ISC / SCI Conference - 2009
Congrès de la SCI / ISC - 2009

Getting Around in Toronto

Airport Connections • Local Taxi Service • Public Transit • Downtown PATH System • Streets and Highways

Some Helpful Links

• Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) — official Web site of "the better way"
• Toronto Parking Authority — the people who run all those "Green P" lots
• Toronto Gas Prices — self-explanatory ...

Toronto Tip: Remember to dial the area code for all phone numbers, even local ones. Toronto adopted the 10-digit dialling system when a new area code, 647, was added within the city limits.

Pearson Airport Connections

There are a number of ways to get into the city from Toronto's Pearson Airport (and back again):

• Public transit: Several TTC routes serve the airport, including the "Airport Rocket" bus (route 192), which connects to the Kipling subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line.

• Express bus: The Pacific Western Airport Express bus also provides service from Pearson airport to major downtown hotels.

• Taxis and limousines: The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) Web site provides info on both taxi and limousine service and pre-arranged taxi and limousine service.

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Local Taxi Service

You can get a taxi quickly in Toronto by dialing either of these two numbers:

• #TAXI, or #8294 (cellphones only)
• 416-TAXICAB, or (416) 829-4222

Local cab companies include:

• Beck Taxi - (416) 751-5555
• Diamond Taxi - (416) 366-6868
• Co-op Cabs - (416) 504-2667

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Public Transit

The city's public transit system is run by the Toronto Transit Commission, or "TTC" (known by its slogan of "the Better Way"). The subway system, first opened on Yonge Street in 1954, is composed of three lines: the north-south Yonge-University-Spadina line, the east-west Bloor-Danforth line, and the short east-west Sheppard line. Additionally, a short rapid transit ("RT") line runs east in Scarborough. Several of Toronto's subway stations feature artwork; the system is famous for its musicians, who are chosen at annual auditions and perform at 25 stations. Although buses operate on most of Metro Toronto's surface routes, streetcars like the one pictured at left (affectionately known as "red rockets") are a fixture throughout the downtown area; Toronto is one of the few North American cities to retain its historic streetcar system. Most streetcars run from about 5 a.m. until about 1:30 a.m. on weekdays, with reduced service on weekends.

Did you know ...? Although shot mostly in Cleveland, several scenes in the 1983 classic A Christmas Story were filmed in Toronto. If you know the movie, think back to the scene where Ralphie's family buys their Christmas tree. It was filmed at a parking lot on Queen Street West because Toronto's red PCC streetcars were still in use at the time – in fact, streetcars can be seen going back and forth in the background.

Fares

Customers	Cash Fare	Tickets or Tokens
Adults	$2.75	5 tickets or tokens for $11.25 / 10 tickets or tokens for $22.50
Seniors / Students	$1.85	5 tickets for $7.50 / 10 tickets for $15.00
Children	70 cents	10 tickets for $5.00

A day pass, which provides unlimited one-day travel on all regular TTC services, costs $9.00.

Subway Routes and Schedules
• A map of the entire subway system can be viewed on the TTC Web site. This map is also displayed in all subway cars and stations.
• Subway hours are as follows (please note the late start on Sundays):
     • Weekdays and Saturdays: approximately 6 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.
     • Sundays: approximately 9 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.

Blue Night Network
The Blue Night Network comprises all-night bus service on selected routes. A map of available routes can be found on the TTC Web site.

GO Transit
In addition to the Toronto transit system, GO Transit (short for "Government of Ontario Transit") is an interregional system of commuter trains and buses that connect the suburban areas both within Metro Toronto and in the 905 area to the city. GO, which started operating in 1967, carries some 45 million passengers a year from Hamilton to the Oshawa area and up to Lake Simcoe. A map of the system can be viewed on the GO Web site.

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Downtown PATH System

Toronto's major downtown office towers, as well as five subway stations and some major attractions and government buildings, are linked by an underground pedestrian tunnel known as the PATH. With 27 km (16 miles) of shopping and 371,600 square metres (4 million square feet) of retail space, it is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest underground shopping complex. A PDF PATH map (105 KB) shows the complete system.

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Streets and Highways

Because most Toronto streets are laid out in a grid pattern, getting around is not too difficult for visitors. All east-west arteries are numbered starting at Yonge Street (i.e., they go both eastward and westward from #1). In addition, some streets change names at Yonge (e.g., College Street west of Yonge, Carlton Street east of Yonge).

Did you know ...? Yonge Street was named by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe in honour of British Secretary of War Sir George Yonge. Bloor Street, which joins Yonge Street at the city's major intersection, was named after brewer Joseph Bloor, who developed land in the area and founded the Village of Yorkville.

The city's major highway is the 401, which runs east-west across the northern part of Metro Toronto and is considered North America's busiest. The north-south Highway 400 intersects the 401 in the city's northwest end, and is one of the traditional routes to cottage country. The east-west Gardiner Expressway (named for former Metro Chairman Frederick Gardiner) and the north-south Don Valley Parkway (nicknamed the "Don Valley Parking Lot" because of its congestion) are the city's other multi-lane freeways. The controversial Highway 407 is a toll expressway that runs east-west beyond the northern limits of Metro. In the west end, the Queen Elizabeth Way (the "QEW") runs from Toronto south through Hamilton and into the Niagara Region; opened in 1939, it was named for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

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