City council has passed Mayor Olivia Chow’s motion calling for action to speed up light rail transit (LRT) and streetcars across the city after the anticipated launch of the Line 6 Finch West LRT was marred by bad reviews about slow service.The motion, seconded by TTC chair, Jamaal Myers, was adopted without amendments on Tuesday.It calls for the city to work with Metrolinx and the TTC to “advance implementation of more aggressive, active transit signal priority at intersections along surface portions of the Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West,” with an update on progress expected in early 2026.Changes to city-wide streetcar service are also being sought. The motion directs the City Manager to work with the TTC CEO to hatch a plan, including costs and staffing requirements, to “improve streetcar network speed and reliability, including signal timing adjustments, a more aggressive transit signal priority policy, deploying traffic agents at key intersections to prevent blocked streetcars.”It also seeks recommendations for removing on-street parking and restricting left turns during high-peak periods on key streetcar routes.Lastly, the motion asks the city and TTC to collaborate and report back with a plan in the first quarter of 2026 “to expedite transit signal priority activations at intersections on the surface transit network where the required technology is not currently installed.”Related:‘Absurd’ that new Finch West LRT line goes slower than buses: Matlow‘I know it can be faster’: Mayor Chow looks to speed up Line 6 Finch West LRT amid complaints‘Substantial completion’ reached on Eglinton Crosstown LRT, clearing way for TTC to open lineSlow Finch LRT times sparked backlashMayor Chow was among many who conceded that the newly-launched Finch West LRT didn’t live up to expectations surrounding service speeds. In some cases, it was taking up to an hour to travel the full 11-kilometre, 18-stop trek between between Finch West subway station and Humber College station.“The train is not as fast as it can be, absolutely,” Chow said last Tuesday morning.“I’m hearing the feedback. I rode the train and I know it can be faster.”According to a Metrolinx website on the Finch West LRT project, light rail vehicles “will take approximately 33-34 minutes to travel from end to end, for an average speed of 20 to 21 km/h (including stops).” It also said the top speed will be around 60 km/h.Riders, however, came forward in droves to say those numbers were far from accurate. “I was eager to ride it for the first time on Sunday after waiting for years,” said Nicholas Christou, a transit rider who lives near Finch.“My excitement turned into disappointment when it took 53 minutes to get from Finch West Station to Humber College. It was painfully slow and, at best, felt no different than the Finch bus stuck in traffic.”Butterfly Gopaul Jane, a Finch neighbourhood resident and community organizer, said it was another failure for an often-stigmatized part of the city.“It’s a failure for a public line, and billions were put into this line, and people aren’t moving. It took an hour for this line to move from one end to the other, it’s shameful.”Angry councillor Josh Matlow called it “absurd” that the Finch West LRT was frequently slower than the buses it was meant to replace.Without changes, notably implementing full signal priority, Matlow said the city would “have spent billions on transit infrastructure only for vehicles to be slower than the buses they’re meant to replace.”