[ahrvojic]

Article

Tips from a transit ninja
A new guide for the TTC-obsessed offers hints for a smooth ride

STEPHEN WICKENS
There was slapstick and suspense on the stairs to Coxwell station's westbound subway platform one recent weekday.

A woman -- one who puts much time and money into her appearance -- lost her cool upon hearing the roar of an approaching train.

What followed was the stiletto-heeled, out-of-control descent of someone whose athleticism probably peaked during the disco era.

Incredibly, there was a happy ending; she swore she was unhurt. But clearly her ego was bruised after endangering her life only to see a train arrive on the far track.

Well, risk your neck no more, lady, whoever you are.

As of Tuesday, you can get Sean Lerner's Unorthodox Tips for Riding the TTC, a zine/booklet with 200-plus pointers, including a few that would have told you that there was no need to rush that day.

Such as this: Coxwell is a "pause station" where trains usually wait a minute or two before moving on. The headwind you felt as you descended the steps toward the westbound platform indicated the approaching train was eastbound. Also, the wheel-on-rail noises would have been sharp and high-pitched. If the approaching train was on the near track, the sounds would have been muffled by the platform.

Mr. Lerner, 32, warns that the third point doesn't work in stations with single, island-style platforms, and he might add that it takes practice to attune your ears.

"This is all kind of crazy, I know," he says, "but for a while I've been obsessed on every trip. I'm always looking, listening, using all my senses -- like a transit ninja."

Unorthodox Tips is a spinoff of Mr. Lerner's TTC Subway Rider Efficiency Guide, a pocket-sized booklet published last year. TSREG showed riders where to be on a train to alight precisely at the destination station's exit. He says it sold about 400 copies and has been downloaded from his website 50,000 times.

The new booklet contains wide-ranging advice, much of it passed on by TSREG readers, says Mr. Lerner, a between-jobs Web programmer, whose next personal project is WashroomQuest.com. (The Quest will tell Torontonians with handheld devices where they can go when they really have to go.)

It's a good bet that unless the TTC upgrades the washrooms at the Eglinton and Bloor-Yonge stations, they won't make the cut. Unorthodox Tips declares them no-go zones.

The new booklet, also downloadable from Mr. Lerner's website, has tips for saving time and money, or evaluating the relative merits of certain subway seats. Some pointers are tongue-in-cheek, some obvious and some deadpan funny.

Of course, many are totally geeky, so Unorthodox Tips will never be a must-have fashion accessory. But at least one high-heeled woman might look much cooler with a visit to Mr. Lerner's website.

Unorthodox Tips costs $4,

and it can be downloaded for

free at http://www.ttcrider.ca.***

Saving time

If you're going from Yonge and Eglinton to Yorkdale, it's fastest to go out of your way -- south to Bloor, west to St. George and up the

Spadina line.

Even though the Spadina streetcars run on a right-of-way, the

Bathurst car is faster.

Saving money

For a monthly Metropass to be worthwhile, you must use it for 48 trips. A week's vacation within the same month can mean it's no

bargain.

On weekends, if two adults travel on a family day pass, they're only 10 cents shy of recouping their costs after just one round trip. Throw in up to four kids and save more.

Comforts

If your back hurts or you want to keep your pants clean, sit on subway seats facing forward or back. You won't get jostled as much and slobs who put feet on the seats tend to

dirty the ones lining the train's outer walls.

The pizza at Warden station has good crust, and the best baked goods are at Bathurst station.

If you care

It takes 4.7 seconds for subway doors to fully close after the warning chimes begin.

Even before a train reaches the station, you can distinguish the new subway cars with the wider doors from older ones by looking at the front lights. Front lights on old cars are lower.

 

[Suicidal Gingerbread Man]

Re: Spadina line vs. Bathurst line - That's a problematic statement, since the Bathurst car's speed is dependent on good traffic. Not to mention the fact that frequency is higher on the Spadina line, so you're more likely to be standing at Bathurst waiting for a streetcar.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"If you're going from Yonge and Eglinton to Yorkdale, it's fastest to go out of your way -- south to Bloor, west to St. George and up the Spadina line."

I've timed it several times and the fastest way for me is up to York Mills station, then take a 96 or 165 bus to Wilson station and down one stop to Yorkdale. Taking a subway-only route might theoretically be more reliable, although the 96/165 combo ensures spectacular frequency and Wilson is not typically congested.

"Even though the Spadina streetcars run on a right-of-way, the Bathurst car is faster."

Going north, probably...going south, probably not.

 

[spmarshall]

I've timed it several times and the fastest way for me is up to York Mills station, then take a 96 or 165 bus to Wilson station and down one stop to Yorkdale. Taking a subway-only route might theoretically be more reliable, although the 96/165 combo ensures spectacular frequency and Wilson is not typically congested.

I'm a regular 96/165 user. The problem is that at both York Mills and Wilson, the bus connections to the subway are less than ideal with the longer than typical walks from subway platform to bus platform. Frequencies are amazing on weekdays, though on weekends, the buses become really crowded at 8-10 minute combined frequencies, mostly because they only put those crummy Orion VIIs on the rotues on weekends, even though 96 and 165 are not accessible routes.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

^ I think the point is that the layouts you mentioned render the via-St. George subway route to Yorkdale "better" and more reliable, even though, if you're timing with a stopwatch, taking a bus along Wilson is often "faster" (buses are sometimes faster than subways if you can perfectly time the transfers because of the limited subway network, especially when you're travelling between awkward points). Getting lucky with a 32 bus along Eglinton would be even faster - but it took me almost 20 minutes to get from Yonge to Bathurst on the 32 this afternoon, so methinks the odds are quite low. That leaves the 52 from Lawrence to Lawrence West as the obvious solution, but I've never had much luck with this route.

Talk of this nature makes me crave a subway connection between the Yonge and Spadina lines along Eglinton or Sheppard. edit: or both.

 

[samsonyuen]

Sometimes a St. Clair streetcar's faster too!

 

[shawnmicallef]

The guides will be available to all who come to the Spacing launch tommorrow night.

 

[spmarshall]

Sometimes a St. Clair streetcar's faster too!

The streetcar line you speak of is dead to me.

Well, more seriously, the wires were pulled and there's only bus service between St. Clair and St. Clair West, in preparation for construction that was stopped by those ingrateful SOS NIMBYs.

Anyway, got bus 1002 on the 165 this evening - one of the first diesel-electric hybrids. Though I dislike the layout of the Orion VIIs, this bus was almost empty, and it had the new car small, so I enjoyed the novelty. The noise was more consistant - acceleration and deceleration was quieter, and a constant hum, even when stopped.