Hi David
Actually, if we could ban cars from the Downtown core I think that it would be a great idea. If I lived in Toronto or within ten miles of it, I would take the better way too.
But consider the person coming in from Guelph. Like poor ole me

. It is a long journey by GO train and we would have to travel down to Burlington to get on the Lakeshore line. That is 45 minutes travel just to get to the train.
Yesterday for the Bryan Ferry concert, we drove into Toronto, but had to bail off the 401 at Erin Mills Parkway, taking the 407 to 427 and I could see that the 401 was a parking lot in Toronto.
Thankfully the 427 Gardiner was moving and we got to the parking garage close to Massey Hall just around noon as we planned. Had a great day in Toronto, went to the concert, but coming home -- one hour after the concert ended, we were at the 401 and highway 6 heading into Guelph, we were home by midnight. But It would have taken 20 minutes just to get to Union Station if we came by GO train.
The day time mess that GTA traffic is in indicates that we blew it and we should have kept the right of way that the Guelph Radial Railway had many years ago and use it to create a better way of travelling into Toronto. The Milton to Kipling station line is so under utilised, it borders on gross stupidity, that is another story. Let's bring back those single car commuter trains (dayliners??) for a start.
I like the new streetcars too, but still, the old PCC streetcars have a charm all of their own.
Cheers
John