There are many ways to fight the tedium that comes along with standstill traffic. The right podcast can make hours seem like minutes. If you’re not moving, there are loads of smartphone games. Or you can go old-school and read. Like, paper, remember?But what if you’re sick of every podcast, haven’t read a ‘book’-book in a decade, and have already earned three stars on all the Angry Birds levels? Two drivers who found themselves in such a situation, stuck in traffic somewhere on the 401 in the Greater Toronto Area, decided to take the unplanned interruption to sneak in a little play time. 401 got people playing soccer❌😂.#hwy401 #401 #sarpanch #toronto #brampton #mississauga pic.twitter.com/BG0KkvdXy7 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da) August 18, 2019The Twitter video posted by the self-proclaimed “OFFICIAL HIGHWAY 401 TRUCKER PAGE” and captioned “401 got people playing soccer” shows a man in a tee-shirt and jeans kicking around a ball with another guy wearing a suit. A road sign reads “All lanes closed ahead,” and around them traffic sits motionless. Well, why not stretch the legs and kick a ball around a bit if you find yourself on a road that’s behaving like a parking lot? Come to think of it, with the way the 401 runs, we could probably organize a highway soccer league. That’s legal, right? Just try not to hit any cars,
Origin: Drivers stuck in Toronto traffic get out to play a little highway soccer
Toronto
19-year-old charged with stealing $1.26M of new Toyota, Lexus cars in Toronto
Slow U.S. sales spell the end for the Lexus CT200h south of the border. A 19-year-old man is facing dozens of charges in the investigation of $1.26 million worth of stolen vehicles, Toronto Police say.From November 20 to December 22, 2018, police say an organized motor theft operation targeted new, high-end Lexus and Toyota vehicles in the wee hours of the morning.Thirty-six vehicles were stolen.Kevin Ramnaraine, of Montreal, was arrested July 19 and charged with 71 offences including with 35 counts of theft of a motor vehicle, 35 counts of commit an indictable offence for a criminal organization and possession of property obtained by crime.He is to appear in College Park court on Aug.
Origin: 19-year-old charged with stealing $1.26M of new Toyota, Lexus cars in Toronto
Toronto mayor says people with loud cars are compensating for something
To maintain the departure angle of the Mercedes AMG 63 G Wagon, the twin exhaust exists just aft of the rear wheels instead of out back.Derek McNaughton Toronto is enacting a new noise bylaw that will see some cars and motorcycles penalized for being too loud, BlogTO reports.But were sure it wont affect you, since only people who have to, um, compensate for something have such raucous exhaust systems, at least according to the citys mayor.The crackdown comes on the heels of complaints levelled by residents of the citys more affluent Yorkville neighbourhood about the noise pollution somehow getting around their Apple EarPods.Comments on a tweet by Mayor John Tory mostly seem to agree loud noises in the city are irritating, even if a few Twitterers instead categorized the Mayors speeches as such.Loud and excessive noise can be characterized as noise that is a nuisance to the general public, taking into consideration the nature, location, time and proximity of the source to residents and members of the public. Some examples of enforceable disturbances include: pic.twitter.com/tSjDGNuGS8 John Tory (@JohnTory) July 16, 2019Thats not all there is to the noise crackdown, however; Mayor Tory had an extra burn to add to the perpetrators of said pollution during his evening press conference.My wife has explained this many times to me as being simply an outcropping of the inadequacies that certain people feel mostly men who drive these cars around, he explained. I will go no further than that.Even as car people, we understand its pretty wanky to rev up your engine at a stoplight or do a big squealy burnout outside of the grocery store. We dont think youre cool, and if youre in a Mustang or Corvette, youre making us fear for our lives. I think people who live in the city understand that its not going to be Algonquin Park and its not going to be silent at all times, Tory added.But the thing they have no understanding and no patience for, and I tend to agree with them, is noise that is caused by vehicles especially people who are deliberately revving their engines and otherwise modifying their equipment to create an excessive level of noise that is disrupting the lives of people who are living in the city.Being excessively noisy will now cost you $155 during the blitz
