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TORONTO - PUBLIC TRANSPORT |
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"Toronto Public transport
Get around
Toronto is huge, and most roads run for very long distances. Use public transit if your destination is downtown.Otherwise, it is probably easier to drive. Be aware that the highways regularly backup during rush hour (7am-10am and 4pm-7pm). Toronto has plentiful parking garages downtown but these are usually expensive.
Transit
Toronto has a very large transit system, the third most heavily used in North America (after New York City and Mexico City). It consists of buses, streetcars, which are confined to the centre of the city, the subway, and the Scarborough Rapid Transit, a quasi-subway. Buses and streetcars are prone to get caught in Toronto's notorious traffic during rush-hours. Also, scheduling issues with streetcars have resulted in chronic "bunching" where one might wait for thirty minutes at a stop, and then 4 streetcars will arrive bunched together. In contrast to this, the subway system is quite fast and efficient; the subway lines extend well into the suburbs and have spurred a great deal of high-density, high-rise development in far-flung neighbourhoods that would not otherwise have had any large-scale development. A prime example of this is the neighbourhood of North York, filled with high-rise development right on top of three subway stations. As a result, the subway is the easiest, fastest and most efficient way to get around the city.
Current fares are $2.75 (discounted to $2.25 if you buy 5 or 10 tickets or tokens at a time).
A TTC Day Pass is available for $9.00. This pass allows unlimited travel on all TTC services within the City of Toronto, except for Downtown Express buses. For one person, it allows unlimited one-day travel on any day of the week, from the mid-morning (9:30AM) until 5:30AM the next morning. On Saturday and Sunday, and statutory holidays, up to 6 people can travel with the TTC Day Pass, from the start of daytime service until 5:30AM the next morning:
* 2 adults alone, or with up to 4 Children/Youths (Youth = *19 years of age or under).
* 1 adult alone, or with up to 5 Children/Youths (Youth = *19 years of age or under).
The day pass does not have to be purchased on the day of use.
For many years, the TTC has offered a monthly pass, the Metropass. This usually costs $109 a month, though it is available at a lower price under certain conditions. The monthly pass is transferable, allowing owners to transfer the pass to another person at the end of their trip.
A weekly pass was introduced in September, 2005. It now is sold for $32.25 a week. It lasts from the start of daily service, 5:30AM Monday morning, to 5:30AM the following Monday. The weekly pass is also transferable.
Subway & LRT
There are three subway lines and one "RT" line:
* The Bloor-Danforth line runs east-west along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue. It meets the Yonge-University line at Bloor-Yonge, St. George, and Spadina stations, and meets the Scarborough Rapid Transit (RT) line at Kennedy station. This line runs through a large number of neighbourhoods, Kennedy Station is on Eglinton in working-class Scarborough and is surrounded by large apartment blocks, it is a major transit hub for TTC buses in Scarborough and also connects with GO Transit commuter trains. The line leaves Scarborough after Warden station and the next nine stations serve a number of densely packed, ethnic neighbourhoods along the Danforth. After Broadview Station, the line crosses the Don River and the following station, Castle Frank, serves the extremely exclusive neighbourhood of Rosedale. After this, the line crosses the Rosedale ravine and enters Downtown Toronto, the next four stations serve the expensive shopping district of Bloor-Yorkville. Following this, the line serves many small ethnic neighbourhoods centred around Bloor Street. Lansdowne and Dundas West stations serve working class neighbourhoods and Dundas West connects with GO Transit commuter trains. The next two stations serve High Park, a large park on the west side of the city and Runnymede and Jane stations serve the pleasant and relatively affluent neighbourhood of Bloor West Village. The next three stations serve the mostly middle class suburb of Etobicoke.
* The Yonge-University-Spadina line runs in a U formation, travelling north-south along Yonge Street, bending at Union Station, then travelling north-south along University Avenue, Spadina Avenue, and Allen Road. It meets the Sheppard line at Sheppard-Yonge station and the Bloor-Danforth line at Bloor-Yonge, St. George, and Spadina stations.
* The Sheppard line runs in an east-west direction along Sheppard Avenue. It meets the Yonge line at Sheppard-Yonge station and terminates at Don Mills Station in the east.
