With the support of Walk Toronto, I have created a map of all serious injuries and deaths suffered by pedestrians and cyclists in motor vehicle collisions within the City of Toronto, between September 15, 2023 and September 15, 2026. This data comes from the City of Toronto’s open data portal, and includes all collisions on city streets and roadways, including sidewalks and paths. (It does not include crash data on provincial highways or on private property.)
A Vision Zero philosophy, adopted by the City of Toronto, is based on the premise that any serious traffic injury or death is preventable, and not inevitable. Vision Zero recognizes that humans make mistakes, and the road network should be designed to mitigate the results of those errors. The goal of any Vision Zero program should be no deaths or injuries on our streets. With over 500 pedestrians and cyclists seriously injured or killed over a three year period (including 83 deaths), Toronto has a long way to go.
For now, this map remains a work in progress, but is now at a point where it’s ready to be shared for discussion and for feedback. Please feel free to contact me with your suggestions.
The eastern intersection of Niagara Drive and Sheridan Street in Oshawa, where the pedestrians were struck
On Wednesday, October 21, around 9:20 AM, the driver of a Volvo crossover SUV was turning left from Niagara Drive to Sheridan Street in Oshawa. The driver, a 62-year-old woman, struck a daycare worker and five young children who were crossing Sheridan Street at the intersection. A two-year-old was rushed to Sick Kids hospital in life-threatening condition while the adult and another child were sent to a local hospital with serious injuries.
This collision occurred in a residential neighbourhood in suburban North Oshawa, near the Durham College/Ontario Tech University campus, the sort of neighbourhood families move into because of amenities like parks and playgrounds, large single-family houses, and perceived safety. There is absolutely no excuse for a tragedy such as this one, though the Durham Regional Police press release points out that Niagara Drive, a residential side street, “has no traffic control.” However, the pedestrians had the right-of-way, crossing from north to south in an unmarked crosswalk, with traffic on Sheridan and Ryerson facing stop signs.
On Tuesday October 27, I paid a visit to Niagara Drive to see the area for myself.
Niagara Drive is a winding, crescent-shaped street off of Simcoe Street, Oshawa’s main north-south road. All traffic entering or exiting the neighbourhood must exit at one of the two intersections of Niagara and Simcoe, so Niagara is not used as a through route. Sheridan Street is a shorter roadway that meets Niagara Drive twice; opposite Ryerson Crescent on the west side and opposite Canadore Crescent on the east side. (All the streets in the neighbourhood were named for Canadian colleges and universities, likely inspired by the nearby campus.) The collision occurred at the westerly intersection.
There are no painted stop bars, crosswalks, or any visual cues for drivers to watch for pedestrians at the intersection. Just a small stop sign. Note the wide turn radii at the corners.
The entire neighbourhood is designated as a maximum 40 km/h zone, with regular signage along Niagara Street. However, apart from speed limit signs and one automated speed radar monitor, there has been no effort made to slow down drivers along Niagara Drive, even though there are multiple parks and trails in the area.
Pickup driver facing a “your speed” radar sign on Niagara Drive, going 50 km/h in a signed 40 km/h zone
Not one intersection on Niagara Drive is controlled by all-way stop signs, nor are there any other speed control measures, such as speed bumps/speed humps, medians, or curb bump-outs. There is no designated crosswalk for pedestrians to access Niagara Park, which features a playground, shade structure, and a soccer field. Even though parking is restricted (because of the nearby university/college campus), the roadway is wide with no lane markings. Everything about the road design encourages driving well beyond the 40 km/h limit with no need to slow down or stop at any point.
Playground and shade structure at Niagara Park
Even the park in the middle of the neighbourhood is designed for drivers. Though there’s no crosswalk for nearby residents to access the playground, there is a parking lot, an unusual feature for a local park.
Niagara Park parking lot
Though the driver should have seen the children crossing at the intersection, there was no thought by traffic engineers whatsoever to the safety of vulnerable road users on Niagara Drive. Sadly, this is just too typical of North American suburbs, where the streets, parks, and neighbourhoods were designed almost exclusively around the private automobile. In some municipalities, retrofits such as speed humps and all-way stops were later added, but this area is devoid of even those low-cost interventions.
This collision was no accident. The driver failed to yield to pedestrians crossing an intersection with the right of way, and did not see the adult and several young children. The road was designed for fast speeds, despite serving a quiet residential area. Finally, not even the most basic safety interventions were made to prevent tragedies such as this.
GO train at Stratford Station, October 18, 2026, just before 11:30
Ten years ago, I wrote about travelling to Stratford, Ontario by train, lamenting the slow ride and the limited schedule. Now that limited GO train service has returned to Festival City, I thought I’d go for another ride, on Sunday October 18. I also took the opportunity to ride on country roads between Stratford and St. Marys and back while the weather was still good.
Earlier this year, GO Transit introduced one daily train between Stratford and Toronto, a partial restoration of an ill-fated train that went all the way to London. On weekdays, one of the peak express trains to and from Kitchener was extended to Stratford. On weekends and holidays, a new train departs Union Station at 8:49 AM; the return trip departs Stratford at 6:07 PM.
The weekend GO train has operated sporadically throughout the summer and fall of 2026; the Kitchener Corridor is partially closed on certain weekends between Union and Mount Dennis and between Mount Pleasant and Kitchener/Stratford for construction work at the new Stockyards Station, improvements at Guelph Station, construction at the Grand River bridge near Kitchener, and other track work. Though Stratford’s tourism office promotes the service, it can take some thoughtful planning to actually take advantage of the ride.
