How long is your regular daily commute?

[ehlow]

How many UT'ers commute from the city to the burbs?

A friend of mine lives in Leslieville and I was amazed when he said it takes him 30 minutes at 8:30 am to get from the east end to his office at the 404 & 407. I can only imagine how bad that commute is going the other way at the same time of day.

I've met plenty of people who commute downtown to Scarborough or Markham or Mississauga.

 

[nfitz]

I'm surprised it's only 30 minutes.

Used to take me about almost 30 minutes from Gerrard/Coxwell to York Mills/DVP (to Lesmill) on a good day - and 35 on many a day, at that time. 40 minutes wasn't a surprise. And that was without having to get over the 401, and deal with the traffic nightmares on the 404/7 ramp and on 7 itself.

Though perhaps if they fly off the 404/407 ramp, and have an office right near 407/Warden that doesn't require them to touch 7 (though 7 isn't as bad at Warden), it might be barely doable - but that's certainly the good day.

 

[Tuscani01]

30 minutes sounds about right on a normal day. It's only about 15 minutes from Bloor to the 401 at that time. 20-25 on a bad day.

 

[nfitz]

30 minutes sounds about right on a normal day. It's only about 15 minutes from Bloor to the 401 at that time. 20-25 on a bad day.

It's typically 10-15 minutes to get up to the Don Mills Road ramp, and 5 minutes once you get off the DVP though. (though on a bad day, I'd head up to Bermondsey, and enter the DVP at Eglinton - and occasionally through suburbia to Lawrence, when it was blocked).

If "Leslieville" = O'Connor and Donlands - or Dundas & Munro - yes, I can see you might be able to do it!

 

[Tuscani01]

It's typically 10-15 minutes to get up to the Don Mills Road ramp,

From where? I get from CityPlace to the Don Mills ramp in 15 minutes at 8am. Its smooth sailing with absolutely no traffic until just past the Don Mills ramp, where it slows to a crawl.

Google's estimate for 8am is 10-18 minutes too.

 

[kEiThZ]

A perfect topic to resurrect today. Read this:

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/...onto-s-suburbs-intolerable-for-some-1.3441023

People need to understand and think from this voter/commuter/taxpayer's point of view. This is the person who voted in Tory and probably voted in Ford. They are sick of their 2 hr long commutes. They can't afford to live closer to the core either financially or because community ties (especially for some immigrant groups) are in the suburbs.

They see subways as speed. Something LRT advocates just don't understand. They see transfers as just as another chore in the long commute.

And until planners start understanding their frustration and dealing with it, we'll have political gridlock in this city. I hope something comes of RER/Smart Track soon. It's really the only way to make a substantial dent in commute times.

My 63 year old mother has a similar commute as this man everyday. She takes the Neilson bus to SC from Morningside/Finch. Then heads to Union via Kennedy and Yonge. On Google 1.5 hrs. In reality, closer to 1.75 -2 hrs on the return due to timing SRT and bus connections. Thankfully, she's never voted for a Ford.

 

[nfitz]

From where? I get from CityPlace to the Don Mills ramp in 15 minutes at 8am. Its smooth sailing with absolutely no traffic until just past the Don Mills ramp, where it slows to a crawl.

From Leslieville. On Coxwell and O'Connor.

If you live on a highway ramp, you are laughing.

Yes, it's Don Mills to Eglinton and Lawrence on a bad day that's the issue.

 

[44 North]

A perfect topic to resurrect today. Read this:

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/...onto-s-suburbs-intolerable-for-some-1.3441023

People need to understand and think from this voter/commuter/taxpayer's point of view. This is the person who voted in Tory and probably voted in Ford. They are sick of their 2 hr long commutes. They can't afford to live closer to the core either financially or because community ties (especially for some immigrant groups) are in the suburbs.

They see subways as speed. Something LRT advocates just don't understand. They see transfers as just as another chore in the long commute.

And until planners start understanding their frustration and dealing with it, we'll have political gridlock in this city. I hope something comes of RER/Smart Track soon. It's really the only way to make a substantial dent in commute times.

