It's nice and warm inside but it can get a bit crowded at times especially during the winter time.read more

As the central terminal for the sixth largest city in Canada, it does its job as needed. Buses…read moregenerally flow in and out smoothly, and there are clearly marked crosswalks for those coming from the GO Transit side. Aside from the occasional jaywalker, it's hard to jaywalk Rathburn Road anyway since it's busy at almost all times. One complaint I do have is the size of the terminal. Even with the expansion a few years back it's still too small for the amount of bus traffic it gets. Some of the bays are shared amongst 4 or more routes, which gets quite messy during rush hour when buses are more frequent. Also, some of the busier routes are located too far away from the indoor waiting area, for example routes 110 and 502, which are located all the way on Rathburn Road itself. It gets quite chilly waiting over there in winter (or any cold day for that matter). Hopefully with the BRT coming into the terminal some changes can be done in terms of configurations.

gah! FRESH AIR! after riding the downtown loop its a sight to behold to be above ground and see the…read morelight or get cell reception, after exiting or entering bloor Yonge's tunnel you can almost see the phones come out or go away. to me its very funny! the station is an old one, and its weathered due to the open concept, never ever busy, and the one exit one entrance is a little odd, but no confusion!. not a lot of bus options above ground, pretty much the subway is the main gem. staff are super friendly at this station, which is a change from others, sometimes due to weather, this station can be a bit dirty.

This is an open-air station (platform and bus stop) which means it can be hot or cold. At least…read morethere is a covering over the platform for rain. There is a single staffed entrance at the north end. There are 2 sets of stairs down to the subway platforms. This station is not accessible. You can watch the subway trains from an "indoor" walkway across the rails. On the ground level, there is a large loop for passenger pickup and drop off. But this is also the path for the Yonge bus line. There is no free WiFi and no customer washrooms.

I was trying to recall when I last took the TTC anywhere. It was likely in 2011 when I took the…read moreBathurst 511 streetcar to and from the Canadian National Exhibition (The Ex). Last Thursday, I drove down to Chinatown at Spadina and Dundas. I parked my car there before meeting my friend and his sister for lunch. We planned to take the 510 Spadina streetcar southbound and then walk to Rogers Centre (I keep wanting to call it SkyDome because it has more character) for the Taylor Swift concert. We headed to the streetcar stop in front of Dragon City and waited. I grew up commuting on the TTC. I suppose that your commuter senses never die. All I saw were buses running along Spadina Avenue. This stop didn't have signs that said that streetcars weren't running. It was clear to me that they weren't. A lack of proper communication irks me. How about a sign that says to board the bus on the northwest corner?! We all walked across Dundas Street West and waited for the bus, which ran frequently. My friend's sister asked me a question about transit. I used to take Cantonese classes on Saturdays, so this area still feels the same. I let her know that this route used to be the Spadina 77 bus. It's kind of funny that I didn't have a chance to ride the streetcar along this route. I felt like nothing had changed, other than the bus number. My guess is that the 510 Spadina notation aligns with the 5xx series for streetcars. With streetcars being temporarily out of service along this route, buses are keeping the same notation. During my brief time commuting along this bus route, it had two buses numbers: 510 C and D. We were on the 510 D bus. Don't ask me what the difference is between the two. I was happy that this bus got us near Rogers Centre. After the concert, my friends took the train home. I walked over to Spadina. Three buses were waiting there. I took one back up to Chinatown. What hasn't changed is a TTC conductor missing a requested stop. A woman requested a stop at Dundas. I heard the ding. The conductor did not. He flew past the stop. The woman was rightfully upset. He called out Sullivan, the next stop. He flew past that stop, too. Dundas was the next stop, which was mine. Since the requested stop was still on, I couldn't request it. Luckily, Dundas had a red light. The bus stopped. I exited from the front. I felt bad for the woman who had to walk down a major street now. I hope that streetcars return to this route. I'd like to ride it and see what it's like. I was pleased that the buses got me to where I needed to be, but I want to ride a streetcar for the first time on Spadina. (456)

