Getting to the TO Waterfront startline without a car

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Getting to the TO Waterfront startline without a car

Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:50 am

I'm thinking I don't want to drive downtown to the startline at City Hall this Sunday and have to deal with the parking and road closures. I know the subway only starts after 9, so I'm wondering what Blue Line bus routes can get me to that area from High Park? Bloor 300 and then the Yonge bus?
:?:
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Postby HCcD » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:52 am

You are an Ultra-Queen, Kinga ... Just run there as a warmup, afterall, it does take you about, hhmmm 50K to warm up nowadays ... :shock: :lol: :wink:
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Re: Getting to the TO Waterfront startline without a car

Postby purdy65 » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:57 am

kmiklos wrote:I'm thinking I don't want to drive downtown to the startline at City Hall this Sunday and have to deal with the parking and road closures. I know the subway only starts after 9, so I'm wondering what Blue Line bus routes can get me to that area from High Park? Bloor 300 and then the Yonge bus?
:?:


Sounds right!. I think those Blue lines are pretty frequent.

Why Oh WHY does the subway not start until 9:00 on Sunday? Do we not live in a major metropolis? Sorry. Pet Peeve.

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Postby BJH » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:05 am

Here's the map:

http://www3.ttc.ca/images/fixedImages/TTC-bluenight.pdf

It might be worth your while to walk over to Dundas West Station and catch the College streetcar. It's a bit more of a walk at either end, but the Bloor bus gets crowded on Sunday morning.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/index.jsp
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Re: Getting to the TO Waterfront startline without a car

Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:06 am

purdy65 wrote:
kmiklos wrote:I'm thinking I don't want to drive downtown to the startline at City Hall this Sunday and have to deal with the parking and road closures. I know the subway only starts after 9, so I'm wondering what Blue Line bus routes can get me to that area from High Park? Bloor 300 and then the Yonge bus?
:?:


Sounds right!. I think those Blue lines are pretty frequent.

Why Oh WHY does the subway not start until 9:00 on Sunday? Do we not live in a major metropolis? Sorry. Pet Peeve.

Lisa


Don't get me started! World-class my *ss! I've never understood why they won't get the subway running on Sunday morning. Even if it was less frequent! :evil:
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:11 am

BJH wrote:Here's the map:

http://www3.ttc.ca/images/fixedImages/TTC-bluenight.pdf

It might be worth your while to walk over to Dundas West Station and catch the College streetcar. It's a bit more of a walk at either end, but the Bloor bus gets crowded on Sunday morning.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/index.jsp


That's a very good point! Thanks BJH! The streetcar would make more sense and I wouldn't have to transfer. And I could walk/jog to the start from College to the start to warm up. I know it's not a long distance, Andy, but would that be ok you think?
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:22 am

BJH wrote:Here's the map:

http://www3.ttc.ca/images/fixedImages/TTC-bluenight.pdf

It might be worth your while to walk over to Dundas West Station and catch the College streetcar. It's a bit more of a walk at either end, but the Bloor bus gets crowded on Sunday morning.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/index.jsp


Actually, I was just looking at the Sunday night schedule, and the last College streetcar is at 5:00 am. But, the 505 Dundas streetcar starts at 5:30 am, so that's a better option. Sunday morning TTC is a pain!
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Postby Portentous » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:34 am

Toronto's subway is pathetic. And with King David Miller it ain't going to improve. For all the taxes we pay, we don't get much back (unless you happen to share the kings love for his pet projects and over-paying all unionized staff. Then we continue to waste so much cash retrofitting old streetcar lines when we'd be better off doubling the cost and burrying them for badly needed new subway lines. Oh well, must learn to appreciate the incompetence of governments to govern...

:roll:

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Postby BJH » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:40 am

Portentous wrote:Toronto's subway is pathetic. And with King David Miller it ain't going to improve. For all the taxes we pay, we don't get much back (unless you happen to share the kings love for his pet projects and over-paying all unionized staff. Then we continue to waste so much cash retrofitting old streetcar lines when we'd be better off doubling the cost and burrying them for badly needed new subway lines. Oh well, must learn to appreciate the incompetence of governments to govern...

:roll:


With all due respect Port, the problem existed way before David Miller. He wasn't around when a half dug trench was filled in to save Mel's pet project.
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Postby rundmc » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:41 am

Why not take the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West to Chestnut (first stop after University) and walk south from there? I've taken the Bloor night bus many times. I really wouldn't rely on it to get me anywhere I really, really needed to be, like a marathon. It might be mostly empty and take 15 minutes to reach Spadina, or you might wait 30 minutes to get on a packed bus that stops at every bus stop on the way and takes about an hour. You'd also need to transfer at Spadina if you took the Bloor bus. Yonge is too far east and that bus is similarly unreliable. With the 505, you just need to walk over to Dundas West and then walk about a block south to Nathan Phillips. Give it about 30 minutes from Dundas West.
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Postby cgraham » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:43 am

Depending on how much you want to spend vs. wait & walk - you could always take a cab from somewhere along the route. I usually wind up taking cabs to Sunday morning races downtown - from Riverdale it's under $20 - not that different from parking.
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Postby BJH » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:45 am

rundmc wrote:Why not take the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West to Chestnut (first stop after University) and walk south from there? I've taken the Bloor night bus many times. I really wouldn't rely on it to get me anywhere I really, really needed to be, like a marathon. It might be mostly empty and take 15 minutes to reach Spadina, or you might wait 30 minutes to get on a packed bus that stops at every bus stop on the way and takes about an hour. You'd also need to transfer at Spadina if you took the Bloor bus. Yonge is too far east and that bus is similarly unreliable. With the 505, you just need to walk over to Dundas West and then walk about a block south to Nathan Phillips. Give it about 30 minutes from Dundas West.


The race starts at 7am and the first Dundas car is at 5:30am on Sunday. Should work if they catch the first car or second car.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Schedule/schedule.js ... Day=Sunday
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:45 am

rundmc wrote:Why not take the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West to Chestnut (first stop after University) and walk south from there? I've taken the Bloor night bus many times. I really wouldn't rely on it to get me anywhere I really, really needed to be, like a marathon. It might be mostly empty and take 15 minutes to reach Spadina, or you might wait 30 minutes to get on a packed bus that stops at every bus stop on the way and takes about an hour. You'd also need to transfer at Spadina if you took the Bloor bus. Yonge is too far east and that bus is similarly unreliable. With the 505, you just need to walk over to Dundas West and then walk about a block south to Nathan Phillips. Give it about 30 minutes from Dundas West.


I'm thinking 505 Dundas to just above City Hall. Thanks. I'm a 5 minute walk from Dundas W stn. No transfers, no hassle, shorter route.
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:47 am

BJH wrote:
rundmc wrote:Why not take the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West to Chestnut (first stop after University) and walk south from there? I've taken the Bloor night bus many times. I really wouldn't rely on it to get me anywhere I really, really needed to be, like a marathon. It might be mostly empty and take 15 minutes to reach Spadina, or you might wait 30 minutes to get on a packed bus that stops at every bus stop on the way and takes about an hour. You'd also need to transfer at Spadina if you took the Bloor bus. Yonge is too far east and that bus is similarly unreliable. With the 505, you just need to walk over to Dundas West and then walk about a block south to Nathan Phillips. Give it about 30 minutes from Dundas West.


The race starts at 7am and the first Dundas car is at 5:30am on Sunday. Should work if they catch the first car or second car.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Schedule/schedule.js ... Day=Sunday


Um, the race starts at 7:30.
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Postby rundmc » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:48 am

Portentous wrote:Toronto's subway is pathetic. And with King David Miller it ain't going to improve. For all the taxes we pay, we don't get much back (unless you happen to share the kings love for his pet projects and over-paying all unionized staff. Then we continue to waste so much cash retrofitting old streetcar lines when we'd be better off doubling the cost and burrying them for badly needed new subway lines. Oh well, must learn to appreciate the incompetence of governments to govern...

:roll:
Define pathetic. Toronto's subway runs later on a Saturday night than Seoul or Hong Kong. It stops running at 11:30 in Seoul, about 12:30-1:00 am in Hong Kong depending on where you are. For a city with 2.5 million people, it's a good system. Public transit in Toronto is very good for a city that size. You just wanted to bash the government and the mayor and didn't really think, I know.

If you want pathetic, try Delhi, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Los Angeles or Shenzhen. All of these are very big cities (Shenzhen is the smallest with 8 million, if you've never heard of it, you need to get out more) with tiny, inadequate subway systems that are smaller than Toronto's.
Last edited by rundmc on Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby BJH » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:48 am

kmiklos wrote:
BJH wrote:
rundmc wrote:Why not take the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West to Chestnut (first stop after University) and walk south from there? I've taken the Bloor night bus many times. I really wouldn't rely on it to get me anywhere I really, really needed to be, like a marathon. It might be mostly empty and take 15 minutes to reach Spadina, or you might wait 30 minutes to get on a packed bus that stops at every bus stop on the way and takes about an hour. You'd also need to transfer at Spadina if you took the Bloor bus. Yonge is too far east and that bus is similarly unreliable. With the 505, you just need to walk over to Dundas West and then walk about a block south to Nathan Phillips. Give it about 30 minutes from Dundas West.


The race starts at 7am and the first Dundas car is at 5:30am on Sunday. Should work if they catch the first car or second car.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Schedule/schedule.js ... Day=Sunday


Um, the race starts at 7:30.


Well that's even better ! :D

(can you tell I'm not paying so much attention this year? :oops:)
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:50 am

BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:
BJH wrote:
rundmc wrote:Why not take the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West to Chestnut (first stop after University) and walk south from there? I've taken the Bloor night bus many times. I really wouldn't rely on it to get me anywhere I really, really needed to be, like a marathon. It might be mostly empty and take 15 minutes to reach Spadina, or you might wait 30 minutes to get on a packed bus that stops at every bus stop on the way and takes about an hour. You'd also need to transfer at Spadina if you took the Bloor bus. Yonge is too far east and that bus is similarly unreliable. With the 505, you just need to walk over to Dundas West and then walk about a block south to Nathan Phillips. Give it about 30 minutes from Dundas West.


The race starts at 7am and the first Dundas car is at 5:30am on Sunday. Should work if they catch the first car or second car.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Schedule/schedule.js ... Day=Sunday


Um, the race starts at 7:30.


Well that's even better ! :D

(can you tell I'm not paying so much attention this year? :oops:)


I can tell.
Are you coming out to shake your medals at us? :wink:
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Postby BJH » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:53 am

kmiklos wrote:Are you coming out to shake your medals at us? :wink:


Do you have any idea how much they got damaged from that? I had to go run a whole bunch of half marathons to get new ones. :P

I'm running 25 or 26k on Sunday. I'll probably pack my cowbell and head off along the waterfront.
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:15 am

BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:Are you coming out to shake your medals at us? :wink:


Do you have any idea how much they got damaged from that? I had to go run a whole bunch of half marathons to get new ones. :P

I'm running 25 or 26k on Sunday. I'll probably pack my cowbell and head off along the waterfront.


You can always do a Fall Tour to rebuild your inventory. :roll:
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Postby BJH » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:16 am

kmiklos wrote:
BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:Are you coming out to shake your medals at us? :wink:


Do you have any idea how much they got damaged from that? I had to go run a whole bunch of half marathons to get new ones. :P

I'm running 25 or 26k on Sunday. I'll probably pack my cowbell and head off along the waterfront.


You can always do a Fall Tour to rebuild your inventory. :roll:


I'll just borrow some from you. ;)
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Postby UltraQueenga » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:22 am

BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:
BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:Are you coming out to shake your medals at us? :wink:


Do you have any idea how much they got damaged from that? I had to go run a whole bunch of half marathons to get new ones. :P

I'm running 25 or 26k on Sunday. I'll probably pack my cowbell and head off along the waterfront.