Origin: Toronto mayor says people with loud cars are compensating for something
Boat blocks Toronto highway on Canada Day, sparks national caption contest
Drivers who opted to cut a few minutes off of their Canada Day travels this year by paying the toll and hopping on the 407 ETR Highway in the Greater Toronto Area were rewarded by an interesting sight. Because at some point on July 1, 2019, there was a large water vessel parked haphazardly across the left lane of the 100-km/h highway.The 20-ish-foot motorboat allegedly fell off a trailer on its way to or from one of Ontario’s boat-friendly bodies of water, thus blocking the left two lanes of the 407 Highway near Dixie Road.As a way of letting the public know about the potential delay – though traffic looks to be moving pretty well in the photo provided – the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shipped out a Tweet asking the public to caption the photo, which shows the boat lying perpendicular to the traffic lines, its white paint scraped off on the highway’s surface. Caption? This boat ended up on #Hwy407 at Dixie Rd tonight. No one hurt. #HappyCanadaDay pic.twitter.com/rDU3sePzJ7 Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) July 2, 2019So far, around 200 commenters have joined in on the fun. There were, naturally, some fine boat puns – e.g. “That’s a HULL of a mess,” “This gives a whole new meaning to dry docking!!” – but also a spot-on reference to Gilligan’s Island.🎶 a 3 hour tour.🎶🎶🎶🎶 Glen Baxby (@rvr600) July 2, 2019One user dipped into the emoji stash to make the boat appear less out of place:😲 pic.twitter.com/LLrkpp1MrI AnnieBodyCaNaDa (@AnnieBodyCanada) July 2, 2019While another one used the power of the GIF to narrate the scene: pic.twitter.com/v9jXYQLXBc LynnMichelleWNKLMR🤟🍷🍺 (@deafmamaof3) July 2, 2019Some of the locals made it a GTA inside joke, getting cute with the location: No, not Dixie, it was at KEEL David Nugent (@davidbnugent) July 2, 2019Others blamed the environment: Global warming at its finest. Randy Narine (@RandyNarinee) July 2, 2019Got a caption to pin on this boat that’s run a-shoulder? Comment on the Tweet thread, or, if you don’t have Twitter, drop it in the comments below.Other than the photo, police haven’t released any information on how or by whom the boat was parked on the
Origin: Boat blocks Toronto highway on Canada Day, sparks national caption contest
Toronto reducing speed limits as part of effort to curb traffic deaths
A speed limit sign in downtown Toronto Toronto will lower the speed limits on close to 50 of its busiest streets as soon as possible, in an effort to reduce the number of traffic fatalities in the city, the mayor announced late June.We simply have to see drivers slow down on streets where the numbers show us that speed has put peoples lives at risk, Mayor John Tory said at a news conference June 20.The speed limit reductions are part of the second phase of the citys Vision Zero plan, launched 2017 and so-named because it aims to lower the number of people killed on Toronto streets to zero, explains BlogTO.The city saw some 66 car collision fatalities in 2018, 40 of which involved pedestrians; it came off of a ten-year record-high number of deaths in 2016, when they totaled some 78.Proud to join City staff this morning to bring forward an evidence-based #VisionZero 2.0 Plan, focused on taking action to lower speed limits on hundreds of kilometres on our arterial roads across the city. pic.twitter.com/ESMJrlaRzp John Tory (@JohnTory) June 20, 2019The list of streets that will see their limits dropped include many 50 km/h, 60 km/h and 70 km/h major arteries, each of which will see its limit dropped by 10 km/h. The mayor even suggested speeding up the process by putting stickers over the speed limit signs if new ones couldnt be ordered quickly enough.Other proposed changes, says the magazine, are improving safety where there is roadwork, enhancing road lighting and advocating for the province to change the maximum Blood Alcohol Concentration for motorcyclists to zero per
Origin: Toronto reducing speed limits as part of effort to curb traffic deaths
Commute times up to an average 42 minutes one-way in Toronto
In this file photo, vehicles makes their way into and out of downtown Toronto along the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto.Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press Regardless of how Toronto-area residents get to and from work each day, in some parts of the city, commute times are only getting worse.A recent Forum Research poll commissioned by the Toronto Star found workers spent, on average, 42 minutes each way to get to work. While that’s an improvement for some over a similar poll taken in 2013, for others it only seems to get worse. The average works out to an increase of 8 per cent.The City of Toronto, East York and Scarborough all saw a slight decrease in the amount of time residents of those areas spent en route to their jobs each day, but those in North York report a 21-per-cent spike to 45 minutes, and in Etobicoke/York, it’s an additional 31 per cent, now up to 46 minutes.Commuting times are often measured for those driving in from outlying areas, and represent clogged highways at peak times. This poll is indicative of the fact that just getting around Toronto itself is resulting in many of its residents spending up to an hour and a half each day getting to and from work.Public transit accounted for the longest commute times, at 52 minutes. The shortest times were enjoyed by those who cycled to work, at 31 minutes; or who walked, at just 22 minutes. While motorists clocked in somewhere in the middle at 40 minutes, nearly 60 per cent of those polled, regardless of the mode of transportation, said these long commutes reduce their quality of life. Those aged 18 to 34 are faced with the brunt of the increases, likely because they are more consistently users of public transit.Some 58 per cent of those polled said more transit was the answer to reducing congestion; while 17 per cent wanted more roads built. Nine per cent admit they just dont know what the answer
Origin: Commute times up to an average 42 minutes one-way in Toronto
Uber shows the Toronto Raptors love ahead of NBA Finals
A screenshot of the Uber app in Toronto ahead of the teams championship run late May 2019Driving.ca Uber is making sure all its customers in Toronto are aware the NBA season is still in full swing North of the border, with a team in the playoffs for the first time in—ever. The ride-sharing app has replaced all of its vehicle icons with Raptors logos to celebrate the opening of the NBA Finals at ScotiaBank Arena on Thursday night. The Raptors face off against the Golden State Warriors at home, the first championship series game played outside of the United States in league history. This is cool. Uber cars today are Raptors claws. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/4KOf0WQODm Lori Ewing (@Ewingsports) May 30, 2019 Uber is The Official Ride of the Toronto Raptors and will likely have plenty of business in the downtown core on game nights over the next two weeks as tens of thousands of fans flock to the ScotiaBank Arena to watch the game both inside and outside at the now famous Jurassic Park. Tickets to Game 1 were being sold for as much as $60,000. Mississauga and Brampton were also granted permission by the team’s ownership, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, to set up their own versions of Jurassic Park to attract fans to viewing
Origin: Uber shows the Toronto Raptors love ahead of NBA Finals
#WeTheCongested: What do the Raptors’ wins mean for Toronto traffic?