But if RER ends up costing a premium vs TTC (which is reasonable to conclude considering the nature and type of service), then much of what you're saying will be a wash. Many of those low income commuters will still end valuing their dollar over their time and up taking the bus or LRT to the subway.

Sure RER/ST is branded a 'surface subway'. But if it has carpeting, two floors, bathrooms, wifi, ample cushy seats, and costs 2-3x as much to travel the same distance vs TTC...I doubt many will be calling it a subway. Obviously this is just speculated on my part, but I think it's reasonable to conclude this.

 

[kEiThZ]

@44 North

Good point. And I've thought of that. It goes to the question of why don't people take GO today. I don't think it's the price. I think it's the double fare and lack of feeder routes. If we eliminated that, what would ridership be on GO today?

 

[44 North]

@44 North

Good point. And I've thought of that. It goes to the question of why don't people take GO today. I don't think it's the price. I think it's the double fare and lack of feeder routes. If we eliminated that, what would ridership be on GO today?

No doubt its ridership would be considerably higher. RER is a brilliant concept that needs to be pursued, and I can't ever imagine a future where we don't have considerable fare and modal integration between local and regional transit. But if RER is more of a premium service (which I wouldn't doubt it being), then I'd imagine it would price-out lower income people to a considerable extent. So in ten years, people like Oladipupo in the article may still face the exact same commute times.

Another thing is that RER is still somewhat a vision at this point. And depending on how this vision evolves, perhaps part of it may entail the purposeful pricing-out of lower income people. Not to the extent UPX does or anything. But maybe marketed as more of a plush ride for those willing to pay for the luxury and don't want to put up with sardine conditions.

 

[rbt]

So in ten years, people like Oladipupo in the article may still face the exact same commute times.

Going from North Scarborough to North Etobicoke isn't going to be helped with the railway corridors. That Highway 407 service, however, could take a sizable chunk of time off that type of commute.

 

[toaster29]

How many UT'ers commute from the city to the burbs?

A friend of mine lives in Leslieville and I was amazed when he said it takes him 30 minutes at 8:30 am to get from the east end to his office at the 404 & 407. I can only imagine how bad that commute is going the other way at the same time of day.

I commute from the 416 to Mississauga via Gardiner & 427. Morning commute is about double the time compared to afternoon commute home. I have discovered a few time-savers, but ultimately the slowest part of this is the Gardiner to 427N ramp, which I often avoid by getting off at Kipling and back on either via Evans or the Queensway.

 

[WislaHD]

A perfect topic to resurrect today. Read this:

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/...onto-s-suburbs-intolerable-for-some-1.3441023

People need to understand and think from this voter/commuter/taxpayer's point of view. This is the person who voted in Tory and probably voted in Ford. They are sick of their 2 hr long commutes. They can't afford to live closer to the core either financially or because community ties (especially for some immigrant groups) are in the suburbs.

They see subways as speed. Something LRT advocates just don't understand. They see transfers as just as another chore in the long commute.

And until planners start understanding their frustration and dealing with it, we'll have political gridlock in this city. I hope something comes of RER/Smart Track soon. It's really the only way to make a substantial dent in commute times.

My 63 year old mother has a similar commute as this man everyday. She takes the Neilson bus to SC from Morningside/Finch. Then heads to Union via Kennedy and Yonge. On Google 1.5 hrs. In reality, closer to 1.75 -2 hrs on the return due to timing SRT and bus connections. Thankfully, she's never voted for a Ford.

https://medium.com/@evdelen/the-impossible-journey-72cc05749491#.iayq6tufo

The Response to the article.

 

[hawc]

Live in Cabbagetown. Work in Liberty Village. Sure I could cycle across the city, but I'm lazy, so I jump in my car and go DVP/Gardiner to get there. With a little traffic about 20 minutes. Without traffic about 13 minutes. Nice and easy.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I have two commutes. Most days it's a 8 min walk to my office, but once a week it's a 4-hour round trip to Kitchener.