Tips:
- This subway station has an elevator and escalators to get you to all three levels.
- There isn't a dedicated parking lot for this subway station, unless you park at the nearby Starbucks or Canadian Tire.
Over a decade ago, I worked in a building near Yonge and Eglinton. During the first month or so of my new job, I was trying to figure out the best way to get to and from the office.
Commuting from Markham would take a good 1.5 hours by TTC one way. Um, no.
My first attempt was to drive to Don Mills station and park at CF Fairview Mall. The problem was that it had limited parking spots on the ramp for TTC customers. I abandoned that plan when I couldn't park my car.
I decided to parking near one of the subway stations along the Yonge-Sheppard line, which is also known as line 4. I settled for Bessarion.
Bessarion is the midpoint of line 4. Don Mills station is to the east. Sheppard-Yonge station is west.
It's the quietest out of all five stations, as the only buses that you catch in front of the station are the 185 Sheppard Central and the night bus, 385 Sheppard East.
Back when I was working at Yonge and Eglinton, the 185 bus didn't exist. The 85 Sheppard East bus and its variants stopped in front of this subway station.
I kind of like this Sheppard Central bus route and distinction, as it spans the same route as line 4, but as a surface route. The downside is that you need to transfer at Don Mills station if you want to continue your commute along Sheppard Avenue East by bus into Scarborough.
The first thing that I noticed walking into this subway station was the elevator. It's wheelchair-accessible, providing access to all three levels of Bessarion station. The doors in and out of the station have buttons that you press to open and close the doors.
I took the escalators up and down between the street and the subway platform. They were helpful, especially going up!
The downside to this subway station is that it's the midpoint. During rush hour, you have an extremely slim chance of finding a seat to sit down, unless it's March Break or something. The good news is that it's such a short subway route that you don't stand for long.
If you live in the area, walking over to this station is a breeze. It doesn't have a dedicated parking lot. What I used to do was park at Canadian Tire and walk over to the station. These days, there's a Starbucks closer to Sheppard Avenue East, so you could park over there.
Back then, my car was always safe parking at Canadian Tire. I don't know whether parking is enforced these days. I frankly shopped at Canadian Tire more often because I was parked there. I rarely go into Canadian Tire these days unless I need something that I can only get there.
See? It was a win-win situation.
It was nice finding this listing and reminiscing about getting to work through Bessarion. I'd take it to Sheppard-Yonge station and then transfer over to the Yonge line to hit Eglinton station.
Good times.
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