Advertising for Stratford via GO, featuring the late Victorian city hall
GO previously called at Stratford as part of a two-year pilot extension to London between October 2021 and October 2023. The problems with that service were two-fold. The track conditions west of Kitchener makes for a very slow ride, taking over four hours between Toronto and London, while VIA trains through Aldershot and Brantford could do the trip in almost half the time. By 2021, there were new bus operators between Toronto and London, competing on price and schedule, typically a 2-3 hour ride between the two cities.
The London departure time of 5:20 AM was very early in the morning, even for commuters to Kitchener-Waterloo. The scheduled arrival at Union at 9:13 AM was too late for many office workers. A four hour ride on a GO train is just too long with quad seating intended for much shorter 30-60 minute rides. For Stratford commuters, however, the 6:43 departure made for a more attractive option.
Toronto-bound VIA train arriving at Stratford at 11:39 AM
Despite GO’s return to Stratford, VIA still stops here once a day. Until 1990, VIA offered five trains between Stratford and Toronto, that was cut to just two after the devastating cuts that year. The second train (mornings westbound and evenings eastbound) disappeared during the pandemic and never returned. A few dozen people were waiting for the 11:20 eastbound midmorning train, which had to wait for the GO train to get out of the way, departing Stratford at 11:41.
Despite the loss of one of the two VIA trains, Stratford has more travel options in 2026 than it has in many years. There is a daily Flixbus run between Toronto, Stratford, and London. PC Connect‘s routes link Stratford with Kitchener/Waterloo, St. Marys, and London six days a week. There’s still the Festival shuttle for ticketholders. And now there’s the GO train.
Despite the resumption of GO service, there are still some issues that will have to be addressed. After Metrolinx acquired the Georgetown-Kitchener section of track from CN, it made several improvements including a new passing siding east of Kitchener and improving speeds through Downtown Guelph, up to 45 MPH from 10 MPH (railways in Canada still use miles instead of kilometres). West of Kitchener, the track continues to be owned by CN (which took over operations from the Goderich-Exeter short line several years ago) but remains in fair or poor condition, with bolted rail and multiple permanent slow orders. Through western Kitchener, the train crawled at 16 km/h (10 MPH), before increasing somewhat to 45-48 km/h in Wilmot Township. West of New Hamburg, the train reached speeds of just over 90 km/h. The Kitchener-Stratford section took just over an hour, despite a distance of just 42 kilometres. The screenshots from a GPS app on my phone below depict the speeds along this part.
15.8 km after departing Kitchener48.6 km through New Hamburg, Wilmot Township93.3 km/h near Shakespeare
For a weekend excursion train, the added delays from these slow zones (an additional 10 minutes) do not really matter but they have been causing trouble in the morning peak, with the late departures causing delays and overcrowding at the Brampton stations. On Monday, October 26, the departures and arrivals at Stratford were adjusted to account for this.
As GO Transit’s Stratford service is not yet a permanent, long-term commitment, there are no Presto or fare vending machines at Stratford; customers must purchase their fares on their smartphones. On weekends, GO still offers a $10 day pass, otherwise the fare is $25 one-way. The weekend trains are just six cars long, with only the cab car and the accessible car opening at the short Stratford platform. Bringing a bike on or off can be a challenge if the two spots in the cab car are taken — it will mean getting it up and down the stairs and between the coaches, as I had to on my return trip — to get to the next bike-permitted area.
Only two of the six cars open at Stratford
Unfortunately, the PC Connect bus service may be cut back, as the Town of St. Marys is no longer interested in helping to subsidize it. Instead, St. Marys is more interested in a local service, likely an on-demand system, rather than the limited fixed-route. That might mean the end of the London connection, if not the entire service. Though there is still Flixbus and GO, it might make it harder for students and commuters to get to universities and colleges in neighbouring cities, or for residents to get to work, health services, or social connections.
If the provincial government is committed to the Stratford service, it should either pay CN to upgrade the track to at least the standard it was in the 1980s, when VIA trains were consistently travelling at 70 MPH (110 km/h), or purchase the corridor outright, as it did east of Kitchener. In the meantime, it should ensure the continued operation of PC Connect, perhaps with better integration with the GO services in Kitchener-Waterloo. Metrolinx, as it continues to expand far beyond the Toronto/Hamilton area, should also consider different car configurations for longer trips for passenger comfort, especially as it takes over markets previously served by VIA.
Furthermore, Stratford should be a minihub for Midwestern Ontario, with connecting buses to places like Clinton and Goderich on Highway 8 and up to Listowel, Wingham on Highway 86, even as far as Kincardine.
Ride to St. Marys
St. Marys from the Rotary Trail bridge
St. Marys is about 20 kilometres from Stratford, easily bikeable by way of mostly flat country roads parallel to Highway 7. Though the ride to St. Marys was made difficult by a strong, cold wind from the southwest, the ride back to Stratford was very pleasant. Traffic on Perth South Road 122 was light, with every passing motorist courteous and giving lots of space. Short sections of the ride were on unpaved roads, however.
