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Brampton Infrastructure Transit

A better Bramalea Station, finally

Bramalea Station has come a long way, but it is not yet used to its full potential.

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Infrastructure Transit Travels

Middle America’s transit oddities

In 2022, with travel restrictions eased, I had the opportunity to take several road trips throughout the Northeast and Midwestern states, from New York and Maryland to Kentucky and Michigan. Previously on this site, I wrote about my visit to Philadelphia’s Rail Park, a lesser-known, yet ambitious project to repurpose former Reading Railroad corridors in […]

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Infrastructure Intercity Rail Ontario

The train is returning to Timmins (sort of)

Northeastern Ontario got an early Christmas gift from the provincial government on December 15, 2022. On that day, the province announced the purchase of three new trainsets for the restoration of passenger rail service to North Bay, Timmins, and points in between. Prior to 1990, there were two daily trains between Toronto and Northeastern Ontario: […]

Categories
Cycling History Infrastructure Roads Toronto Walking

The jarring streetscape of Jarvis Street

Over a century ago, Jarvis Street was Toronto’s most fashionable address, and home to prominent families including the Masseys, who made their wealth from the farm equipment industry, and whose names live on through Massey Hall, Hart House, the Fred Victor Mission, and Massey College. The wide boulevards allowed for lush street trees to flourish, […]

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Infrastructure Transit Travels

Why the future of transit might be found in Dayton, Ohio

Dayton, Ohio is probably best known as the hometown of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the two bicycle mechanics who made the first successful controlled heavier-than-air flight. The city has remained a centre of the aviation industry. The US Air Force (and its predecessors) have operated a major base in Dayton for over a century, which […]

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Development Infrastructure Parks Travels Walking

Visiting America’s other urban railway park

On a road trip early this summer, my spouse and I paid a visit to New York and Philadelphia. In New York, we walked the famous High Line, which revitalized an abandoned elevated freight railway corridor, transforming it into a popular grade-separated walking path on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. While in Philadelphia, I made a […]

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Infrastructure Maps Ontario Politics Roads Toronto Transit

GO Transit is broken – and other transit updates

GO Transit is broken. So far, I have seen no initiative from Metrolinx or any level of government to fix it. That should outrage all of us.

Categories
Infrastructure Roads Toronto Transit

A front row seat to Toronto’s Carmaggedon

The new Union Station Bus Terminal doesn’t work with Toronto’s weekend traffic. On Saturday, July 2, it took nearly an hour to get off the Gardiner and into the terminal.

Categories
Infrastructure Roads Urban Planning

The tragedy of East Buffalo

Just two blocks away from the Jefferson Avenue Tops supermarket is Buffalo’s Kensington Expressway. The high-speed roadway, built with New York State funding, was built in the late 1950s to connect Downtown Buffalo with the New York State Thruway and the airport. The highway went through Buffalo’s East Side, historically Polish-American neighbourhoods that were becoming […]

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Infrastructure Intercity Rail Maps Ontario Transit

New carriers, old gaps: the state of Ontario’s intercity transportation network in 2022

With university and college campuses reopening for in-class instruction, white-collar workers slowly returning to the office, and pandemic restrictions receding, there are more intercity transport options in Ontario than at any time prior to March 2020.

However, the same old gaps continue to linger.