Getting Around: Public Transportation

As I mentioned in the second post, the transportation system here in Toronto is good, but not as extensive as New York.  It consists of subway, street cars, and buses operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), GO Transit, and taxi service.

TTC

I find the TTC very easy to use, and I’m thankful to not have to use a car to get around all of the time.  But, it is expensive - $3/ride or $111/month.  Single rides are paid for with a token, which really makes me miss the metro-card technology in New York though they do have cards monthly passes.  For the most part, the TTC does not run late at night so keep that mind when planning your night.  The system map and schedules can be found on the TTC website.  Also, it looks like you can now use Google Maps to plan your trip, which is awesome!  This is a brand new development (less than a week!) so I can't really speak to the accuracy.

Subway:  Consists of two lines that run primarily in downtown but do connect to some close in areas of town.  The stations are much cleaner than NY, and they have the screens that tell you when the next train is arriving.  As patient as I am, I really like to know when I can expect the next train!

Street Cars:  The network of street cars is fairly comprehensive in downtown, and it fills in the gap left by the two subway lines.  But, the street cars make frequent stops and are required to stop at lights.  Additionally, many of them run in the middle of the road so they also have to stop with traffic, which can make this a slow ride.  Certain routes (and supposedly more to come) have a separate lane for the street cars making them more direct than those fighting with traffic.

Buses:  I haven’t actually used one.  I wasn’t a bus person in NY either, I’m not sure why. There are tons of bus routes so I'll have to give it a try - now that Google maps can help me!

GO Transit

The GO trains connect outer parts of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), where the TTC service does not cover, to Toronto proper.  This is great for people who live outside of the city but work or play in Toronto.  I’ve never used the service, but the website is very comprehensive.  It looks pretty expensive for a daily commute if you ask me - $229/month and then you likely have to add a monthly TTC pass on top of that.  There are also buses within the system, and you can take that out to the main airport - don’t ask me why the train itself doesn’t run directly to the airport…would make sense if you ask me.

Taxis

Hailing a cab is pretty easy on busy streets, and the lights work the same as in NY – if the light is on they should be open, and if off they are not open.  Cabs are expensive here – the pick-up fee alone is $4 (compared to $2.50 in NY), which means just to get into a cab whether you go 5 feet or 5 miles will cost you $4 plus the time/distance of the trip (see post on how expensive things are in Toronto – keep in mind they have to buy gas!).  Drivers take credit cards and cash.  Customarily you should tip the driver, and I usually tip around 15%.  

Overall, I'm still learning the system and so far find it pretty easy to use.  I'll update the posts as I learn more about the buses and GO Transit.