It’s unmistakable, that stomach-sinking feeling that accompanies the realization you’ve lost something important.

It came Saturday afternoon, as I rifled through my bag with increasing panic and frantically checked my pockets, discovering that my little green wallet was nowhere to be found.

I had just whipped it out to flash my transit pass as I hopped the 7 Bathurst bus, on my way to a matinee. One transfer onto the subway and 20 minutes later, I walked into the movie theatre without it — and without my driver’s licence, bank and credit cards, various access cards, an un-cashed cheque, and the $128 metro pass I’d bought just one day before.

I immediately phoned the bank and cancelled my cards. I oscillated between cursing my stupidity and feeling sorry for myself. I inquired at three TTC stations, to no avail. Pretty soon, I was sure my wallet was gone for good.

After all, I had lost it on a sprawling transit system in Canada’s largest city; last year, the TTC carried an estimated 514 million riders, and this year it’s likely to be closer to 528 million. Those figures make it seem faceless, cold, impersonal — where it’s every woman for herself.

I also admit I was pessimistic about my fellow Torontonians. I was certain that, on the off-chance someone handed in my wallet, it would be without everything valuable.

What I didn’t know was that the TTC has an efficient Lost Articles system, located in Bay station. Every year, it finds and returns thousands of items, including laptops, briefcases, umbrellas and canes.

Of course, that system can’t work without honest people handing over the goods, which is precisely what happened Saturday. Sometime that afternoon, a passenger on the number 7 Bathurst bus handed it to the driver.

It was processed in the TTC system at 8:22 p.m., then travelled to Bay station, where all found items go with impressive frequency. Deliveries of lost items are made every day, Monday to Friday, by 2 p.m.

I got the happy news of my wallet’s whereabouts Monday, less than 48 hours after losing it. When I cautiously inquired over the phone about the Metropass, a chipper voice told me it was tucked inside, right where I’d left it.

I felt fortunate, but the great news is, my story is not anomalous.

According to Victor Buttigieg, the TTC’s Lost Articles supervisor, the return rate for lost items is between 30 and 35 per cent. That average is brought down by orphaned gloves and abandoned umbrellas and bolstered by the high return for more valuable items, like wallets.

Since Jan. 1, 227 wallets have been found and processed through the TTC’s system, including mine. In that time, 122 have been claimed and 33 are waiting to be picked up — a 68 per cent return rate.

If a wallet’s owner does not call to inquire, the TTC employees search for information that will help locate its owner. If a bank card is found, they ask the bank to contact the customer. If a driver’s licence is found, they will run the name through Canada411.

If all they have is an address, they will send a slip in the mail, indicating an item was found. It is identified with a unique number that has been plugged into a database. The recipient then brings in the slip and some ID.

The unique ID number system resets to 1 every Jan. 1. My wallet, found on Feb. 2, was already number 4599.

January is not even the busiest month for lost items. November and December are the worst for lost items, Buttigieg estimated.

Lost articles are kept for about three months; some unclaimed things go on to be sold at the police auction.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

For Buttigieg, thankful riders are one of the best parts of the job. He remembers one return in particular, a wallet containing one woman’s rent money.

“She had no other way to pay, and she got everything back,” he said.

Turns out there’s a reason it’s called Toronto the Good. Thanks so much, mysterious passenger on the 7 Bathurst bus. Maybe I’ll sit next to you someday.