Commute from UofT area to York

[Derek57]

Hi all,

I'm moving to toronto in a couple of months.My wife will be attended UofT, and I will likely be attending YorkU (both grad students). A major impact on my decision to accept offers from UofT or York is actually the commute. As we really want to live in an urban environment I am thinking the Annex or St.Clair West so my wife can walk/lrt quickly to school.

Question:
Does anyone have any idea how long on average it takes to commute from the Annex or St.Clair west to YorkU? I could drive, but would take transit if it makes sense. One on the one hand it is downtown, and would be during rushhour, while on the other Im going against downtown traffic. Any experiences??

Thanks!

 

[taal]

Hi all,

I'm moving to toronto in a couple of months.My wife will be attended UofT, and I will likely be attending YorkU (both grad students). A major impact on my decision to accept offers from UofT or York is actually the commute. As we really want to live in an urban environment I am thinking the Annex or St.Clair West so my wife can walk/lrt quickly to school.

Question:
Does anyone have any idea how long on average it takes to commute from the Annex or St.Clair west to YorkU? I could drive, but would take transit if it makes sense. One on the one hand it is downtown, and would be during rushhour, while on the other Im going against downtown traffic. Any experiences??

Thanks!

You must not be really familiar with the area : ) ... you can live anywhere in central Toronto and get to YorkU / UofT fairly quicky at all times of the day ...

So here's what you do:
Spadia line up to Downview ... and take the 196 ... which for part of the way has a dedicated lane straight to YorkU! It's about 15min and add on the subway ride.

So you can base your commute on how far away you are from the Spadia line ... St. Clair west your basically there. But even if you lived downtown (i.e. closer to Bloor or south) it'd be fairly quick.

Also wanted to point out it doesn't really matter what direction your going in. You can go with or against traffic and it'll be the same. You'll be going with traffic for the 196 of course.

 

[Derek57]

You must not be really familiar with the area : ) ... you can live anywhere in central Toronto and get to YorkU / UofT fairly quicky at all times of the day ...

So here's what you do:
Spadia line up to Downview ... and take the 196 ... which for part of the way has a dedicated lane straight to YorkU! It's about 15min and add on the subway ride.

So you can base your commute on how far away you are from the Spadia line ... St. Clair west your basically there. But even if you lived downtown (i.e. closer to Bloor or south) it'd be fairly quick.

Also wanted to point out it doesn't really matter what direction your going in. You can go with or against traffic and it'll be the same. You'll be going with traffic for the 196 of course.

Hmm, i guess I must not be Thanks for the response.

According to googlemaps on transit it takes almost an hour from UofT to York. It seems simple, but still like quite a hassle - including walking/waiting for the bus (15-20 mins) on an outdoor platform...? What would you think is the overall length of time? Maybe I'm not used to toronto style transit.

I guess if i took transit then St.Clair or Annex doesn't really matter.

How would you compare this with driving? According to google again, driving is significantly faster, but that might not be the case if traffic is bad, and the bus has its own lane.

 

[taal]

Hmm, i guess I must not be Thanks for the response.

According to googlemaps on transit it takes almost an hour from UofT to York. It seems simple, but still like quite a hassle - including walking/waiting for the bus (15-20 mins) on an outdoor platform...? What would you think is the overall length of time? Maybe I'm not used to toronto style transit.

I guess if i took transit then St.Clair or Annex doesn't really matter.

How would you compare this with driving? According to google again, driving is significantly faster, but that might not be the case if traffic is bad, and the bus has its own lane.

In terms of driving I'm not too sure. It really depends exactly what route you'd take. I think driving From say St.Clair would be pretty fast as you could get on the Alan (i.e. follow the subway) up to about downsview. The part on Keele can get slow though.
Also, coming back will probably more of a pain.

From downtown (again it depends exactly where you board the spadina line) i'd say an hour isn't too far off (maybe a little faster). The 196 runs very frequently, every 5 min or so during the rush (not as frequent in the summer when there aren't many students though). There's also the 106 (but it takes longer).

I'm also not quite sure what 'walking' your referring too, unless you mean inside the station ? Along the same lines, you'd never be outside effectively, the platform is completely covered in downsview, I guess there's the part you need to step outside to get on the bus.

One thing to keep in mind: Come 2015/16 the subway is being extented to go all the way to York University, so no bus involved.

 

[PL1]

I recently did this commute frequently this past few months. It's about 45-50 min from St. George (UofT) to York. The subway is pretty quick, say 20-25 min, and the 196 express bus to York is very frequent (<5 min wait on average). It goes via bus-only lanes to York, around 15 min. Of course, sometimes it's slower. (The Annex is probably closer to Spadina or even Dupont stations, so cut off maybe 3-4 min from the trip. St. Clair West is another 2-3 min closer to York) Don't forget that you can use the travel time for reading.

As for driving, parking at York is fairly expensive, although if you spend some time you can find on street parking that's a reasonable walk to where you want to be. And you can't read when you drive!

 

[Derek57]

Good points. Thanks to both of you!

So it sounds like either by car or transit its 45-50 mins. And moving out to st.claire would save me maybe 5 mins, if. I guess its good to know transit is as fast as driving. Thats 1.5 hours a day :/ Stupid York.
Toronto transit isn't so insanely packed to make it impossible to read?

 

[nfitz]

Toronto transit isn't so insanely packed to make it impossible to read?

