4/16/2004

A pointless day on public transit

Today I took the subway down from Yorkdale to Union Station, hopped a streetcar (they're calling it LRT now--light rapid transit) to Harbourfront, ate a hot dog and drank a bottle of water ($4 total); it was a lot of acqua, so I went pee in one of the restrooms in York Quay. Then I walked around the water's edge, staring at newly constructed condos on Queen's Quay West. Then I got back on a streetcar, returned to Union, caught the subway to Queen, where I took a streetcar (one of the big accordion ALRVs--articulated light rail vehicle) all the way to Kipling Ave in Etobicoke--what I thought would be a pleasant 30 minute ride took more than an hour, as Queen Street traffic from Yonge to about Dufferin is a nightmare (streetcars mixed with automobiles = slow as hell). Anyway at Lakeshore and Kipling I caught the bus north back to the Bloor subway line, which I rode east to St. George station. From there I interchanged to the University-Spadina line, going north back to Yorkdale, where I picked up my car and drove home. Total excursion time: 3 hours, 32 minutes. Total cost (exclusive of hot dogs): $3.80.

The question you are asking, no doubt, is don't I have anything better to do? The answer, at least for today, is no, I do not. If you'd like to know more about urban rail transit systems around the world, click here.

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