* The Scarborough RT runs from the eastern end of the Bloor-Danforth line at Kennedy Station, through central Scarborough to McCowan Station. As its name suggests, this line serves the mainly working-class suburb of Scarborough. This line's main draw for visitors is that it serves Scarborough Town Centre, one of the city's enormous regional shopping centres, at its Scarborough Centre station; this station is also a major regional transit hub and is served by a large number of TTC buses, several GO Transit commuter buses, and is a stop on Greyhound coach routes to Peterborough, Ottawa, and Coach Canada routes to Montreal and Kingston.
Other TTC services are provided by buses, streetcars, the Scarborough RT line, and Wheel-Trans vans (for people with disabilities). There are also a number of Downtown Express buses that run during rush hour, for which additional fare must be paid.
Streetcars
Toronto is one of the only cities in North America to keep any of its streetcar route and, while the original streetcar network was much larger, the Toronto Transit Commission is planning to replace several of its busiest bus lines with high capacity LRT lines.
* 501 runs along Queen Street for most of its route, from the eastern end of the Beaches neighbourhood, through Leslieville, the Financial District, the Queen West shopping district, Parkdale, then along the Queensway and Lake Shore Blvd through Long Branch in Etobicoke to the Long Branch GO Train station.
* 502 and 503 run from Kingston Road in the Beaches to the Financial District. 502 runs along Queen Street through downtown and 503 (rush hour only) runs along King Street.
* 504 and 508 run along King Street. 504 runs from Broadview subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line to Dundas West subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line. 508 (rush hour only) runs from King Street and Church Street to Long Branch GO Train station. Both routes pass through the Financial District and the Theatre District.
* 505 runs along Dundas Street from Broadview subway station to Dundas West subway station. It runs through Chinatown.
* 506 runs along Gerrard, Carlton and College Streets, it runs from Main Street subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line to High Park in West Toronto. It passes through Cabbagetown, Downtown, the University of Toronto, Kensington Market and Little Italy.
* 509 and 510 run from Union subway station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line in a tunnel under Bay Street to Queen's Quay, they run aboveground on Queen's Quay, through the Harbourfront to Spadina Avenue. The 509 continues on Queen's Quay from Spadina to Exhibition Place. The 510 runs north along Spadina to Spadina subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line, the 510 passes through the Theatre District, the Queen West shopping district, Chinatown, Kensington Market and the Annex. Both 509 and 510 run within their own rights-of-way in the centre lanes of the streets and stop less frequently than regular routes.
* 511 runs along Bathurst for nearly all of its route, from Exhibition Place to Bathurst subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line.
* 512 runs along St Clair Avenue from St Clair subway station on the Yonge line to a streetcar loop just past Keele Street. 512 runs within its own right of way in the centre of St Clair Avenue from St Clair station to Vaughan Road, passing through St Clair West subway station on the University-Spadina line. This route serves the neighbourhood of Deer Park.
Caution: When getting on and off streetcars, make sure that traffic is stopped in the lane next to the streetcar. While drivers are required by law to stop behind open streetcar doors, some drivers don't do so. This does not apply when there is a safety island between you and the traffic lane(s).
Transfers
All but one (Route 99) of the TTC's bus and streetcar routes have a subway station somewhere on the loop, and while many routes will take you into the station and beyond the ticket barrier, some of them (especially downtown) will take you only to the outside of the station. In this case, you can enter the station by presenting a valid transfer. If you don't have one, you need to pay another cash fare.
Transfers are free but should be obtained at the first vehicle or station you enter on your journey. If your journey starts on a bus or streetcar, ask for one as you pay your fare (simply saying "Transfer, please" to the operate will suffice). If you start at a subway station, look for a red machine just beyond the ticket booth with a digital time clock on its face. Press the gold button and collect your transfer.
Connecting public transit services
The areas that surround Toronto—Mississauga, Brampton, York Region, Durham Region—have their own transit systems. There are no free transfer privileges between the TTC and these other transit systems. To use both the TTC and another system, two fares must usually be paid (though see GTA Pass below). In many places, these networks do overlap, so you can transfer easily. Prices are similar to prices for the TTC.
