Toronto Reddit is up in arms today over an incident in which a TTC streetcar operator was allegedly ticketed by police, grinding traffic on a busy downtown thoroughfare to a halt mid-rush hour.

A passerby vented in a post about what they witnessed on King Street West near York Street on Thursday evening, saying that it appeared the driver was pulled over by an officer, so to speak, for blocking an intersection — something the individual noted was virtually impossible to avoid doing given the gridlock at the time.

"They forced the very full streetcar to empty into the shi**y weather, then took the driver's license so he couldn't move the streetcar," they wrote, sharing photos from the scene showing streetcars backed up down the block.

"After holding up like 20 streetcars, he comes on to give the driver a ticket, and when a streetcar driver behind him hops on to ask what the hell is going on, the cop demanded his name and ID and basically said 'watch how you talk to me or else,'" they continued.

"What a shit show."

Watched a cop give a streetcar driver a ticket in the middle of rush hour on King St and York
byu/JenJub intoronto

Amid hundreds of comments on the post, many note the irony of not only a streetcar being unable to make it through an intersection in what is supposed to be a transit priority corridor, but a cop ticketing a streetcar in said corridor and holding up multiple TTC vehicles as a result.

Of course, some are also chiming in to criticize the officer's questionable use of their authority (and minimal use of common sense).

As one person wrote: "There's always going to be that one car trying to squeeze in before the streetcar; that's just the way it is. Is the streetcar just supposed to sit there for hours until an opening of 50 feet presents itself? What's the cop expecting here, for the driver to pay the fine? That money is just coming out of one municipal budget and going to another."

Holding up the entire King Street corridor to issue a ticket to a streetcar operator.

That would be a very interesting ticket to fight too, as streetcars are not motor vehicles under the HTA. #CarBrain is a hell of a thing. https://t.co/AWektynaEP

— Sean Marshall (@Sean_YYZ) November 9, 2023

"The utter contempt the cops seem to have for doing anything proactive does my head in," another added. "Didn't get out of the car and direct traffic or attempt to actually resolve the situation."

Many are also bringing up the subject of how much of a failure the transit priority initiative has been, with infrastructure made to protect pedestrians and TTC riders completely falling apart and drivers often flouting the posted signage — and receiving little consequence from authorities for doing so.