Trolley buses in Toronto

The Toronto trolley bus system formed part of the public transport network of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Trolley buses originally served the city on a short route that lasted only from 1922 to 1925. Later, a much larger system operated from 1947 to 1993. Owned by the Toronto Transportation Commission, the original line operated in the northern part of the city, using short trolley buses with solid rubber tires and wooden seats. It was seen as a cost-saving alternative to construction of an extension of the city's streetcar system. Ridership was relatively strong, and the route was replaced by a streetcar extension in 1925.

The second trolley bus system opened in 1947 and within 15 months had grown to four routes. Additional new routes and extensions were constructed in subsequent decades, often in conjunction with the opening of new sections of the Toronto subway system. By 1954, the network had six routes, served by a fleet of around 150 trolley buses. In 1967, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), employed a cost-saving approach to renew its aging trolley bus fleet: transferring the electrical equipment (such as traction motors and control systems) from its 1947–1953 vehicles into new bodyshells, with 151 such vehicles built by Flyer Industries and the TTC between 1970 and 1972. The TTC program had the effect of reviving the dormant North American trolley-bus manufacturing industry, with Flyer going on to build trolley buses for several other Canadian and American transit systems.

By 1977, the Toronto trolley bus system had added three more routes and closed one route. In the early 1980s, plans were tentatively approved for a major expansion of the system, but ultimately they did not come to fruition. In 1983, the TTC instead began to consider phasing-out trolley bus service, but differences of opinion among the commissioners and between the commission and the TTC staff repeatedly delayed firm action on either expansion or elimination. While that discussion continued, in 1989 the transit agency leased 40 younger trolley buses from Edmonton to allow its current service to be maintained despite a need to retire some of its worn-out older vehicles.

In late 1991, a major budget crisis at the provincial government and the TTC, exacerbated by the early 1990s recession, led to a decision by the TTC to close the entire trolley bus system, and this took place in January 1992. However, in the face of strong opposition to the move among the public and several of the commissioners, in June 1992 the commission decided to reopen the system, on at least two routes, and trolley bus operation returned to routes 4 and 6 that September. The long-term future of the system remained under debate in 1993, but the lease of the 40 Edmonton trolley buses was due to expire in July 1993, and ultimately the commission voted 4-to-3 not to renew it. Trolley bus service ended for a second time in mid-July 1993. Studies in 1994 looked into the feasibility of reviving the service, but no decision to do so was ever made.