A short section of unpaved road near St. Marys
St. Marys was once the junction between the Grand Trunk Railway’s 1850s Toronto-Sarnia mainline and a branch south to London. After the Grand Trunk merged with the Great Western, whose southern Ontario mainline passed through Hamilton and London, the old Sarnia route, which served communities such as Forest and Lucan, became a branch line, eventually abandoned in the 1980s. Happily, the bridge over the North Thames River remained in place and was later converted to a short trail within town.
The old railway bridge now a popular active transportation route
The historic stone St. Marys Junction station, abandoned and fenced off for years, recently became an independent brewery. Despite being a bit of a way from St. Marys’ downtown, the place was busy, and worth the stop on the way back to Stratford.
The busy Broken Rail brewery on a Sunday afternoon. Note the federal historic plaque in front.
Bloor Street West, near Islington Avenue, October 14 2026 as dozens of police officers confront cyclists blocking workers from removing the cycling lane
In the so-called “War on the Car,” it feels like the provincial government is the one leading the charge.
In the last few years, the Ontario PC government, led by Doug Ford, has pulled out all the Stops (pun intended) in favouring motorists. Though the province is funding major transit expansion in the Greater Toronto Area, it has also accelerated the construction of new highways in the suburban “905 Belt” including the Bradford Bypass (Highway 425) and Highway 413 between Milton and Vaughan. It eliminated tolls on the provincially-owned sections of Highway 407 in Durham Region. The province also raised most provincial freeway speed limits to 110 kilometres per hour, even on congested sections of Highway 401 in Toronto. It eliminated the automobile licence plate renewal fee, and reduced fuel taxes soon after getting elected. Premier Ford has also pushed for a tunnel under Highway 401 that will never get built, but will waste time and resources for a study.
Along with these pro-driver policy decisions, the Ford government has struck back against local measures that were designed to promote walking and cycling and protect road users — especially pedestrians and cyclists — from injury and death.
In 2025, the province, once again weaponizing its constitutional authority to override municipalities, forced the removal of speed enforcement cameras. Traffic speeds, predictably, went up. In 2024, the government used its majority to pass Bill 212, the “Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act” which prohibits municipalities from installing cycling infrastructure that would take away from general traffic lanes without ministerial approval. The legislation also gave the government authority to override Toronto City Council decisions, by removing city-installed cycling lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue/Queen’s Park Circle. All three of these routes have subways underneath and parallel other multilane routes such as Jarvis Street/Mount Pleasant Road and the Gardiner Expressway. In 2025, Bill 212 was followed by Bill 60, the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act” which outright banned the removal of traffic lanes for bike lanes (or any other prescribed purpose).
It didn’t matter that the municipalities are responsible for their own streets. It didn’t matter that the people of Toronto elected their councils with the mandate to make these local decisions. It didn’t matter that experts and even senior civil servants in the Ministry of Transportation pushed back, as the Toronto Star reports. And it didn’t matter that a majority of Toronto voters rejected the PC government, even tossing out a PC MPP in Etobicoke-Lakeshore in the Winter 2025 snap election.
Several suburban municipalities have used the province’s direction as an excuse to remove some of their cycling infrastructure. The enactment of Bill 60 was cited in the resolution by Brampton City Council earlier this year to remove bike lanes on Charolais Boulevard in the city’s southwest, restoring four driving lanes on a street that never needed them.
Bike lanes on suburban collector roads including Howden Boulevard in Brampton and Aquitaine Avenue in Mississauga (pictured) have also disappearedin 2025-2026. Photo taken on a weekday afternoon.
Make no mistake, this is a culture war, manufactured to pit cyclists that the Ford Brothers have long vilified versus the Ford Nation base of middle class suburbanites and affluent voters. Not only is it a convenient distraction from education scandals, allegations of corruption, and a teetering health system, it’s a great fundraising tool. The PCs don’t need their supporters to chip in to fight the war for the car — they’ll do it with or without your $25 donation — but they’ll sure take your money.
😔 The transportation minister assures me I’m next though
After winning an appeal in August of a lower court decision that had blocked the removal of lanes (in that earlier decision, the judge found that the province had no evidence that cycling infrastructure causes congestion), Ford’s government wasted no time dismantling a 1.1 km section of the Bloor Street bike lanes in Etobicoke, between Clissold Road (just west of Islington) and Royal York Road. Though Bloor Street is a municipal road, the province took it upon itself to begin removal work, overriding the city.
On this section of Bloor, the City of Toronto installed short concrete curbs augmented with plastic flexiposts to separate the bike lanes from parked cars and general traffic, often an interim measure before major road construction allows for more permanent infrastructure. This was a relatively easy bike lane to remove, at least without active opposition from cyclists and safe street activists.
Workers removing flexiposts from small concrete curbs that would later be removed, Wednesday October 14
Work was scheduled to begin the evening of Tuesday, October 13, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. The work was originally intended to only occur after 6PM, to minimize effects on traffic. But after hundreds showed up that evening to block removal work, it was quickly rescheduled for the next day, with work slated to begin by 11 AM. Still, several dozen showed up, and after blocking the work yet again, dozens of police from all over the city came out to put an end to that. The resistance was peaceful, and there was just one arrest of a cyclist refusing to get on the sidewalk that day (a second was arrested in the evening).
Near Etobicoke and Islington on Wednesday morning, before police arrived
One also noticed that the untendered contractor — Verdi Alliance — was not proud of its work on behalf of the province. It covered up the logos on its vehicles with paperboard and duct tape. Logos on its temporary conditions road signage (the orange signs in construction areas) were also covered in tape. One could feel some sympathy for the workers on site, who faced several days of being yelled at, as they are usually assigned for legitimate road work, perhaps installing cycling infrastructure elsewhere.