Northbound to York in morning rush isn't bad as far as the crowds - on the subway at least; the bus would be more variable. The peak load is south ... and on the Yonge part of the line.

The key to making the commute work is likely finding somewhere walking distance to a subway station.

Or waiting 4 years until they finish the subway extension ... travel time from the York University station to St. George will be about 25 minutes.

 

[taal]

Northbound to York in morning rush isn't bad as far as the crowds - on the subway at least; the bus would be more variable. The peak load is south ... and on the Yonge part of the line.

The key to making the commute work is likely finding somewhere walking distance to a subway station.

Or waiting 4 years until they finish the subway extension ... travel time from the York University station to St. George will be about 25 minutes.

Actually from my expereince the 196 can be pretty bad. During the summer breaks it's a smooth quiet ride!
But during the school term depending on the time you get to work you're not likely to get a seat. At least that's my experience.
Of course if you leave earlier or later then the usual you'll be OK. But I mean this is 15 min so it's not a big deal.

 

[jn_12]

I did an even farther commute when I was doing my masters at York: Harbourfront to York U. It would take anywhere from an hour to 1h20, but that involved an additional street car just to get to the subway.

What you will find is that many of your fellow students will be using the subway as well. Most of the socializing I did with classmates was on my way home from class on the subway, which makes the time fly.
Also, given that you're a grad student, I'm assuming you'll have at most 4 classes per week. If you're lucky you can limit the amount of time you're at York by having multiple classes on some days. For example, I never had to go to York more than 3 times in a week (and that was just in my first semester). Of the other 4 semesters I was on campus twice/week for two of them and not at all for the other two.

 

[Observer Walt]

... As for driving, parking at York is fairly expensive, although if you spend some time you can find on street parking that's a reasonable walk to where you want to be. And you can't read when you drive!

I'm not sure how much parking costs now at York, but was expensive when I took a night class there four or five years ago. Don't count on finding off-campus parking, within less than 20 min. walking time, or probably longer depending on precisely where, on campus, you are going. Street parking is limited to say the least, and private properties around the campus do not want to host student commuter parking. On balance I would suggest taking transit. It will be cheaper, and little or no loss of time vs. driving. Of course, the new subway will be a game-changer, but you will hopefully have your degree and be out of there by that time! Best wishes.

 

[nfitz]

I did an even farther commute when I was doing my masters at York: Harbourfront to York U. It would take anywhere from an hour to 1h20, but that involved an additional street car just to get to the subway.

How long ago was that? They've knocked a good 10 minutes off the travel time with the new busway from Downsview to York during peak periods, and made the travel time much more predictable.

 

[NikoS]

I use to live at St. Clair West - on vaughan road - when going to york.... Was great location for access to YorkU and the rents were much more affordable than downtown. There may even be decent rentals near forest hill village on montclaire or heath street - there is a back entrance to the subway there... York use to get jammed with cars in the evening..

 

[jn_12]

How long ago was that? They've knocked a good 10 minutes off the travel time with the new busway from Downsview to York during peak periods, and made the travel time much more predictable.

I finished up there last April. I say 1 hour to 1h20 because it would usually take 1h10, but if I was lucky and caught a streetcar to Union right away and then didn't have to wait for a train and then didn't have to wait for a bus it would take me an hour, but if I had to wait or there was a delay on the subway (they tend to stop for a few minutes at certain stations) then it'd be closer to 1h20. It was pretty hit or miss and I usually left for school about an hour and a half before class.

 

[spider]

A major impact on my decision to accept offers from UofT or York is actually the commute.

Really? There is no difference in the programs that trumps simple logistics?

 

[reaperexpress]

According to googlemaps on transit it takes almost an hour from UofT to York. It seems simple, but still like quite a hassle - including walking/waiting for the bus (15-20 mins) on an outdoor platform...? What would you think is the overall length of time? Maybe I'm not used to toronto style transit.

I guess if i took transit then St.Clair or Annex doesn't really matter.

How would you compare this with driving? According to google again, driving is significantly faster, but that might not be the case if traffic is bad, and the bus has its own lane.

I highly doubt that driving is faster than transit for that commute. The subway has a much higher average speed than you could possibly achieve in a car at rush hour, and the bus flies past traffic using its dedicated lanes and roads. I don't think the time spent transferring between the two (<5 min) would make up for that.

I did a similar commute, from Dufferin/Steeles (somewhat near York U) to U of T, and it is reasonably fast. At Downsview Station going south I always got a seat, but at Queens Park going north I rarely got one until St. George, when there is a big turnover. I know you get a fair bit of reading done on that trip. In one week, I was able to read most of Jane Jacob's "The Death and Life of Great American Cities".

If you do take transit, you should get to know the system or keep a map on you in case of a subway shut down. I absolutely never take the shuttle bus service because there will be a long wait to get on a bus, and the bus will be overcrowded and often slow. There are always regular-service alternatives (though these may become overcrowded too, depending on how obvious they are). It amazed me that when the Yonge subway shut down last year, people were telling the news people that they had waited up to an hour to get on the shuttle bus. In that time, they could have already gotten to their destination if they had just taken the Spadina line instead and then taken a regular bus back to Yonge.

Really? There is no difference in the programs that trumps simple logistics?

I'm sure there are other reasons, but when making a big decision like this it makes sense to be as informed as possible. Your commute can actually have a big impact on your life if it is really unbearable. In this case either university would have an easy commute.