Who writes reviews about streetcars? I write reviews about streetcars!…read more After moving to Toronto from Montreal, I had to get used to the idea of streetcars, which haven't been a thing in Montreal for some 40 years or more. The 510 Spadina streetcar was my first exposure to the new Bombardier Flexity Outlook cars, based on the models used in some European cities. And I have to say, I like them a lot more than the older Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) units. Having multiple entrances and exits, all with PRESTO card readers, and more comfortable acceleration and braking definitely helped me avoid the motion sickness that I usually get on the older model cars. It took way too long, but Bombardier finally delivered the last of the 204 vehicles on January 24, 2020, just two short weeks ago. Aside from all this talk about the models of streetcars, one of the best things about this line is how it's configured with two dedicated protected lanes in the middle of Spadina, so aside from at intersections, the streetcars don't have to deal with interference from other road vehicles. If only they could do this for all the other lines... Keep an eye out for the various art installations atop the poles on either side of the streetcar tracks as you go down the Spadina line, and enjoy the ride!

Pure chaos last night though this might be more to blame TTC for. Was heading on a Northbound train…read morefrom St. Andrews to Finch, but due to maintenance had re-routed from Union back Southbound and had to get off at St. George to then switch to another Bloor-Yongye line. Upon getting to St. George, the station was filled with people scrambling all around in different directions 3x more than usual, overheard a lot of the red-vested TTC help attendants getting pretty overwhelmed and tired of the same questions from commuters wondering when the next train would come and how the medical emergency that stopped the first train would be resolved. I think there's real opportunity to consider more service design into transportation in Toronto. This would ultimately prevent situations like these from happening. (Ie. More signs and clearer messaging to inform riders on statuses, map improvements, ACCESSIBILITY, etc.)

How do I review this station without letting my disdain for the TTC get in the way? Hmmm…read more.. How about I just tell you about the station? In case you don't know St. George (I like to call him San Jorge) is the patron saint of jolly old England lad (and lasses). Did you know if the other two saint stations not named St. Clair are also patron saints of Ireland and Scotland? That's right Saint Patrick (aka San Patrizio) and Saint Andrew (San Andreas). Now stay with me because this will make your mind explode if you haven't already fallen asleep... If you were to combine the flags of St. George (red cross over white), St. Andrew (white cross over blue) and St Patrick (red X over white) you get the Union Jack flag aka the flag of the United Kingdom? OK enough of the history BS. I made that all up... actually no I didn't I'm just making sure you haven't lost interest just yet while I play this shell game of writing things completely irrelevant to St. George. So this station is special in a sense that it is one of the main interchange stations in all of the TTC system. In rankings of importance it's right up there and probably 3rd just behind Union (first) and Bloor/Yonge (second) in my personal ranking system of things. I like ranking things don't ask me why but ya I consider this station 3rd. This station is physically on the north side of Bloor Street between Prince Arthur and Bloor directly behind the OISE building of U of T (252 Bloor W). There are 2 entrances/exits while one faces St. George itself and the other is at Bedford. This station is on 3 levels. Ground level is where you enter/exit, buy tokens and such. The next level down is the 1 line (yellow line) which runs on the Spadina/University side (Downsview endpoint) and the Yonge side (Finch endpoint). This line runs right through the core of downtown from Bloor south through Queens Park and down University Ave to Union station before turning back up Yonge Street going all the way up to Finch Ave. This line is basically known as the "north-south" line and has recently been given the designation as "1" in the TTC's elaborate naming system. The next level down is the level for access to the Bloor Danforth line also known as "2" or if you are into colors it can also be called the green line. This is essentially your east west line that runs from Kipling to Kennedy. Really though nobody here calls any of these lines here by colors. This isn't Boston and the numbers thing is new but this isn't New York either. We don't have enough lines to be getting into letters either. Let's just say "3" should be part of "2" and "4" shouldn't even exist. San Jorge station is an important station because as far as interchange stations goes this is one of them and it can get very busy here.

Kennedy Station isn't exactly a destination...but if you're using Toronto's public transit,…read moreespecially heading east, or from the east, chances are you'll end up here. It's a major TTC hub that connects subway, GO Transit, and multiple bus routes. Not much to do here, and definitely not a place to hang out, but it works for what it is. There's a small convenience kiosk (outside the fare zone), so you can grab a snack, drink, or a magazine if needed. I hadn't been here in years, and when I approached a TTC employee to buy a day pass, she came off a little sharp at first. But once I explained I was unfamiliar with the updated system, she softened and was super helpful in getting me on my way. That made a difference. So, do I recommend it? Only in the sense that if it's part of your route, it'll get the job done. It's not fancy, but it's functional...and helpful people can make even a gritty station feel okay.