In this file photo, vehicles makes their way into and out of downtown Toronto along the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto.Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press Are you an up-and-coming fair-weather basketball fan? You might want to get yourself some comfortable walking shoes—with the state of Toronto’s roads, and the team’s winning streak, the growing Raptors bandwagon ain’t going nowhere any time soon. Following the Eastern Conference victory Saturday night, fans everywhere were celebrating like never before. The honking traffic didn’t start driving around our mid-Toronto neighbourhood until after midnight, probably because the drivers simply couldn’t move before then. Recall this publication recently reported that 600 or so Toronto roads are getting the time-out this summer for around 140 km of roadworks. Consequently, Toronto’s current traffic functions as well as the Raptors’ defence circa 1998, or the Jays’ circa May 2019. Mind, you can’t accuse the city of not trying. This year, over $1 billion (a.k.a. Kawhi’s signing bonus) is being spent to remedy the situation. The gist? You probably won’t hear traveling called much throughout the finals in TO. Perhaps presciently, the Raps secured their first-ever finals run on the day following the kickoff of Hogtown’s annual Bike to Work Month. But with hilariously poetic timing, one of the city’s most vital bike paths, Bloor Street between Bathurst and Spadina, is being shredded today. The expected end date? Sometime in December. By then, invincibly optimistic Leaf fans (you know the sort) estimate their Buds will already have secured a spot in next year’s playoffs. So, what days will TO traffic reach its nadir, creating a Jurassic parking lot? Having won more games than Golden State this season, the Raptors enjoy home court advantage during these finals, which means at least two games will further clog our already Jurassic-ally clogged streets. The first game is this Thursday, May 30 at 9 pm; and the second three days later, Sunday, June 2, at 8 pm. If you worry that you or someone you love just ever-so-possibly may need to hurry to the hospital on either afternoon, evening or late night, consider arranging to be out of town. Or inflate the tire on your wheelbarrow because the ambulance is likely to be ambulatory. Now, not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but you also have to wonder what a victory parade would look like given the state of the city’s roads. There’s not much to compare it to: the closest we’ve got is the 1967 Leafs’ victory parade from the Gardens (which no longer exists) to City Hall (which was brand-new and actually capable of supporting fans on its now-crumbling grounds) to celebrate the Stanley Cup (which is what again?). A simple march from Scotiabank Arena to City Hall could be even more fraught. The population was 700,000 in 1967. Today it’s two million more than that. An undoctored screen capture of today’s road restrictions in Toronto. Steve Bochenek Will any parading Raps in size-20 kicks slip into one of the city’s as-yet unrepaired T-Rex-sized potholes and break an ankle? Stay tuned, sports fans! Don’t get us wrong. Of course, this victory is good for the city’s image. Tourism will flourish. And heaven knows Toronto’s long-suffering sports fans deserve a nod from God. But there’s one GTA collective who’ve suffered even more. We The Congested have endured a hell of a bad ride since long before Nick Nurse was even a candy striper, or Kawhi emitted his first awkward
Origin: #WeTheCongested: What do the Raptors’ wins mean for Toronto traffic?
Prepare yourselves for traffic hell in Toronto this weekend
Traffic along King St. W., at Simcoe St. in downtown Toronto.Ernest Doroszuk You know summer is almost here when it becomes impossible to navigate Toronto by car. For the people who live here, that’s not such a bad thing. Neighbourhoods are meant to be people friendly, and cars most decidedly are not. Look for parts of Kensington Ave, Augusta Ave and Baldwin St in the Kensington Market to be closed on Sunday from noon until 10:30pm, part of the ongoing Kensington Market’s Pedestrian Sundays; the next one is June 30. With the Raptors returned to town for Game 5 against Milwaukee, Bremner Blvd and Lakeshore Road West to east of 25 York will be closed for a tailgate party on Saturday from 7 a.m. until midnight. And it’s a Jays afternoon game both Saturday and Sunday, so there will be thousands of extra cars roaming around the downtown core hopelessly searching for cheaper parking. Toughest for out-of-towners will no doubt be the maintenance closure of the Don Valley Parkway at 12:01 a.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday. Double check subway lines for hiccups there, too. Originally scheduled to close for the entire weekend, expected rain on Saturday hampered resurfacing efforts. Toronto Island is battling its own woes, with ankle-deep water flooding much of the area. Recreation plans should be delayed while residents battle the encroaching Lake
Origin: Prepare yourselves for traffic hell in Toronto this weekend
Toronto traffic report: You’re going nowhere this summer!