You can always do a Fall Tour to rebuild your inventory. :roll:


I'll just borrow some from you. ;)


My medals are for rent per lb. / per weekend.
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Postby Doonst » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:23 am

BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:
BJH wrote:
kmiklos wrote:Are you coming out to shake your medals at us? :wink:


Do you have any idea how much they got damaged from that? I had to go run a whole bunch of half marathons to get new ones. :P

I'm running 25 or 26k on Sunday. I'll probably pack my cowbell and head off along the waterfront.


You can always do a Fall Tour to rebuild your inventory. :roll:


I'll just borrow some from you. ;)


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Postby QuickChick » Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:55 pm

Just FYI, if you change your mind parking under the cbc building is $10 on weekends still, I think. It's always been pretty easy to park there, but getting out can be a bit of a hassle. It's never been too bad, though. Is it worth the difference in price of $4.50 (assuming you're paying $5.50 for both ways on transit) to take transit? For me it wouldn't be. If you have a metropass, though, it would be a bit more of a logical choice.
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Postby Portentous » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:19 pm

rundmc wrote:
Portentous wrote:Toronto's subway is pathetic. And with King David Miller it ain't going to improve. For all the taxes we pay, we don't get much back (unless you happen to share the kings love for his pet projects and over-paying all unionized staff. Then we continue to waste so much cash retrofitting old streetcar lines when we'd be better off doubling the cost and burrying them for badly needed new subway lines. Oh well, must learn to appreciate the incompetence of governments to govern...

:roll:
Define pathetic. Toronto's subway runs later on a Saturday night than Seoul or Hong Kong. It stops running at 11:30 in Seoul, about 12:30-1:00 am in Hong Kong depending on where you are. For a city with 2.5 million people, it's a good system. Public transit in Toronto is very good for a city that size. You just wanted to bash the government and the mayor and didn't really think, I know.

If you want pathetic, try Delhi, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Los Angeles or Shenzhen. All of these are very big cities (Shenzhen is the smallest with 8 million, if you've never heard of it, you need to get out more) with tiny, inadequate subway systems that are smaller than Toronto's.


Honestly it looks like you just wanted to bash me. With the exception of LA which is widely known to have major trouble with their infrastructure the rest of your examples aren't quite in the same class. Lets look at neighboring large cities which would be fairer comparables. Montreal with a population significantly smaller than Toronto's has a subway system just two stations short of Toronto's. In Montreal, London, or NYC you can take the subway to virtually any place in the city with no needs to grab a bus. Never been on Chicago's or Boston's systems so can't comment on
them.

Here we just continue to throw good money after bad financing many silly pet projects. They recently ripped up St. Claire & Spadina (that I'm familiar with) taking over two lanes for exclusive streetcar use. It creates much more traffic for other cars now, and still is inefficient as they must stop for streetlights. Imagine if someone had the foresight and courage to push through spending more cash to bury the cars, and then using that space for dedicated bike lanes or running paths to encourage more bike use. Commuters would be better served and the public space would radically reshape Toronto.

Just because other cities have bad systems elsewhere doesn't condone the mess we have here.

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Postby rundmc » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:36 pm

Portentous wrote:the rest of your examples aren't quite in the same class.
You really have no idea what you're talking about. Cairo, Shenzhen, Buenos Aires and Los Angeles all have more people than Ontario (about 12-20 million) and smaller subway systems than Toronto (68 km of track). That's a good example of a pathetic subway system. That's like New York or London trying to get by with Toronto's system.

Montreal is a good comparison, and I think their subway system is better, but Toronto doesn't become pathetic just because Montreal has almost as big a system (it's almost as big a city as well.) You can't compare London or New York, they have roughly 3-5 times the people. By their standard, just about every city in the world is pathetic. If you look at similarly-sized cities, you'll see some that have no subway (Phoenix, Houston) and some that have superb systems (Madrid, Munich).

The St. Clair right-of-way marginally improves service for streetcars and marginally hurts the ability to drive and park on St. Clair Avenue. I think it's wonderful. The construction was a mess, but I don't think it really costs much money at all to put up some elevated concrete. Do some research before you start spouting off baseless comments.
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