I can usually time my arrivals to avoid maximum traffic times. But hotel check out times encourage departures during periods of heavy traffic out of TO. I hate it when I find myself with a big rig boxing me in from the right lane, another big rig truck almost riding my rear bumper, and another fool in another under powered compact car cutting lanes in front of me. Is there ever any enforcement of keeping assured clear distance in Toronto?
It feels like once you are about 40-50 miles outside the city this bumper riding recklessness seems to cure itself.
I think TO needs more cops on foot and on horseback for the sidewalks and more police writing tickets for tailgaiting on the major highways. I have given up on using the expressways here to travel to incalls. I stick to Yonge St, Avenue Rd, and Bathurst for north-south travel and Steeles and Highway 7 for east-west driving. Speeds on the expressways are theoretical. Crashes and construction on the really big roads can destroy predictability for arrivals at incalls. The bike lanes have also reduced lanes on many of the main streets. Those bike lanes are 99% empty.
I was thinking of a visit but I do not read about any smoke related speed reductions or assured clear distance enforcement until the smoke blows over. Just carry the occasional bodies out of the subways, and off the sidewalks, and highways and pretend everyting is stlll ok. Observe the vacant store fronts in the downtown core and the homeless people who have lost their jobs to see the results of the inability to just travel safely in and out of Toronto. If all the office workers tried to return to their offices next week travel would be impossible.
You can see the reaction to this travel paralysis and loss of personal travel safety in the steady loss of outcall business to incalls. You can't get there from here in Toronto. I love this city and its inhabitants but this seeming acceptance of loss of traffic lanes to bikes, drivers who tailgait, slam on brakes and cut lanes, and bad guys with guns and knives on sidewalks who are released on bail the next day are a root cause of the empty store fronts and slowness of recovery from the pandemic. Stay safe and try to keep a sense of humor and good manners.
It feels like once you are about 40-50 miles outside the city this bumper riding recklessness seems to cure itself.
I think TO needs more cops on foot and on horseback for the sidewalks and more police writing tickets for tailgaiting on the major highways. I have given up on using the expressways here to travel to incalls. I stick to Yonge St, Avenue Rd, and Bathurst for north-south travel and Steeles and Highway 7 for east-west driving. Speeds on the expressways are theoretical. Crashes and construction on the really big roads can destroy predictability for arrivals at incalls. The bike lanes have also reduced lanes on many of the main streets. Those bike lanes are 99% empty.
I was thinking of a visit but I do not read about any smoke related speed reductions or assured clear distance enforcement until the smoke blows over. Just carry the occasional bodies out of the subways, and off the sidewalks, and highways and pretend everyting is stlll ok. Observe the vacant store fronts in the downtown core and the homeless people who have lost their jobs to see the results of the inability to just travel safely in and out of Toronto. If all the office workers tried to return to their offices next week travel would be impossible.
You can see the reaction to this travel paralysis and loss of personal travel safety in the steady loss of outcall business to incalls. You can't get there from here in Toronto. I love this city and its inhabitants but this seeming acceptance of loss of traffic lanes to bikes, drivers who tailgait, slam on brakes and cut lanes, and bad guys with guns and knives on sidewalks who are released on bail the next day are a root cause of the empty store fronts and slowness of recovery from the pandemic. Stay safe and try to keep a sense of humor and good manners.
Last edited:
