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Transit

Getting Around Toronto

Toronto’s the most multicultural city in the world, a perfect setting for the most eclectic music and film festival of the year. It’s North America’s 4th-largest city: almost 5 million people live in the greater T.O area. But the downtown neighbourhoods have a small-town flavour: a unique character or ethnic feel, with cool shops and restaurants, a vibrant streetscape, and no big-box mall sucking the life off the sidewalks.

Most North by Northeast venues are in the heart of downtown, in the club districts along Queen Street West, College Street, and in the Entertainment District near King Street and Spadina Avenue. It’s an easy walk between many clubs—so get outside, soak up the street vibe, and recharge for the next show.

If you want to save your legs for dancing, there’s always Toronto’s transit system (TTC). Streetcars run along Queen, College, Spadina, Dundas and other main downtown routes. The TTC is sometimes slow, but it’s safe and it works and it gets you where you want to go. It won’t take you to the suburbs, but hey—you don’t want to go there during NXNE anyway.

For the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the city and what’s happening this week, check out NOW Magazine online at www.nowtoronto.com. While in the city, you can find NOW (published every Thursday) at stores, clubs, restaurants, and on street corners all over town.

Public Transit

Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Route information: 416-393-INFO (4636)
Lost & Found: 416-393-4100 (Bay Station)
http://www.city.toronto.ca/ttc

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is an integrated network of subways, buses and streetcars that serves all areas of the city 24/7. All NXNE venues are either directly on a TTC route or just a few steps off it.

Daily, weekly and monthly individual and family passes and single-ride tokens and tickets are available at all TTC booths as well as some convenience stores, newsstands and pharmacies. If you are paying cash on a bus or streetcar, you’ll need exact change since drivers don’t make change. A paper transfer obtained at your point of entry (from the driver on streetcars and buses or from the red machines in subway stations) allows you to board any connecting TTC vehicle without paying another fare. Free TTC maps are available at subway stations, the Toronto Convention and Visitors Association (207 Queens Quay W, Queens Quay Terminal) or the Ontario Travel Information Centre in the the Atrium on Bay (20 Dundas W, at Yonge, 1-800-668-2746).

The subway (a.k.a. the Rocket) is about as uncomplicated as it gets. A horseshoe-shaped north-south line (the Yonge-University-Spadina line) loops up from Union Station and is bisected by the east-west Bloor-Danforth line that runs through the city centre. A third line (the Sheppard line) runs east-west in the north of the city and connects to the Yonge line. Most subway stops connect to a bus or streetcar line and require a token, ticket or transfer obtained within the subway stations. The TTC offers a Request Stop program that allows female passengers who are travelling alone at night (9 pm – 5 am) to exit buses between regular TTC stops.

Other Transit

  • AIRPORT BUS SERVICE: Times and locations for direct bus service to the airport. 905-564-6333.
  • BUS TERMINAL: Schedule and ticket information. Greyhound and other bus lines. 610 Bay, 416-367-8747.
  • FERRY SCHEDULES: Ferry rides to the Toronto Islands. $6, stu/srs $3.50, child $2.50. 416-392-8193.
  • GO TRANSIT: Schedule and ticket info for greater Toronto region commuter trains and buses. 416-869-3200, www.gotransit.com.
  • UNION STATION: Schedule and ticket information for VIA Rail and other interurban train services. Corner of Bay and Front. 416-366-8411.
  • WHEEL-TRANS: Public city-transit service for handicapped persons. For information and reservations, call 416-393-4111, trip reservation 416-393-4222.
  • TAXIS: Taxis are everywhere in Toronto and can be hailed from any street corner. And while many of the cabs are painted like an ugly bruise, the only ones that are New York yellow are ones being filmed for a movie. The standard fare starts at $2.75 and increases 25 cents for every 0.19 km driven or 31 seconds of waiting. Drivers are required to take whatever route you request or the most direct route to your destination, and they are not allowed to make restaurant or hotel recommendations unless you request them. Should you encounter a problem, the 24-hour cab complaint line is 1-877-868-2947.
    Beck 416-751-5555
    Co-op 416-504-2667
    Crown 416-750-7878
    Diamond 416-366-6868

Driving

If you’ve got your own wheels, Toronto is laid out on a grid system of easy-to-follow north-south, east-west streets. Parking, however, can be a bit of a pain. Curbside spaces are highly prized and offer only a couple of hours of meter time, so try one of the many city-run lots that offer the cheapest rates (just look for the green P sign). One more thing: you can make a right turn on a red light in Toronto (after stopping and yielding to other traffic and pedestrians, of course). Failing to do so will earn you honking horns and angry looks from drivers stuck behind you.

Car Rental

Roadside Service

Canadian Automobile Association
461 Yonge, and other locations, 416-221-4300, 416-222-5222, www.caa.ca.

Walking, Blading and Biking

The Toronto core is neatly organized and fairly compact, making it easy to explore on foot. Blading and biking are common during the warmer months. A network of bike paths runs through ravines and parks, and some streets have designated bike lanes.