Workers placing a “bike lane closed” sign on Bloor Street near Roya York with the Verdi Alliance logo at top right taped overVerdi Alliance truck at Bloor and Royal York with logos covered up on Thursday, October 15
To me, the piles of removed concrete curbs in the abandoned bike lane made me think of the piles of old wooden ties from disused railways being ripped up. I had a similar feeling of melancholy when I saw railways like the Orangeville-Brampton line disappear.
Piled concrete curbs and metal anchors in the Bloor Street bike lane in Etobicoke made me thing of railway ties and spikes as an abandoned railway is torn upThe Orangeville-Brampton Railway being torn up in early 2022
While visiting the Kingsway neighbourhood, I could not help but notice how affluent and conservative the Bloor-Royal York area is. In the last weeks of a municipal election, Brad Bradford’s signs dominated over incumbent Olivia Chow’s on large residential lawns. There were many luxury SUVs, such as BMWs, Porsches, and Land Rovers, being driven or parked on the side streets. Teenagers exiting Royal York Station wore the uniforms of prominent Rosedale and Forest Hill private schools. Cycling infrastructure was probably always going to be a hard sell here, where the older urban city meets the postwar suburbs.
Off of Bloor Street, most residential streets are made of large houses on roadways without sidewalks. Of the election signs I saw, most were for right-wing mayoral candidate Brad Bradford and council candidate Ted Opitz, who previously represented the neighbouring riding as a Conservative MP.
Pedestrians walk north on Brentwood Road, a residential side street without sidewalks, despite a nearby Toronto Public Library branch.
But my sadness and anger became a white hot rage after crossing in a marked crosswalk at Bloor and Brentwood: I was nearly nailed by a driver in a Land Rover SUV who violated the HTA by failing to stop at the stop sign and solid stop line protecting the crosswalk and bike lane. This turned out to be a very common occurrence at this intersection, as I sat on a bench and recorded drivers blowing through.
Clearly, drivers here do not care about the safety of anyone else. And the province is catering to them above all others. If pedestrians or cyclists are injured or killed by aggressive, distracted, or speeding motorists, that’s just the cost of living in Doug Ford’s Toronto.
Most drivers at Brentwood Street at Bloor Street West don’t stop at the stop line and roll through the crosswalk
Correction: I amended the information about Bills 60 and 212 to be more accurate.
On Sunday, September 27, I took the GO train to Hamilton with my bike to experience Open Streets Hamilton, an annual event that shuts down just over three kilometres of King Street East between John Street and Gage Street from 10AM to 4PM. An official program of the City of Hamilton, pedestrians and cyclists get to enjoy a car-free experience, with five activation hubs, with live music, play spaces, and booths set up by city-affiliated agencies like the Hamilton Street Railway and Hamilton Public Library as well as local non-profit and activist organizations. Businesses along King Street were welcomed to take their business outside with displays and tables for passers-by to browse.
The Hamilton Public Library’s bookmobile near King and ShermanDrum band at King and Victoria
Hamilton’s Open Streets was a delight. A pleasant, sunny day certainly helped, but it was nice to see so many people sharing the space, all at a gentle pace. Cyclists taking advantage of the car-free King Street were respectful of pedestrians having the whole right-of-way and especially careful around the five hubs. Cyclists looking for a faster route could easily go just two blocks north to Cannon Street, which has a continuous two-way cycletrack as far east as Sherman Avenue.
King Street narrows between John and Wellington Streets through the tree-lined International Village BIA
By extending Open Streets into the later afternoon, Hamilton helped to encourage businesses to participate and to get a wide variety of participants through the day. Though Open Streets in Toronto was supported by the Downtown Yonge BIA, there was limited commercial activity along the routes, likely due to the short hours.
King at Barnesdale, towards the east end of the Open Streets. Note the café on the block put out seating and shade canopies.
In 2026, Toronto only had two blocks of temporary pedestrian activation — Church Street between Alexander and Wellesley Streets in the Village. Happily, that experiment ran for over six weeks, and restaurants and bars took advantage of the extra space. It worked well, despite nearby road construction and concerns about safety and traffic congestion. But it was just a taste of what Toronto can and should do.
Hamilton shows that open streets are popular and Toronto needs to bring them back. Hopefully the mayor and council elected later this month will have the courage and ambition to get Torontonians outside and on the streets.
Two and a half years ago, I took my first transit trip using an on-demand service, travelling between Port Perry and Cannington in rural Durham Region. It was part of a quest I undertook to visit every city and town hall in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area without a car. In March 2023, I found DRT’s booking service to be an exercise in frustration at first, though I eventually landed on a time that worked.
In September 2026, I wanted to travel to Paris, Ontario, a picturesque town of 15,000 people on the Grand River, and only a 15-minute drive from Brantford. In 2000, the Town of Paris was amalgamated with the rural county that surrounds the City of Brantford.
Though ten VIA trains a day pass through Paris, the closest stop is in Brantford
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Paris was served by a Brantford Transit bus route, which made sense given the short distance between the two communities. This service was discontinued in 1996 due to funding cutbacks to transit province-wide by the Mike Harris-led Progressive Conservatives. With the loss of Greyhound’s once-a-day local bus between London and Toronto in 2018, there was no way to get to Paris without a car or a taxi ride.
