Toronto No Pants Subway Ride 2020

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Toronto No Pants Subway Ride 2020

Underground travel with the Toronto's subway system can be a tad frustrating, so this is the time to join with intrepid friends and lose the pants and put the wacky back into public transit. Have fun at the 19th anniversary of the Global No Pants Subway Ride taking place Sunday, January 12, 2020 which is happening today in over 50 cities spanning the globe. Photo at top from 2015 Ride by Joe Hamilton.

Pants is just a fancy word for leg jail - the 2020 ride

Participants will gather in the Toronto Eaton Centre at the Yonge and Dundas Street entrance at 3pm, drop their pants at 3:20pm and head downstairs into the Toronto Transit Commission Dundas St station on the Yonge-University subway line. At approximately 3:50pm they will have a pantless parade from Wellesley Station to the site of the the after party at The Drink on Church Street.

Meeting with security

The Eaton Centre entrance quickly filled up as hundreds waited for the Ride. Most were there just to witness the event. Then applause filled the space as a lady in shorts showed up with a sign and a megaphone. It wasn't long before security started to get concerned with the crowds and asked if they could get out of the Centre and into the public space of the subway.

Going through the ttc turnstiles

After a short talk the organizer did a short countdown and everyone filed down into Dundas subway station. Then more people stripped down, paid the ttc entrance fare and waited on the southbound train to come.

When the subway train did show up the people jammed into the cars and it got pretty tight in that relatively small space. Most of the travellers were fully dressed with groups of No Pants people mixed in the crowd.

Toronto's facebook site says; "The No Pants Subway Ride is a celebration of silliness to bring a smile to commuter's faces. Ain't no subway ride like a pantsless subway ride." The event is hosted by the No Pants Society.

Improv Everywhere started the No Pants Subway Ride in New York beginning in 2002 with only 7 people joining in the event. Now there are thousands in cities like London, Buenos Aires, Chicago, San Francisco and many more. They expect over 2,000 people in New York this year alone.

"Improv Everywhere is a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. There is no agenda for the event apart from a desire to make others laugh and smile. Improv Everywhere founder Charlie Todd refers to the event as a “celebration of silliness.” The idea behind the No Pants Subway Ride is simple: Random passengers board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter without pants. The participants behave as if they do not know each other, and they all wear winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The only unusual thing is their lack of pants."