To get a carpool permit, you and your carpool partners must create Carpool Zone accounts at www.CarpoolZone.ca and form a carpool through the online system. Then complete a carpool parking permit application form. (.pdf)

If you’re already sharing a ride to your GO station, you can still apply for a carpool parking permit. You and your carpool partners must create Carpool Zone accounts at www.CarpoolZone.ca and form a carpool. Then submit your carpool parking permit application form. (.pdf)

Often, demand for parking spaces at many GO stations exceeds supply. While GO continues to expand parking at some stations, many stations have little or no room for expansion.

The carpool zone does not reduce the number of parking spaces at Clarkson, but allows more GO passengers to access the station with the same number of spaces. Anyone can use the spaces after 9 a.m. By encouraging people to share rides, GO hopes to decrease the number of cars traveling to its lots and increase the available parking for those who can’t carpool.

The station will have at least 10 spaces for carpoolers, although GO may add more, if enough people decide to use the carpool priority spaces.

GO launched a pilot carpool parking-priority project last August at Burlington, East Gwillimbury, Oakville and Whitby GO Stations.

Among other changes, you can expect:

• 222 Audley South: DRT plans to reroute buses from Ajax GO Station: eastward along Fairall and Station Streets and then southward along Salem Road to Bayly Street East. It will also increase the frequency of service to every 20 minutes Mondays to Fridays during rush hours and ever 30 minutes from about 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
• 923 Bayly: DRT is operating a new route linking the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus with Pickering and Ajax GO Stations.
• 218 Beach: DRT plans to reroute buses from Ajax GO Station: eastward along Fairall and Stations Streets, then southward along Harwood Avenue South to Kings Crescent North. It will also increase the frequency of service to every 20 minutes Mondays to Fridays during rush hours and ever 30 minutes from about 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

DRT also hopes to improve service along the 225 / 225A Audley North route — but not until September.

Drop by and find out what is happening during an open house next week:

Tuesday, May 22
from 1 until 7 p.m.
Ajax Library, Rotary Room
55 Harwood Avenue South.

Getting there by public transit:

• Ride DRT buses operating along the 218 Beach, 224 Harwood, 291 / 292 Ajax community bus or 916 Rossland routes or GO Transit buses operating along the 94 Oshawa / Yorkdale route to Ajax Plaza Terminal. Cross Harwood Avenue South at the signal and walk one block north.

At a PRESTO agency, you can

• buy a PRESTO card,
• “load” value onto your card,
• check your balance and
• make various other transactions.

The lower-cost bus pass program aims to make getting around and connecting with the community more affordable for you.

The City of Guelph is encouraging young people, adults and seniors living in low-income households to apply for this pilot program before Thursday, May 31. After you have applied for the program and the City has approved your application, you can buy your first affordable bus passes in mid-June. You can show the drivers your affordable passes when boarding buses, starting Canada Day, Sunday, July 1.

Pick up an application form at:

• City Hall, 1 Carden Street;
• the West End Community Centre, 21 Imperial Road South;
• the Victoria Road Recreation Centre, 151 Victoria Road North; and
• the Evergreen Seniors Community Centre, 683 Woolwich Street.

You can also find an application form on line here. (.pdf)

Or, call one of these numbers to ask City staff to mail you an application form:

Agency inquiries: 519-822-1260 x 2670
TTY (Teletype for Deaf): 519-826-9771
General inquiries: 519-837-5618

Greater Toronto Area

• Metro Toronto’s Ford for Toronto post, “City Manager: There isn’t $100M in service efficiencies left in Toronto’s budget”, here.
• Mississauga.com article, “Get dough when GO is slow”, here.
• Toronto Sun article, “Group will try to place second poster in TTC stations”, here.
• YorkRegion.com article, “Rapid transit system taking shape”, here.
• YorkRegion.com article, “Declare transit essential service: chambers”, here.
• YorkRegion.com article, “GO Barrie line gets weekend service”, here.

Elsewhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe

• Orillia Packet and Times article, “New toonie flat fare ‘just right’”, here.

• Bay Street between Adelaide and King Streets West

all day today, Saturday, May 19 and tomorrow, Sunday, May 20 to accommodate crane operations.

The TTC is detouring buses operating along the 6 Bay route, while the road is closed.

Greater Toronto Area

• CTV News Toronto report, “Nine injured after abrupt stop on Bay Street bus”, here.
• Globe and Mail article, “TTC bus driver charged with careless driving”, here.
• Globe and Mail column, “How Toronto’s transit plan takes taxpayers for a ride”, here.
• National Post article, “TTC driver faces careless driving charges after 9 injured”, here.
• OpenFile Toronto post, “Is the TTC’s expansion plan absurdly expensive? Depends on who you ask”, here.
• Ride This Crazy Train post, “Presto validation: Doing it right”, here.
• Ride This Crazy Train post, “Epic”, here.
• Steve Munro post, “The High Cost of Going Underground (Updated)”, here.
• Torontoist post, “Building Storeys: TTC Yards”, here.
• Toronto Star article, “TTC driver charged after riders hurt in sudden stop”, here.
• Toronto Sun article, “TTC driver charged after riders hurt”, here.
• TTCriders.ca post, “Metrolinx Responds to our Letter Regarding the Toronto Transit Expansion Plans”, here.

Elsewhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe

• Cambridge Times article, “Council approves bus fare increases”, here.
• CTV News Kitchener report, “Region’s LRT plan gets the green light from the provincial government”, here.
• gokw.org post, “GO summer programs to expand: Barrie to get weekend summertime service, Niagara weekend service to resume”, here.
• gokw.org post, “Guelph Central Terminal now in service for Guelph City transit users”, here.
• gokw.org post, “Ontario Northland Railway — Vital transportation link and freight railway being sold from under our noses, yet massive highway projects continue”, here.
• Guelph Tribune article, “Riders rate new Guelph Central Station”, here.
• Guelph Tribune article, “Some confusion at new transit hub”, here.
• Guelph Tribune editorial, “Guelph Transit’s tough road almost over”, here.
• Guelph Tribune article, “Gimme shelter might be cry of transit users until mid-July”, here.
• Guelph Tribune editorial, “Guelph Central Station up and running”, here.
• Guelph Tribune article, “Guelph history on the move”, here.
• Guelph Tribune article, “Pedestrians beware: Changes in St. George’s Square”, here.
• Kitchener Post article, “GRT fares rising July 1”, here.
• TriTag.ca post, “Ottawa / Borden LRT alignment”, here.
• Waterloo Chronicle article, “Unlocking opportunities”, here.
• Waterloo Region Record article, “Rail transit gets green light, again”, here.
• Waterloo Region Record article, “GRT bus, car collide in Kitchener”, here.

Express buses continue to operate seven days a week until Labour Day, Monday, September 3.

Buses operating along the 88 Wonderland route Saturdays, Sundays and holidays until Canada Day, Sunday, July 1. Starting Monday, July 2, buses operate seven days a week.

Greater Toronto Area

• 680 All News Radio post, “Onatrio Works employees in Peel reach tentative deal”, here.
• InsideHalton.com article, “Lunch money Tuesday coming to GO stations”, here.
• InsideToronto.com article, “Traffic woes on St. Clair West to be caught on tape”, here.
• Newstalk 1010 report, “Man Arrested in TTC Sex Assault Case”, here.
• Steve Munro post, “Good News Far Too Much of the Time”, here.
• Toronto Star article, “More Peel Region workers prepare for a strike”, here.

Elsewhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe

• Guelph Mercury article, “Guelph buses leaving their mark on new terminal”, here.
• Guelph Mercury article, “Unused downtown Guelph bus shelters become miniature art galleries”, here.
• HSR Transit Blog, “Next Bus Signs coming to MacNab Terminal”, here.
• Raise the Hammer post, “Walkability and Transit are Key to Hamilton’s Economy”, here.

• 680 All News Radio post, “TTC holds Twitter chat to answer commuter questions”, here.
• BlogTO post, “TTC and Metrolinx reveal designs for Caledonia Station”, here.
• Global News Toronto report, “TTC holds first ever Twitter chat on customer service”, here.
• InsideToronto.com article, “Crosstown project gets good reviews at Caledonia Station open house”, here.
• OpenFile Toronto post, “Here’s a crazy idea: Toronto could use all those railway tracks running through the city”, here.
• Ride This Crazy Train post, “So more of the same then???”, here.
• Ride This Crazy Train post, “This Crazy Train’s Presto Chronicles, Chapter 20: Presto! There goes my transaction history (and my discount?!)”, here.
• Ride This Crazy Train post, “Meet my CSA? Don’t mind if I do!!”, here.
• Steve Munro post, “Streetcars in the Eastern Waterfront (Well, Track Anyhow)”, here.
• Toronto Life’s Daily Informer post, “GO Transit will literally pay for being late, starting this fall”, here.

Work is rapidly progressing on the first tunnel launch shaft for the Crosstown at Keelesdale Park, near Black Creek Drive. Late this summer (or early this fall), two tunnel-boring machines will arrive at the site. The supplier will deliver the machines in multiple parts and the contractors will use cranes to lower them into the shaft, where they’ll assemble them. Once they’ve put the machines together, they’ll start tunneling at a rate of about 75 metres (246 feet) each week. Metrolinx, the TTC and the contractors expect that the machines will reach Allen Road in early 2014.

Other work includes:

• relocating utilities, including gas mains, storm sewers and sanitary sewers between Keele Street and Black Creek Drive.
• building caisson (or ‘pile’) walls on the north side of Eglinton Avenue. This means drilling deep into the ground to install long columns that workers will fill with concrete to support the launch shaft structure.
• continuing to build sidewalks and installing new pavement on the north side of Eglinton. This work will let the contractor to safely maintain as much pedestrian and traffic flow through the area after they’ve finished digging up the roadway and a large hole on Eglinton Avenue.

If you missed the meeting, you can still have your say. The Crosstown staff have posted the presentation on line and are also providing an on-line form to gather your ideas about the proposals.

You can view the presentation here. (.pdf)

If you can’t view the .pdf file, you can read a text summary here.

You can submit your comments until Monday, May 28 here.

Building the Crosstown LRT will significantly improve mobility and transportation options for area residents and many other Torontonians and it will bring a number of planning opportunities and challenges that the City of Toronto must address.

During the next two years, the City is undertaking a comprehensive planning study of the Eglinton Avenue corridor. Metrolinx is financially supporting the study, which City Planning staff will lead.

The City is hosting three open houses to find out what you think about the future of the Eglinton corridor and neighbourhoods around the future LRT. During the events, staff will introduce the objectives of the study, discuss guiding principles and provide an opportunity for the you to offer your comments and ideas. The events take place Thursday, May 17, Tuesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 24.