In 2019, the county launched Brant e-Ride, which was later branded as Brant Transit. An on-demand transit service, Brant Transit serves the entire municipality. It also allows pick-ups and drop-offs anywhere within Brantford, as long as either the origin or destination is within the county’s boundaries. Rides are $6 one-way, or $4 for adults over 55 and free for children 12 and under.
The ability to travel between Brantford and the surrounding county allows Brant County residents easy access to workplaces, schools, shopping, or medical services in Brantford, as well as connections to GO buses to McMaster University and Aldershot Station, VIA Rail trains, and the weekday Ride Norfolk service to Waterford and Simcoe. The service also allows Brantford residents to get to employment areas in Brant County, such as the Ford and Adidas warehouses by Highway 403 and Rest Acres Road (Highway 24 South).
The current contractor to Brant Transit is Via Transportation, a New York-based mobility software company specializing in on-demand transit and shuttle service platforms. Drivers are hired locally and use Brant Transit-branded minivans and SUVs.
Brant Transit ridership is growing, with over 25,000 rides provided in 2024, up 11% from 2023. The overwhelming majority of rides taken are between Brantford and Brant County, rather than within the municipality, with 57% of passengers using the service to get to and from work and another 24% using it to access health services.
Unlike the 2024 DRT experience, I found the booking system easy to use and it accepted my trip requests within the times I was looking for: a pickup in Brantford around 10AM (plenty of time for me to get there from Toronto either by VIA train or GO train/bus) and a pickup in Paris around 4PM. That would give me plenty of time for a leisurely walk around Paris, enjoy a relaxed lunch, and browse the downtown.
I travelled between the bus terminal in Downtown Brantford and the Paris Wincey Mills building, just off Paris’ main street. The old textile mill, once a Canadian Tire store, was beautifully restored, with a café, market, and brewery on the lower level, and offices on the upper two floors.
Paris Wincey Mills Co. building
The only trouble was the initial pick-up. The app, as well as the text alerts, kept telling me to wait at 73 George Street, the location of the old Brantford Carnegie Library now occupied by Wilfrid Laurier University. However, the tracking app — which appears similar to the Uber or Lyft platforms — showed the that correct location was actually the bus terminal. Luckily, I made it in time to meet the driver.
Information provided to me in the Brant Transit App, with driver’s name (redacted), vehicle info (plate and make), pickup time and location and estimated drop off time
I shared the ride to Paris with one other passenger, who remained on board after I departed. On the return ride, I could see the driver made several stops before picking me up, with a stop en route at one of the warehouses near Highway 403, where two other passengers were waiting, all headed to Brantford.
Screenshot of Brant Transit App showing my route back to Brantford Bus Terminal from Paris with an intermediate stop at a warehouse near Highways 24 and 403
Overall, I was satisfied with my experience. The drivers were friendly, the ride comfortable, and the app easy to use. If Brant Transit on a September Thursday was reflective of on-demand transit in general, the concept would leave a very positive experience for users and municipalities alike.
Furthermore, Paris itself continues to grow, with new residential subdivisions on Rest Acres Road near Highway 403. In the future, Brant County should seriously consider fixed-route services to serve commercial and residential growth in and around Paris, either as part of Brant Transit, contracted to Brantford as before 1996, or both. In the meantime, the on-demand service can continue to provide mobility for the rest of the county, and even within Paris during off-peak times such as evenings and weekends.
I would have benefitted from a fixed-route service for a leisurely visit; once the transit times are booked, the passenger is tied to those times. After three hours in Paris, I had more than enough time to see everything I planned; had there been a bus at 3:30, I would have hopped on that instead of waiting for a 4:35 pickup. Though on-demand transit offers geographical flexibility in a sparsely populated or low demand area, fixed-route, scheduled services provide temporal flexibility that on-demand services can not match.
My bike at Mile 15.7 of the Meaford Subdivision, New Lowell
Just before the new Fall 2026 GO Transit schedules kicked in, I decided to take a ride between Barrie and Collingwood, travelling on Ontario’s newest section of rail trail, an extension of the Barrie-Collingwood trail between Stayner and Angus. My ride on September 3 was pleasant and mostly uneventful, taking my bike to the shores of Lake Huron for the first time. Despite a successful 55 kilometre one-way ride, getting a bus ride back to Barrie, both the trail and the transit connections could be significantly improved.
The Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail is named for the Barrie-Collingwood Railway (BCRY), a short line freight operation that took over from CN in the 1990s. The route through Barrie and Collingwood was built by the Ontario, Simcoe, and Huron Railway between 1853 and 1855, the province’s first rail line. Soon renaming itself the Northern Railway of Canada, the company expanded to Meaford, Orillia, and Gravenhurst before becoming part of the Grand Trunk Railway network. CN, which took over the Grand Trunk in 1923, ended passenger service to Collingwood in 1960.
After CN threatened abandonment of the railway, the town of Collingwood and the City of Barrie established the Barrie-Collingwood Railway (BCRY) in 1998. BCRY ensured continued rail service to several industries in the area. Though BCRY remains active in the Barrie area, including a spur into Innisfil (a remnant of the CN Beeton Sub), service into Collingwood was discontinued in 2011. The active track now ends at Utopia, east of Angus, where BCRY interchanges with the CPKC mainline. The discontinuance of railway service in western Simcoe County allowed for a rail trail to be developed along the line.
