When the TTC announced that fares might be going up, management limited token sales in an attempt to stem hoarders. By purchasing tokens now, 25-cents is saved each ride if the token is used in the new year. Because so many people were taking advantage of this, the taps were turned off. Laurence begs to differ on this logic, but the truth is that if you want to purchase fares in advance you have to purchase temporary adult tickets. When 2010 rolls around and fares go up, these tickets will only be accepted with a 25-cent top-up.

About the same time this was happening, the Presto smart fare card was being field tested ahead of a full roll-out over the next year. Presto could have made this fare increase more manageable, but mass media details on how it will work for the rider have been slim. Many of the questions being raised have already been answered, but the information isn’t really getting out to the public. So, here’s some reflections on what Presto can do for the riders in the GTHA. (more…)

It’s been about 12 months since I purchased my Avenir folding bicycle, and while the head-turning novelty has worn off, the flexibility that a bicycle adds to my commute has not. Originally, the decision to buy a bicycle came out of a parking problem. My house is a 15 minute drive from Brampton GO station, but the parking lot tends to fill up by 7:15 am. If there were no spots remaining then the only other solution was to drive another 20 minutes across Brampton to Bramalea GO station. In order to avoid the parking lot altogether I would have to walk 20 minutes from my front door to the Orangeville GO bus stop for a 15 minute trip to Brampton GO. A bike would have cut the walk to 4 minutes, but there was no place I felt comfortable locking up the bike for the day and I had a desire to take the bike downtown to save on TTC fares. The solution was a folding bike, which are allowed on rush hour GO trains and could be folded, bagged, and placed in the luggage compartment of almost all GO buses. (more…)