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Ontario Transit Travels

A transit tour of Southwestern Ontario

In January 2023, while visiting the site of the now-demolished Sarnia Eaton Centre, I took advantage of two new rural transit services serving Southwestern Ontario: Strathroy-Caradoc Transit and Huron Shores Area Transit. While both services connect London and Sarnia, they operate as separate services with different fares; they also have different terminals. Strathroy-Caradoc Transit offers […]

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Intercity Rail Ontario Transit Travels

The long way to London

New transit options make it easier to get around Southwestern Ontario. But as new carriers enter the market, it is wise to expect the unexpected.

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Ontario Transit

A good truck stop doesn’t make for a good bus stop

Ontario’s newest bus stop — a truck stop on the southern edge of London — may also be its worst.

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History Maps Ontario Roads Toronto

The complicated history of Dundas Street

It’s worth wondering why Toronto has a street named after a Scottish politician who had nothing to do with its history.

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Brampton Cycling Infrastructure Ontario Roads Walking

Room to share: How cities can make physical distancing work

For my latest TVO article, I spoke with Councillor Shawn Menard in Ottawa, Councillor Rowena Santos in Brampton, and Ryerson University epidemiologist Anne Harris about how cities in Ontario are reallocating road space for pedestrians and cyclists during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, or why they may be hesitant to do so. In Brampton, five kilometres […]

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Ontario Transit

A patchwork of new intercity connections in Ontario

RideNorfolk buses at Norfolk County Hall, Simcoe Over the last three years, I wrote about the gaps in intercity rail and coach services in Ontario, and how some companies were working to fill them. In Northern Ontario, Ontario Northland and Kasper Transportation worked to fill the void left by Greyhound’s departure from Western Canada, with […]

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History Roads

The road to Paris and London

Distance Sign on Highway 5, Clappison’s Corners Early European settlers to Ontario were not very imaginative when they came up with local place names. Although some towns and townships have First Nations names (Toronto, Chinguacousy, Niagara), or named for First Nations leaders allied with the British (Tecumseh, Brant), most cities, towns, and townships were given the […]

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Development History Ontario Urban Planning

Ontario’s failed downtown malls

Bayside Mall, formerly the Sarnia Eaton Centre, on a Saturday morning in 2013. Most stores are vacant or occupied by non-profits or independent businesses. The Toronto Eaton Centre, large, famous, and vital, is only one of many malls built in the downtown cores of Ontario cities between the 1960s and 1990s. From Thunder Bay to […]

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Intercity Rail Politics Transit

A need for high-speed rail reality (Updated)

With the province moving ahead on high speed rail in Southwestern Ontario, other transportation needs are being ignored