Off the GO train at Allandale Waterfront Station
I started my ride on a Thursday morning, taking the 9:54 Barrie Line train from Union all the way to the end at Allandale Waterfront Station, arriving at 11:37. Unfortunately, the hourly Simcoe County Linx bus to Wasaga Beach — Route 2 — leaves the adjacent Allandale Bus Terminal thirty minutes past the hour, forcing a 50 minute wait to if I wanted to continue by transit. I elected to begin my bike ride here instead.
The new Allandale bus terminal, serving Barrie Transit and Simcoe County Linx
The ride between Allandale and the beginning of the rail trail in Angus is very direct, following Tiffin Street in Barrie to County Road 90. Tiffin Street is mostly a two lane collector road with intermittent painted bike lanes that disappeared approaching signalized intersections to make room for left turn lanes. The bike lane also disappeared before crossing under Highway 400. But since it’s a straight, flat road with a moderate amount of traffic, it was certainly a better experience than my last ride through Barrie earlier this summer.
Bike lane on Tiffin Street…… That ends before every signalized intersection…… and under Highway 400
Simcoe County 90, a former provincial highway connecting Barrie, Angus, and CFB Borden, was widened from a two-lane road to a five-lane highway, including a centre turn lane. The posted speed limit is 80 km/h. However, there are decent paved shoulders along the entire stretch between the end of Tiffin Street and just before entering Angus. While County Road 90 was not the most pleasant riding experience because of traffic noise, it felt safe enough for a casual, yet confident, cyclist such as myself, and should be the minimum expectation in Ontario for rural cycling routes. But it would not be the place for a family ride.
Paved shoulder on Highway 90 towards Angus
Though I ended up following County Road 90 all the way into Angus, one may choose to turn south onto Essa 5th Line and connect to the beginning of the rail trail there.
Entering the Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail at Angus. Note the old railway crossing signal box at left.
Once reaching the Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail, the cyclist is treated to a pristine, shaded corridor all the way to New Lowell. On this section, the crushed gravel surface is well groomed and there are benches at regular intervals. The p-gates at each intersection are just far enough apart to be easily passable at a slow speed, and wayfinding is excellent.
Between Angus and New Lowell, the trail is smooth, straight, and shady
Unfortunately, between New Lowell and Stayner, the trail could use some grooming, with looser gravel that made for a slower and slipperier ride (I am not the first cyclist to complain about this). This was also a much less shaded section of trail, and I felt myself slowly losing energy before a change to stop in town for a break and to refresh my water bottle.
Main Street, StaynerCrossing of Main Street (Highway 26) at Stayner
At Stayner, the trail crosses busy Highway 26 twice: the first time at Main Street, adjacent to the town centre, and again at Airport Road. Both have signalized pedestrian crossings where railway signals once stood. Stayner is also where the trail shifts to being on the old railway right-of-way to being immediately beside it.
West of Stayner, where an older section of rail trail follows the derelict rails towards Collingwood
The older section of trail between Stayner and Collingwood was constructed as part of a watermain project connecting Clearview Township (which includes Stayner) with Georgian Bay at Collingwood in the mid 2010s, not long after the last train left Collingwood. It appears that, at the time, there was thought to retaining the railway should it ever be required again; notably old rail bridges at Stayner and Batteaux have not been converted for trail use. However, the intact rails have been completely overgrown with vegetation and most crossings have been removed or paved over. With the track completely gone between Angus and Stayner, there’s almost no chance rail service of any kind will ever return to the 170-year-old corridor.
The section of trail between Stayner and Poplar Sideroad — Collingwood’s town limit) is smooth and straight except for a short detour on country road at Batteaux. However, there are no benches or rest areas along this 10 kilometre stretch. But once within Collingwood, the trail becomes part of the town’s recreational network, which connects the entire community. At the very end is the reconstructed Collingwood Station, which replaced an older building erected by the Northern Railway of Canada (the successor to the pioneering Ontario, Simcoe and Huron) and is home to a local museum.
Replica Northern Railway station, CollingwoodPlaque commemorating the history of the Ontario, Simcoe, and Huron / Northern Railway Co. in Collingwood
I had just enough time to get a snack and beverage before getting the 6:00 PM Simcoe County Linx bus to Wasaga Beach and then to the 6:30 PM bus back to Barrie, the last trip of the day.
Simcoe County Linx bus (Aug. 2021 photo). All Simcoe County buses are equipped with bike racks.
Needed improvements
This ride from Barrie to Collingwood, through mostly pleasant, highlights the need for improvements to both transit and trail access in Simcoe County, though many of these suggestions should not be particularly challenging to implement.
The first issue is Simcoe County Linx’s schedules, which are not timed to meet arriving GO trains at Allandale, nor do they facilitate weekend excursions. Though there is a Flixbus route between Toronto, Barrie, Collingwood, and Owen Sound, it only operates five days a week outside of the busy summer period, where it ran twice daily in 2026.
Simcoe County is to be commended for expanding hourly public transit throughout the county (with two more routes planned). But except for the short Route 4 between Collingwood and Wasaga Beach, there is no evening, weekend, or holiday service. The 6:30 PM departure of Route 2 from Allandale Waterfront is too early for most rush hour trains to arrive; the last possible connection is a tight 4 minutes between the arrival of the 4:38 PM train departure from Union Station which is scheduled to get into Allandale at 6:26. A recommended 7:30 PM departure, would give enough time for two additional evening trains to arrive.
