March 2012
1 post
Turn TTC over to Metrolinx? Careful what you wish...
In the noise and excitement around the reconfiguration of the TTC board today at City Council, one lesser reported item was Councillor Nunziata’s motion that sparked, what she called, “the comedy hour”:
11 - Motion to Amend Item moved by Councillor Frances Nunziata (Final) That the Executive Committee recommendations be deleted and that City Council adopt the following...
November 2011
1 post
China's Desert Mystery
Ever since @habitualpixel posted this article from Gizmodo on these gigantic structures being built in the deserts of China, I’ve been intrigued on what the heck they could be. I did a bit more digging into Google Earth’s historic aerials and found some earlier shots of the whatevertheheckitis.
Here’s the site in 2003: pristine and desert-y:
Then boom, they’re...
September 2011
3 posts
August 2011
3 posts
Union-Pearson Air Rail Link Station Renderings
Metrolinx tweeted this afternoon to invite the public to participate in a survey on the Union-Pearson Air Rail Link, which is due for completion in time for the 2015 Pan Am Games. Few details have been released, but the survey gives a glimpse of what they’re planning for service and amenities.
There’s also some renderings, which is the first time I’ve seen these, so thought I...
Why Toronto should bid for 2020 Olympics
Today, reports came out quoting Doug Ford, speaking on behalf of the Mayor’s Office, saying that they received a proposal from a group to initiate a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, which was “quickly rejected”.
Disappointing is understating my reaction to the story.
There are plenty of arguments against hosting the Olympics. The main argument, and the one being made by...
June 2011
1 post
she was disarming: An open letter to my fellow... →
sodisarmingdarling:
[Note: Most people who read this will already be aware of these things. I’ll probably be preaching to the choir. But I had to get it out anyway. And I don’t care if it sounds like a lecture. You know how it is.]
This morning was like any other. I sat stopped at a red light while cyclist after…
May 2011
4 posts
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New Rocket stop announcement: ‘interchange...
New Toronto Rocket stop announcement: Summerhill...
April 2011
5 posts
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News Release: The New Spadina Subexpressway
Today, Mayor Rob Ford, with his new Chief Roads and Cars Advisor, Laurence Lui, announced the first project in an ambitious plan to expand the road network in the City of Toronto. The Spadina Subexpressway will replace the Spadina Subway between Eglinton Avenue and Queen Street with a free-flowing roadway to help ease congestion for suburban commuters heading downtown.
“People have always...
March 2011
6 posts
Evan Solomon, in an technical glitch during Power...
The Jason Kenney Award for Questionable but Vote...
It was made aware to me today that back in 2009, Jason Kenney, Minister for Ethnic Exploitation in the Harper Government, awarded Yang Sheng Restaurant an “Award for Excellence” for “creating an authentic multicultural dining experience”. For starters, any Chinese restaurant that serves chicken balls in its menu is hardly, in my opinion, authentic. And furthermore, the...
February 2011
1 post
January 2011
4 posts
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WatchIn these uncertain economic times, babies could be a source of food. Is it wise to eat them? Let’s ask Stephen Harper.
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November 2010
1 post
What to do with King and Queen?: Some Options
October 2010
4 posts
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King Station gets another typeface
On my way through King Station this morning, I noticed a new addition to the southbound platform wall:
I’m not exactly sure why this was added as it wasn’t apparent that the tiles had been replaced. The new lettering is just stuck on and not sandblasted into the tile.
Worse: it’s a different typeface than the rest of the station (Gill Sans or Humanst521BT, vs. Univers), a...
September 2010
2 posts
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An Idea: Bay Bus BRT
A northbound Bay bus at Dundas, with a bunch of cars illegally using the lane behind it (source: Michael Chu / flickr)
The Bay bus has an enormous potential to reduce congestion on the Yonge and University Subways and the transfer points at St. George and Bloor-Yonge Stations. Once the downtown’s lone trolley route, it ran as frequent as every two minutes. The Bay Street Clearway was...
May 2010
3 posts
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Reality Check: Rocco and his 250,000 new jobs
Today, mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi made yet another fantastical and magical promise on the campaign trail: to create 250,000 jobs within the City of Toronto in his first four years in office, in response to what he thinks is a “too high” unemployment rate in Toronto of 9.5%. Continuing my role as the voice of reality on the Rossi campaign, here is a list of reasons why Rossi’s...
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299BloorStore Now Open with TTC Rollsigns!
Apparently, being a transit geek super chic now, at least according to Apartment Therapy, which describes it as “the new ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’”. Well, here’s your chance to get some Toronto rollsigns onto your walls. I have made up two featuring vintage subway rollsigns, and one featuring the current streetcar routes. You can check them out, and pick them up,...
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April 2010
12 posts
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Citytv gets testy with caps
A few weeks ago, Torontoist revealed the folks behind the Twitter accounts of various Toronto media outlets and left out @CityNews, which at the time was nothing more than an automated headline account. Since then they have come out of their shell and have started tweeting more actively, and for that, I commend them. Earlier today, they tweeted the above, which is hilarious because it is true....
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The Morning Commute on University
To be fair, I was riding down University Avenue around 9:15am at the tail end of rush hour, but there was little of this ‘GRIDLOCK!’ seen.
Few cars heading southbound at College Street
A queue at the pesky intersection at Gerrard Street just as the light turned green
Which cleared, as expected, within seconds.
So much GRIDLOCK!
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Why University Avenue Bike Lanes will Work
First of all, I give Rocco Rossi a bit of credit - the Beverley and St. George bike lanes are indeed great. Little does he know, however, in applauding the great bike lane we have there, he is in fact endorsing reducing car lanes and bringing us to something he does not pay much attention to: the truth.
source: Transport Canada
Transport Canada cites St. George Street as a best practice...
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