Categories
About me Toronto

Woodbine Centre, revisited

You can catch me on CBC Toronto today talking about the history of Woodbine Centre and Fantasy Fair with reporter Nav Nanwa. The CBC television report has some pretty good drone shots of the mall as well. I wrote more about the history of Woodbine Centre in November 2024, which you can read here. Looking […]

Categories
Infrastructure Ontario Toronto Transit

Return to Line 6: a slightly faster ride

On Thursday, February 26, I went west on Finch Avenue from Scarborough to North York via the 939B Finch East Express bus to take another ride on Line 6, the problem-plagued Finch West LRT. After hearing of enhanced signal priority being introduced on Finch Avenue, I wanted to see if it had any effect on […]

Categories
Infrastructure Politics Toronto

SmartTrack’s scrubbed Scarborough station

On Finch Avenue East in Scarborough, the SmartTrack name lives on at a recently cancelled transit station. Finch-Kennedy was only one of five “SmartTrack” stations left by the time its champion left office.

Categories
Infrastructure Ontario Toronto Transit

Line 5 is alive

After an embarrassing start to Line 6 Finch West, the long-delayed Line 5 Eglinton-Crosstown quietly opened to great relief. The new LRT offers much-needed optimism for Toronto’s transit future.

Categories
Toronto Transit Infrastructure Ontario

Line 5: a quiet opening for a troubled project

The Sunday, February 8 opening of the Eglinton-Crosstown is confirmed, along with some major changes to the bus network. But there will be no public celebration for this long-delayed transit project.

Categories
Ontario Toronto Transit

Can the Eglinton LRT outrun the bus?

The Eglinton-Crosstown LRT will soon open, finally, and it should be significantly faster than the local buses it replaces. There are reasons to be hopeful that this project will be more successful than the Finch West LRT, but it also has a lot more riding on its performance.

Categories
Infrastructure Ontario Toronto Transit

Still waiting for the Finch West LRT

There’s not one easy fix for the Finch West LRT. Not only does it need transit signal priority, but it needs tighter schedules and better operations to live up to early promises.

Categories
Infrastructure Ontario Toronto Transit

Waiting for Finch West

Can a brand-new light rail line outrun the local bus it will soon replace? I went out to Finch Avenue West to see for myself.

Categories
Design History Infrastructure Ontario Toronto Transit

Introducing Mount Dennis

Toronto’s newest transit hub is only half-opened, but it provides a preview of the region’s upcoming new transit links. Despite a decent layout and good incorporation of local heritage, some tweaks for improved wayfinding are necessary.

Categories
Brampton Cycling Roads Toronto Walking

It’s time to rethink slip lanes

While slip lanes facilitate vehicle movement, they have a significant impact on the safety and comfort of pedestrians. Though the City of Toronto has been proactive in removing or modifying slip lanes, there is still much more work to do.