As of January 01, 2012, parking on weekday after 3 pm would cost you $2…read more I definitely don't like that idea!!

I like this bus route. I take it daily from Ossington station northbound in the winter months and…read moreit has rarely failed me. There is usually a bus every 5 mins and there have only been a few times I had to wait maybe 10. Also, the bus drivers on this route seem to always stop and wait for me when they see me hauling ass, sprinting for the bus from half a block down the road. It's pretty quick and doesn't stop as much as the Dufferin bus, which is often rammed too full of passengers.

I have a love/hate relationship with TTC 63 Ossington Bus…read more When 63 works - it works great: frequent buses, 24 hour service, minimal traffic delays - very efficient and easy. When 63 fails - it fails miserably: no buses for 30 minutes (on a frequent service line), buses bunching up 3+ at a time (resulting in large gaps in service), buses too full to get on, etc. For someone who rides the 63 daily, it works more than it doesn't - however it has a tendency of not working at the worst possible moments (Murphy's Law). Drivers usually are nice and manage the riders well.

This wasn't much nicer and cleaner Station. Again is the…read moresame with all the other stations, it is a train station. Not much more to say. It was big and definitely needed more seat seats for people waiting for the trains.

It is a subway station. It's located in a nice neighbourhood, it's very rarely on fire, and you can…read moreeither get a free paper or, if you're feeling flush, buy one from a news stand. It's win/win! If only it had a toilet. Heh. What's amusing is that if Mayor Rob actually took the subway, he'd probably use this station. I'll bet it would have a toilet if he did.

Bloor-Yonge subway station. It's a major subway interchange between lines 1 (Yonge-University) and…read more2 (Bloor-Danforth). I grew up knowing these subway routes without numbers. It was the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth lines. You then had the Scarborough LRT (rest in transit peace) and the Sheppard line. As much as I like numbers, I'm putting myself in the shoes of a visitor. Which would be more meaningful? I'm not sure. What I think is that this subway station may feel overwhelming to a newbie. It's always busy. The craziness is at its peak during rush hour. Everyone needs to walk fast and get somewhere. I feel like it's a stampede to a certain extent. As someone who often dropped by this station growing up, it wasn't confusing. I recently took the TTC to get to this station on line 2. It's a shared platform between the eastbound and westbound trains when you arrive on line 2. I had to exit to get onto Bloor Street East. The exit that I'm used to faces Yonge Street. I used to visit the Toronto Reference Library across the street often when I was in high school and university. I used this exit to reminisce. There are a bunch of ways to get in and out of this station. Going home, I entered from Bloor Street East through the Hudson's Bay Centre. I don't really know if that's the correct name of the underground shopping concourse. Hudson's Bay is gone, which is eerie. We have Eaton's Centre without Eaton's. Hey, why not Hudson's Bay Centre without Hudson's Bay? I spent hours walking around the concourse as a student. There used to be a Felix and Norton. It smelled so good. I loved cookies, especially freshly baked ones. I still do! I can still picture the paper transfer dispensers with the red round button. They are long gone. There are lots of PRESTO kiosks and gates instead. One of the gates did not recognize my PRESTO card. Luckily, I moved to a different one and I was fine. Signage is clear to get to the right subway line. There are also TTC employees ready to help you, which I liked. There are four floors to this station. I took a combination of stairs and escalators while I was here to move between two floors. There are elevators for those who need to use them, but I can't comment on how effective they are. Most major TTC subway stations have washrooms. This station does. I have never had the need to use the women's. I arrived at this station at roughly 11:30 am on a Monday. I left the area roughly 2.5 hours later. Trains were running on time. I managed to get a seat both ways. It was a good time to be a commuter. My cell phone worked fine on the platform. It was cool. It was nice returning to this station. I grew up as a commuter living in the Beaches. It was nice to return to those roots for a brief period before I got to Victoria Park station, hopped in my car, and headed to the suburbs. (40)

My Spanish friend called this subway station with her cute accent that sounded like "blue onion"…read more And that's how i come to think of Bloor-Yonge. Lol It's a vibrant station where people transfer from all directions. It's a station where you will go up and down the stairs to get to the trains. It's a station where you can dance to live music, but you'd have to fight with the ever moving crowd for space. It's a station where you can buy snacks for companionship while traveling. It's a station where millions of stories come and go. Just like "blue-onion".