A weekly GTA Pass (Greater Toronto Area Pass) is available for the price of $47.00 (recently raised from $43). It is valid on the TTC and the transit systems in Mississauga, Brampton, York Region, but not Durham Region. This pass is also transferable, although only one rider may use it at a time. If you are traveling through the fare-zone boundary in York Region with a GTA pass, you will have to pay an additional $1.00. A new region-wide integration system will be in place in 2010, known as 'Metrolinx', and will provide seamless connections between transit operators.
GO Transit
A system of regional trains and buses, GO Transit, connects Toronto to its surrounding areas. The majority of these services, especially trains, are oriented to weekday commuters traveling to and from downtown Toronto. Go Transit charges fares by distance. Trains are large and comfortable, and the vast majority run only during rush hours. The main exception is on the Lakeshore Line, running between the suburbs of Burlington and Oshawa, via Union Station. The GO bus network is much more extensive and fills in for trains in the off-peak hours. The vast majority of tourist destinations are reachable by TTC, although you might want to use the GO to get to the Zoo, or to the homes of family members or friends in the Greater Toronto Area.
Discounts on the fares for connecting transit services are available under certain conditions, if you are traveling to or from a GO Transit rail station. The GTA Pass is not valid on GO Transit.
NOTE: in many cases a GO bus will not stop unless the passengers-to-be indicates indicate waiting to be picked up even if they are standing at a designated stop. Users must flag the bus down, usually just by raising their hand or ticket in the air as the bus approaches. That is because GO stops often share stops with other municipal transit systems.
Also, be aware of the GO Transit Guards; they are well known for being overbearing, grouchy and intolerant. The transit guards are known to be rude and offensive to passengers that have an invalid ticket in their possession; guards have been known to curse at and threaten such passengers. Train hoppers and passengers with invalid tickets are usually punished. Depending on the mood and disposition of the guard, a mere warning may be issued, however, fines of up to $200 CAD are not out of the question. Furthermore, passengers found train hopping are often unceremoniously kicked off the train at the nearest stop.
Taxis
Taxis are plentiful and safe, but not cheap. As with most big cities, driving a car downtown can be annoying; parking is often hard to find and expensive, and traffic along certain streets can make vehicle travel slower than mass transit. Ask when getting into the cab for a "flat rate" and you will most likely get a deal and the meter will remain off.
By bicycle
In recent years the "core" central area has become relatively bike friendly. The city government has installed many new bike only lanes that span major east-west or north-south corridors. The city takes a reasonably pro-bike position and a bike-map is available on the city website. Doughnut shaped bike lock racks have been installed on many sidewalks, usually in front of shops, restaurants or major points of interest.
By far one of the nicest bike paths is the Martin Goodman Trail, the east-west route that hugs lake Ontario, spanning the city from Etobicoke to the eastern ends of the city. Take care- this path, while busy, is also enjoyed by pedestrians and rollerbladers who are not as speedy as the typical biker. Biking is fairly common on major routes without bike paths too, such as Yonge Street, King and Queen Streets and Dundas and College. Beware of parked cars - often accidents are not caused by moving cars, but rather by careless drivers or passengers who unexpectedly open their driver's side door. However, by and large Toronto is about as safe for bikers as most European cities, and certainly safer than most U.S. cities with their much reduced density of bikers. Here, at least you are expected. Also be cautious of street car tracks as bike wheels can be easily caught and cause a spill. The city is general pretty safe and in the centre of the city mainly flat which makes it ideal to bike, while dodging busy public transit, traffic jams or taxi fares or the severe parking fees and scarce spaces, and most of all SEE the city. And it is fast: door to door, in all of downtown Toronto bike beats car every time.
A special treat for bikers of all levels is a tour out to the Leslie Spit lighthouse and bird sanctuaries (no cars!) east of the islands (bring a picnic); as well, the island ferries transport bikes at no extra charge (again, no cars on the islands) and this is just the best way to get around by far.
Although you will certainly see large numbers of locals riding the streets year-round, be warned that biking in the winter months is enjoyable only with proper equipment and reasonable skills; winter weather does get cold, it can be quite windy, and snow removal may take some time, especially in bicycle lanes."
This articol is release from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0. It use material from Wikitravel voices: "Toronto".
Public Transport Cities:
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