses and service providers at that particular area. It would be like a traveller emerging from the train station at Courtenay Place, Taranaki Street, Willis Street, Lambton Quay (several stops), John Street, Adelaide Road, Kilbirnie, Nuova Lazio North, South, East and West, Petone East, Petone West, Petone Central etc. in the Wellington area and similarly for Auckland linking all major suburbs with a great number of stations.

In Toronto a trip costs $3 using pre-purchased tokens. Depending on the number bought there are discounts bringing the cost of tokens down to between $2.50 and $3. Weekly and monthly passes can also be purchased with greater savings and extra flexibility. When using a token you enter a station and travel to the desired destination which could be one station away or 20 stations away - same price. When exiting the station you can take a transfer ticket from a dispensing machine which gets you a bus or tram ride (no extra money needed ) to a desired destination.
On re-entering a subway station however you have to use another token.
A monthly, daily or weekly pass (obtainable from a vending machine) allows multiple trips (as many as you like) for the duration of the pass. You can enter and exit as many stations, get on and off as many buses and trams as you like.

What this transport system does is open up the city for easy access. Potentially isolated communities are linked and there is an easy flow of people, commuters and visitors, coming and going.

Basically it revitalises. Imagine in New Zealand if we had subways and linked transit systems with cheap travel costs. Big format retailers like The Warehouse, Noel Leemings, Briscoes etc wouldn't dominate as they currently do if there was an easier method of access to smaller shopping areas in all of the suburbs. Smaller retailers would have a chance. The little shopping strips would come to life again and not just exist with $2 shops and video stores and more people visiting would create commercial opportunities, employment and wealth. Well, that's the idea. The effect on reducing motor vehicle traffic would also be of tremendous advantage.