hey all,

welcome to PART 3 of aska’s roller coaster of a series about transportation in the city (here’s part 1 and part 2 in case you missed them).

today, we come to the NAIL-BITING CONCLUSION, which resembles so many TV shows in that it is not so much a coherent resolution than it is a random mish-mash of loose ends that i haven’t had a chance to wrap up yet.

HERE WE GO!

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1. streetcars

most people who have to use streetcars to get to school have been using them all their lives, and don’t need a guide. just in case you’re brand new to them, here are the basics:

• you can use your Presto card on streetcars, but you cannot use Metropasses (EDIT: there has been a lot of discussion on this on twitter/tumblr/facebook/the comments section. it is my experience that i have used Presto, but many are saying that they’ve only ever used metropasses. i think the source of the confusion is that there are some new streetcars being transitioned in which take only Presto. in any case, if you have a Presto and a metropass or change, you should be fine).
• if you’ve never used one before: streetcars stop in the middle of the road, since they can’t pull over to the side of the road for stops. be prepared to cross half the street in order to board a streetcar. (but do noT WAIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD).
• here are all the streetcar routes in Toronto.
• here is the TTC’s systems map.

2. commuter dons

some colleges within the faculty of arts & science have commuter dons. they provide community in exactly the same way a residence don might – by organizing events, meeting regularly with their residents to help them resolve any issues (and just to hang out), and giving commuter students a home base within the university. they are super helpful and definitely worth your time.

here is some more information about commuter dons/services from colleges who have them:

• St. Mike’s
• University College
• Victoria
• New
• Trinity (not commuter dons, but a similar, very helpful service)

3. walking

walking sucks, especially when it’s cold and windy outside and deathly icy on the ground. but until we get the funding to build completely enclosed, insulated overhead tunnels to connect all the buildings on campus (my ultimate dream), we will have to continue to brave the elements.

if you’re not familiar with the campus, i’d recommend locating your classes on the uoft map (just type in the building code you see on your personal timetable on ROSI) before classes start. do a practice walk to the buildings, if you can. it’ll help you locate the rooms, and also measure how long it takes to get from one class to another.

if you can’t get to campus before school starts (or if you’re just LAZY), i’d recommend seeing how long Google maps estimates it will take you to walk from one building to another. it’s usually fairly accurate.

that’s it, that’s all, folks. i hope this guide has helped calm the first-time commuter jitters. and remember, if you have any more questions, just send ’em my way. i promise i’ll only complain a little.

cheers,

aska

hello friends,

in anticipation of the new batch of commuter students who will be arriving on campus soon, i am releasing a series of guides about transportation in the city. hopefully, that will help you navigate the nightmarish variety of different public transit systems that have all been haphazardly stitched together in toronto without any apparent logic (i mean…i’m totally okay with the transit here! what?)

here’s part 1 of the guide. and now, onto part 2 – subways!

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once you actually get downtown, you’ll probably have to use the subway to get onto campus you can access the subway using:

1. a Metropass.

if you’re going to be using the subway every day, it’s probably worth your while to get a Metropass. this is a card that gives you unlimited access to Toronto’s subway system. right now, a monthly Metropass costs $108 for students (but who knows how high it’ll climb). to use a discounted card, you will need…

2. a Post-Secondary TTC Student Photo ID.

you can get these for $5.25 (price EDITED) at Sherbourne station.

3. if you’re not going to be using the subway too often, but need to use it occasionally, you can buy tokens at certain subway stations. token———————————————prices are here. you can also use your Presto card (if you have one) at certain stations.

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4. important subway stations.

there are a few subway stations in and around campus that you will definitely use at least once this year. they are:

– St. George station: St. George opens onto St. George and Bloor, and also a little further East, on Bloor St. you CAN use Presto at this station, but only at the easternmost entrance on Bedford Street. you CAN buy tokens here, at both entrances.

– Museum station: Museum station is at the top of Queen’s Park Circle. you CANNOT use Presto here, and you CANNOT buy tokens here. very pretty, though.

– Queen’s Park station: Queen’s Park is, appropriately, at the bottom of Queen’s Park Circle. you CAN use Presto here, and you CAN buy tokens.

you’ll probably find your way around all sorts of dusty corners of the TTC at one point or another, but these are the stations on campus.

note: technically, you can buy tokens at any subway station from the TTC employee working the booth, but often there is no one there, so that’s a bit of a hit and miss. again, if you will be using the subway a lot, a metropass is a great investment.

if you want to see a map of campus where these stations are marked, go here.

i also took the liberty of measuring via Google Maps how long it takes to walk between the three on-campus subway stations (wow aska, thank you so much, i will commit this to memory and never be late again <3):

St. George – Eastbound Platform to Museum Station – Northbound Platform: 8 mins

Museum Station – Southbound Platform to Queen’s Park Station – Northbound Platform: 11 mins

St. George – Westbound Platform to Queen’s Park – Northbound Station: 16 mins

also, if you want to see where the on-campus subway stations are in relation to your classes, log onto ROSI, click on ‘Personal Timetable’ on the left-hand menu, click on ‘2014 Fall’ or ‘2015 Winter,’ and then, directly underneath the personal timetable, click on the link where it says ‘You can view a map of your classes located on the UofT Campus.’ that’s a neat tool, eh?

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5. the TTC subway map.

helpful stuff. though you’ll likely have it memorized after two weeks of being afraid to look anywhere else on the subway except up at the map/ads.

next week: commuter dons, streetcars, and walking (ew).

cheers,

aska

a lot of the nightmare stories high school students tell about uoft are related to transport. “the campus is so big,” you whisper to each other in lockered hallways, “that people there have to take the subway between classes!”

not true. some of us (including me) are so lazy that we do, in fact, take the subway, but if we (i) weren’t so stubbornly lazy, then we (i) could easily walk.

but people still spread rumours. so i’m here now to GRIND THEM INTO THE DUST.

this crash course for commuters will be divided into three parts because everyone on the internet has the attention span of a goldfish, and none of us want to read anything that’s too long (even this sentence is bordering on challenging for me, and i wrote it).

today: the GO train/bus.

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to travel using the GO system, you will need the following:

1. a Presto card.

this baby gets you anywhere (read: mostly anywhere until you really need to use it somewhere and it turns out they don’t take it -.-).

instead of buying a tickets or monthly passes all the time, a Presto card can be reloaded with money for however long you need to use it. you can buy a Presto card at most GO transit terminals or order one online.

to use your card, ‘tap’ it on a Presto machine at your train station or on your GO bus, and voila! you can preset your Presto to a default trip (eg. Oshawa – Union station), or, if you don’t want to do that, just remember to ‘tap off’ (i.e. tap your card at a machine again) when you reach your destination (note: this only applies when you’re using the train, not the bus).

once you get your Presto card, remember to register it online. that’s the only way you can claim it when tax time comes. registering your card also allows you to deactivate it if (let’s be real: when) you lose it.

finally, make sure to ask for a student discount on your Presto. ain’t no sense in getting even more broke than you’re going to be already. and when you do, you’ll need…

2. a GO Student ID card.

you’ll need to show this card along with your Presto any time someone checks your fare. you can get your GO ID at the T-Card office.

3. GO’s fare calculator.

this is a very helpful tool. use it.

that’s all for now. stay tuned for part 2 of this THRILLING series, which will be about the subway system. you’re on the edge of your seat, aren’t you? yeah, i know you are.

best,

aska