Toronto Commute Question(s)

[jtuds]

I will try to make this quick. Thanks ahead of time for your suggestions.

I was hired in Toronto and expected to be working in an office downtown but have recently found out I will be at Keele/401.

My original plan was to take a GO from Oakville to Union then TTC to College and work would be close by. However, I now am looking at having to drive from Oakville (Dorval) to Keele or at least Islington which means facing the QEW/427/401 every morning and afternoon.

Is anyone familiar with what sort of time I'd be looking at to make this drive on an average day?

Also, does anyone know (roughly) how long the GO-TTC to Wilson Station-bus to Wilson/Keele would take me in comparison?

For the sake of my sanity I am considering living in the city and driving the sorter distance to work. Yonge/Eg is currently the area I am looking at. Doing this will greatly increase me living expenses but will likely save my sanity.

Thanks for the help, cheers.

[sjc]

Depending how close to Keele/401 you will be working, there appears to be a GO bus that goes from Oakville GO to Keele/401.

403 GO Bus

Looks like it takes about an hour.

[Swamp Thing]

There seems to be a GO bus from Oakville GO station that stops at Keele/401:

http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/...=1&page=1&new=

Morning rush hour travel time is about one hour. And GO buses are a nicer ride than you might think.

Oops. SJC beat me to it.

[jtuds]

Thanks, I hadn't checked that. It turns out that the bus stops exactly where I'll be working, so I think I've found my solution.....now to find out what the monthly pass will cost me.

[DavidH]

Thanks, I hadn't checked that. It turns out that the bus stops exactly where I'll be working, so I think I've found my solution.....now to find out what the monthly pass will cost me.

$227 from Oakville GO Station to Keele/401. Note that you can claim these on your income tax, so you will get about 15% back when you file.

And as Swamp Thing said above, GO buses are a nice ride. They are air-conditioned and have fairly comfortable reclining seats, reading lights, and overhead bins for stuff (rarely used, but they are there). I can't speak about Oakville, but from Ajax to Yonge and back, I never have trouble getting seats and often get two seats to myself.

[sjc]

$6.95 a trip, $227 a month, according to the fare calculator.

GO Transit Fare Calculator

Note that the schedule is rush-hour only, but you could always take the subway down to Union from Yorkdale/Wilson and take the train if you got stuck.

[jtuds]

Apparently the D beside the stop time means you have to request a stop at that location, I hope I'm not that guy who makes the driver stop every day when the other riders have places to be.

Either way I hope it is reliable and that my manager understands when the bus gets stuck in traffic. I guess it's no different than if I drove by myself anyway...

[DavidH]

Either way I hope it is reliable and that my manager understands when the bus gets stuck in traffic. I guess it's no different than if I drove by myself anyway...

Exactly. GO bus schedules are fairly conservative and assume a reasonable level of delay due to traffic congestion, but they don't account for those truly awful days where the highway is just completely blocked up.

As a point of comparison, though - my 7:02 departure from Ajax GO gets me off in front of work at about 7:30 - 7:35 most days, which is nominally about 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule. So if you take the scheduled time, you'll probably beat that time more often than not and be there "on time" 90% of the time or better.

[jtuds]

Exactly. GO bus schedules are fairly conservative and assume a reasonable level of delay due to traffic congestion, but they don't account for those truly awful days where the highway is just completely blocked up.

As a point of comparison, though - my 7:02 departure from Ajax GO gets me off in front of work at about 7:30 - 7:35 most days, which is nominally about 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule. So if you take the scheduled time, you'll probably beat that time more often than not and be there "on time" 90% of the time or better.

Well that's good to know.

The truly awful days are going to happen to anyone who deals with the highway. I think that's understandable, especially considering that my office is not directly on a subway line.

[sjc]

Apparently the D beside the stop time means you have to request a stop at that location, I hope I'm not that guy who makes the driver stop every day when the other riders have places to be.

I don't think it is that bad. For the Keele stop, the bus just takes the Keele exit off the 401, stops at the end of the exit (or somewhere very close -- been a long time since I've been on that bus) and then gets right back on the highway. It shouldn't really cause any great delays unless traffic at the exit is backed up.

[RedRocket191]

Be careful! Unless you ring the bell the bus will stay on the highway and run straight to Yorkdale!

I know everyone's already pointed this out but I can't stress it enough!

[DavidH]

Be careful! Unless you ring the bell the bus will stay on the highway and run straight to Yorkdale!

Also, some trips don't stop at Keele at all (shown with an arrow through the Keele entry in the schedule). These are the 19B and 19C trips.

[GraphicMatt]

Hey Jeff - I guess the question you asked me via facebook doesn't apply then? A place at Yonge & Eg for the summer would be pretty cool.

[urbandreamer]

A better location for you would be around the area I live: Keele/High Park/Bloor area or the Junction. Plenty of apartment buildings to chose from--Keele Subway Stn takes you to the Annex within 10 minutes; to downtown (King and U) within 30 minutes; Keele St bus takes you straight to work @401/Keele in less than 30 minutes. Beats Yonge and Eglinton imho.

[jtuds]

Hey Jeff - I guess the question you asked me via facebook doesn't apply then? A place at Yonge & Eg for the summer would be pretty cool.

Where was my facebook reply Matt??

Anyway, according to the person I spoke to as GO, the terminal at Keele/401 is right in front of the office....I need to test this somehow though because even though it is super close, walking from the ramp would be rough in the winter. I imagine the pickup wouldn't be at the corner of a ramp, so there's got to be a terminal somewhere.....

If you tell the driver when you get on, do you still have to ring the bell??