Toronto's mayoral race gets more congested with transit pitches and record number of candidates

Getting around Toronto isn't easy.

That applies whether you're taking transit, driving a car or riding your bike. And it might be the one thing Toronto's growing ranks of mayoral candidates can agree on, judging from the tone of their announcements this week. Candidates on the election trail were increasingly tuned into the plight of weary commuters.

The pace of those announcements accelerated as the deadline to sign up for the race — or drop out — draws closer. Meanwhile, the city kicked its efforts to recruit thousands of workers into high gear, and even more new policy was released.

Here's a glimpse of where things stand after the fifth week of the campaign.

The future of transit in the suburbs and the Gardiner Expressway motored onto the campaign trail this week, with a number of candidates presenting contrasting plans for both.

Brad Bradford wants to cut two years off the billion dollar Gardiner East rebuild. He says a tweak to city bylaws would let construction go on 24/7, accelerating the project.

And he slammed candidates who want to tear down the section east of Jarvis Street that council committed to rebuild in 2016. 

On the same day that Bradford made his pitch, Olivia Chow unveiled her plan to build a dedicated busway to replace Scarborough's aging light rail trail. She unveiled that announcement a day after the city's executive committee endorsed a plan to run on-street priority bus lanes instead of the off-street busway to replace the SRT.

Ana Bailão and Mitzie Hunter have subsequently said they support building the busway.

The city wants the province to pay for the $60 million dedicated lane and the nearly $3 million still required to advance the design work.

Chow says she'd pay the $60 million to build the lane on the path of the SRT by pulling down the Gardiner East and creating a boulevard.

With candidates on the left promising a Gardiner tear down and those on the right vowing pressing to stay the course on the expressway rebuild, it's likely to be a wedge issue.

Zachary Spicer, an associate professor of political science at York University, said in the past, candidates have successfully drawn suburban votes with promises to address the city's road woes.

Former mayor Rob Ford used promises of battling gridlock to great effect, Spicer said.