Signs warning motorists of a construction zone stand near RioCans ePlace project, a commercial/residential development in Toronto, Ontario, Canada December 19, 2017.Chris Helgen / Reuters Toronto, we have some good news and some bad news. First the good: three days ago, Mayor John Tory tweeted the launch of “Toronto’s busiest construction season ever, with more than $1 billion in work planned for roads, bridges, expressways, sewers, and watermains. This is the largest investment into a City of Toronto construction season yet.” After a decade of significant dissolution in the city’s infrastructure, a major cash injection will not only boost the economy in the short term, providing well-paying jobs, it’ll help in the long term too, improving flow of movement. Now the bad news: three days ago, Mayor John Tory tweeted the launch of “Toronto’s busiest construction season ever with more than $1 billion in work planned for roads, bridges, expressways, sewers, and watermains. This is the largest investment into a City of Toronto construction season yet.” Translation? Get yourself some comfortable sneakers or ask your boss for permission to telecommute, because it’s going to be an unprecedentedly slow summer in the Smoke. If you thought traffic was bad here before— Some $590 million of that billion-plus is going towards pasting and duct-taping the Gardiner Expressway (“Expressway”? Sue them for false advertising) once again, plus towards more cycling infrastructure and Tory’s wobbly Vision Zero, the traffic plan that aims to prevent any more pedestrian or cyclist deaths by drivers. Not that walkers and riders have much to fear about speeding automobiles this summer. According to the Torontoist, “A whopping 600 roads (or more) are going to be under construction this summer, equalling up to 140 kilometres in road paving”. The natural reaction is to flip out, especially if you’re unfortunate enough to live or work beside one of these hundreds of projects and simply can’t avoid its inevitable time-consuming and frustrating consequences. But that’s the unfortunate reality of all city life. Construction is a by-product of success. A city is better compared to an organic, aging body that needs maintenance and care than a suite of lifeless engineering projects you complete and leave for posterity. Remember any of the scenes of the Eternal City in that mid-2000s HBO show, Rome? The creators very wisely depicted streets with chaotic construction abounding. Rather than the pristine paintings of a fully formed and idealized Rome that you’d see in, say, Cecil B Demille movies, wide sweeping vistas were constantly interrupted by wooden cranes and scaffolding. Noisy, living chaos. That’s how cities work until they don’t. Ponder that while you review the following. Again, from the Torontoist, here’s just a soupçon of the improvements coming to our roads, bridges and highways this summer: Kipling Avenue, Bloor Street West and Dundas Street West, Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration; Four bridges over the Don Valley Parkway, rehabilitation of Don Mills Road, Spanbridge Road, Wynford Drive and Lawrence Avenue bridges; Gardiner Expressway Strategic Rehabilitation from Jarvis Street to Cherry Street, first phase; Bloor Street West from Bathurst Street to Spadina Avenue, watermain replacement, streetscaping, bike lane construction and road resurfacing; Richmond Street from York Street to Bathurst Street, watermain replacement; Jarvis Street from Dundas Street to Queen Street, road resurfacing (resuming from 2018); Don and Central Waterfront, first phase, Coxwell Bypass Tunnel boring; Queen Street East and Eastern Avenue, TTC track replacement; Birchmount Road from Eglinton Avenue East to Lawrence Avenue East, road resurfacing; Midland Avenue from Danforth Avenue to Lawrence Avenue East, road reconstruction; Old Weston Road from St. Clair Avenue West to Rowntree Avenue, road resurfacing; Royal York from Dixon Road to Summitcrest Drive, road resurfacing; York Mills Road from Leslie Street to Don Mills Road, road resurfacing; Willowdale Avenue from Empress Avenue to Finch Avenue, road resurfacing and bike lane installation; and Bayview Avenue over the west Don River, bridge repairs Having trouble cheering up and thinking of the long-term good that’s coming of all that work? Well, it seems that every day lately the city learns about more subtle budget cuts from the province to countless other aspects of city life; maybe tomorrow the mayor will announce he’s canceling all this work instead, to save
Origin: Toronto traffic report: You’re going nowhere this summer!
All about car 