Furthermore, there are no connections from Allandale Station north on Routes 1 and 3, which serve Midland and Orillia; they depart from Georgian College/Royal Victoria Hospital on the north end of Barrie and require paying an additional Barrie Transit fare. Allandale Waterfront could function as a hub serving all of Simcoe County and points beyond (including Muskoka and Grey County) but there are missing links and a need for schedule and fare integration between GO, Simcoe County, and Barrie Transit.
Though there is the occasional call for restoring passenger rail to Collingwood to serve the area’s resorts and the year-round population, the rail corridor is pretty much lost. Buses, connecting with GO trains from Toronto, can certainly fill the need of serving visitors to Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, and cottage country, as long as the connections are easy and the buses take passengers where they want to go. This requires GO, Simcoe County, the local municipalities and the resort operators to work together.
As for the trail, there are a few things Simcoe County and the City of Barrie can do to improve cycling in the region. Though wayfinding along the trails themselves is very good, there’s nothing to guide cyclists between them. Cycling routes can be better posted, with wide paved shoulders prioritized on roads like Veteran’s Drive/5th Sideroad, between Tottenham and Beeton, and to the south end of the North Simcoe trail towards Penetanguishene.
Long term, a better off-road cycling facility could connect Angus and Barrie (and the North Simcoe Rail Trail) without having to use a busy highway, paralleling the still-active BCRY corridor.
Finally, the condition of the county’s rail trails should be monitored and maintained for safe and comfortable cycling conditions, with attention paid to the trail surface and providing ample rest areas.
With some key transit and road improvements, Simcoe County has the potential for being Ontario’s rail trail capital, providing a safe, sustainable, and active tourism option that will benefit locals and visitors alike.
Quinte Transit bus stopped at the Belleville Bus Terminal, August 2026
Last month, I visited two beautiful towns in Eastern Ontario: Picton, in Prince Edward County, and Almonte, in Lanark County. Both communities have populations of just over 5,000 (though Almonte, within Ottawa’s commutershed, is growing), and both have wonderful downtowns full of independent stores, restaurants, and great public spaces. But you can only get to one of them without a car.
It was pretty easy to get to Picton from Downtown Toronto on a Thursday morning. Flixbus offers a direct seasonal service from Pearson Airport and Union Station Bus Terminal, stopping at Scarborough Town Centre, Whitby, and Trenton, and in Wellington, Bloomfield, and Picton in Prince Edward County. The County (which is actually a single-tier municipality) has become a popular tourism area, with visitors attracted by local wineries, art galleries, resorts, and the famous Sandbanks Provincial Park on Lake Ontario, so having alternative modes of transport to get to and around the area is welcome.
Unbranded Flixbus unloading in disused parking lot near Downtown Picton
As Flixbus does not operate its own buses — it partners with local coach operators — the buses do not have a consistent look. The bus on my August 20 trip, operated by Eastern Charter Inc., was a plain grey coach bus, but it was a comfortable ride. The last stop, in an unused parking lot off Picton Main Street, is across the street from a McDonald’s but is also a short walk to the downtown area. The parking lot, once used by a now-demolished church, is large enough to turn the bus around for the return trip.
Picton Main Street
Downtown Picton itself is very walkable, with regular pedestrian crossings and beautifully maintained sidewalks and street furniture. Even though there are larger retailers just outside the town centre, most storefronts are occupied by clothing stores, antique dealers, financial services, and craft shops, there is also a large independent bookseller, complete with attached cafe. Though many businesses are geared towards tourists and more affluent residents, it is not exclusively the case. The public library, a renovated and expanded Carnegie building, serves the entire community well. Discount chain Giant Tiger also thrives in the downtown area. The Regent Theatre, one of Ontario’s oldest continuously-operating theatres, has been hosting concerts, shows, and first-run movies since 1931.
Regent Theatre, which also contains a tourism information desk, is open between showsThe Carnegie Library on Picton’s Main Street, with a small playground out frontThe sidewalks full of life and room for street trees, benches, and outdoor store displays.
Prince Edward County also offers on-demand transit service within the municipality and a weekday fixed-route service between Picton, Bloomfield, and Belleville operated by Trenton-based Quinte Transit. During the summer and early fall, additional fixed-route services operate between Belleville, Wellington, and Picton, sponsored by local wineries and tourist attractions. Bus stops are well marked, with current schedules posted at each point.
County Transit bus stop at the Fairgrounds (Crystal Palace)
At Downtown Belleville, there are connections to Belleville Transit, which serves the VIA Rail Station and the Megabus/Flixbus stops near Highway 401 and to Quinte Transit’s Trenton service at Loyalist College. There also used to be a connection at the downtown terminal for Deseronto and Napanee, but sadly it disappeared last year.
Prince Edward County does a fine job running and marketing a transit service geared to both its residents and to visitors. It should be a model for other communities in Southern Ontario and elsewhere.
Almonte: Nowhere to go
Dr. James Nasmith Square, Almonte. The old post office on the right is home to a great Italian restaurant, fittingly named Il Postino.
Almonte, less than an hour’s drive from Downtown Ottawa, is another charming and busy town, full of independent shops and restaurants in heritage buildings. On a busy summer weekend, parking can be hard to find. The town, part of the municipality of Mississippi Mills, is also growing, with new residential development to the east of the historic downtown. It has just about everything that Picton has, except for a transit link.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, there was a weekday commuter bus that would shuttle workers from Almonte and Carleton Place to Ottawa and back, making several stops along the OC Transpo bus network. Though Flixbus has restored the lost Greyhound route along Highway 7 between Toronto, Peterborough, and Ottawa with stops in Carleton Place and Perth (and with a schedule that accommodates commuters), these coach buses stop at gas stations along Highway 7 and don’t serve the communities very well, unlike the commuter-centric buses operated by smaller companies like 417 Coach and Thom Transport.
As the federal government is mandating full in-office shifts again, and as towns like Almonte and Perth become popular day trip destinations, it’s time for places like Lanark County to follow Prince Edward’s lead.
You may have difficulties viewing my online maps for the next few weeks
I just got an email from ESRI, the one big GIS software company, informing me, once again, I used up all my ESRI online credits. The annual billing cycle will restart in a few weeks, when I will be able to fully host and edit my interactive maps again. In the meantime, please be patient and stand by.
Email from ESRI
Unfortunately, the costs of maintaining this website and the ArcGIS Online portal to my maps continue to rise. However, I am committed to provide an ad-free, paywall-free resource. If you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee to help with those costs or contact me to see how I can help you with your needs. Thank you!
You’ll see fewer trains on the Lakeshore West, Stouffville, and Barrie Lines in September
GO Transit passengers might be in for a shock after Labour Day as new schedules and new penalties come into effect. On several rail corridors, off-peak trains are being cancelled and replaced with buses, while the fines for not paying a GO Transit fare are increasing — by over 450% for a first-time offense.
During the evening of Friday, August 28 — just five days before the Labour Day long weekend — GO Transit quietly released its new schedules for the Fall 2026 period. Typically, schedule changes include the restoration of extra bus trips on the Highway 407 Corridor (which serves several college and university campuses), as well as bus routes to Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, St. Catharines, and Peterborough. The fall schedule change often brings certain service improvements and schedule adjustments to reflect demand and operating changes. But the changes for September 2026 are mostly cuts to rail services.
There is one new bus route, Route 43 between Mount Pleasant GO Station in Brampton and McMaster University in Hamilton, via Meadowvale and Highway 407, running mainly in the peak direction, Mondays through Fridays.
New Route 43 between Mount Pleasant and McMaster (PDF Schedule)
But on the Barrie Line, there will be one less weekday round trip between Allandale Waterfront and Union Station: the southbound 21:10 trip and the northbound 22:01 trip disappear, along with the 20:54 northbound to Aurora. Those runs will be replaced with buses. But the southbound 21:10 train from Allandale took 1 hour and 42 minutes, arriving at Union at 22:52. The replacement bus, including a transfer at Aurora, takes nearly three hours, with no access to washrooms and no direct access to Downsview Park Station.
On weekends and holidays, the first southbound train from Allandale Waterfront will now be at 14:05, the last train will be two hours later, at 16:05. From Union Station, the first northbound train will be at 16:54, to Aurora only. The old Table 65 schedule has six round trips to Barrie on weekends, with hourly service to and from Aurora.
There will be similar cuts to the train schedule on the Stouffville Line, where there will be no train service until after 3PM on weekends and holidays. The 23:00 and midnight trains from Union on weekdays are gone, as are the evening inbound trains. There will be replacement buses, but those are often stuck in traffic on the Don Valley Parkway and Highway 404. On the Lakeshore West line, the 15-minute weekend afternoon service between Union and Oakville is gone and the Niagara train service extension on weekdays is down to just one peak-direction train.
Though there is no notice of changes yet on the GO Transit homepage, it did post a partial explanation on X.
GO Transit post on X, citing seasonal adjustments, which some rail trips temporarily replaced by buses
GO Transit says the rail trips replaced by buses are to “support our rail partner with their advancement of crew training and certification, maintain reliable service, and create opportunities to advance important infrastructure work…” What this is actually saying is that Alstom, which has a contract to operate and maintain the trains, has a crew shortage and a backlog of staff training. While GO Transit buses are operated and maintained by GO Transit employees, its trains are not. As Metrolinx is reliant on the contractor to staff the trains, it needs to reduce the number of shifts to ensure the remaining trains are fully staffed.
There’s no word on when train service can be restored, never mind improved, to meet demand. This can be traced back to the botched partnership with ONxpress that would have seen the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary take over GO rail operations and expansion.
The late announcement of these service changes is a symptom of the culture of secrecy at Metrolinx. The reason for the service cuts goes even deeper.
Because GO Transit’s rail service operates on a strict proof-of-payment system, it can sometimes be possible to forget to tap on or off at stations, which have no fare gates unlike the TTC subway and underground light rail stations. Often, Presto farecard validators are positioned in awkward areas, away from platform access points. Under the old policy, the first-time $35 fine and the second-time $50 fine were similar to penalty fares levied in the United Kingdom, acknowledging that mistakes happen. A failure to tap should not automatically result in a first-time fine four times higher than not paying for street parking in Toronto ($50).
At the very least, Presto validation (tap) machines should always be easy to spot and easy to access, reducing the number of honest mistakes. It should also follow that the penalty for not paying a transit fare should be treated as the equivalent for not paying for parking especially in an open system without fare gates.
