Commuting downtown

[I82l8]

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Looks like my job will be moving downtown in a couple of weeks (give or take),
Right to Yonge & Dundas.
Commuting from Stouffville on the bike, would you take the highway (404/407-DVP) or stay off the highway?

 

[nearace]

400 series for sure, dvp next .

 

[FLSTC]

I travel from Richmond Hill to Queen/Bay - Hwy 7 -> 404 -> DVP -> Richmond exit -> Queen. The top end of the DVP can get congested as the morning progresses, so depends what times you travel. You can get off to use Don Mills with the Diamond lanes. Return trip - I get onto DVP at Bayview and if slow, exit at Don Mills (diamond lane) and then get back on at York Mills. The good thing about these detours is the ramps... You can start to recognize a pattern in lane movements - if you know when to change lanes you can reduce the affect of congestion.

 

[kiwi]

Looks like my job will be moving downtown in a couple of weeks (give or take),
Right to Yonge & Dundas.
Commuting from Stouffville on the bike, would you take the highway (404/407-DVP) or stay off the highway?

Yeah, do the DVP.. when factoring in the side roads with the traffic, street car tracks and construction, the DVP is a simpler ride. Its nice in the summer months. I used to take it from Eglington to Don Mills a few years back.
Take it to Richmond I think, then head across.
BTW - if you are not aware the free parking situtation will be changing soon downtown.. check the stickies out.

 

[Supernam]

It will be a fun ride to work, like the good old days when Frogger was the game that kept us entertained for hours.

 

[LePhillou]

What about from sauga to downtown core?

Queensway?
Lakeshore
QEW + Lakeshore
(as you may have noticed, i didnt mention the Gardiner as it seems to be a clusterfak every single day)

 

[Jayv]

I travel from Richmond Hill to Queen/Bay - Hwy 7 -> 404 -> DVP -> Richmond exit -> Queen. The top end of the DVP can get congested as the morning progresses, so depends what times you travel. You can get off to use Don Mills with the Diamond lanes. Return trip - I get onto DVP at Bayview and if slow, exit at Don Mills (diamond lane) and then get back on at York Mills. The good thing about these detours is the ramps... You can start to recognize a pattern in lane movements - if you know when to change lanes you can reduce the affect of congestion.

This is the best option.

Don Mills typically moves faster than the DVP/404.

You can also use overlea drive to connect with Bayview extension and pape ave as other alternatives if the traffic gets blocked off further south, they are also HOV lanes for bikes.

 

[ZX600]

I am in Whites road and 401 and commute to Yonge and Eglinton every day.

My suggestion is:
Down on York-Durham line, right on taunton and left on beare road and then right on plughat. Take sheppard to Maccowen and then 401 to Bayview south. Then look up FiFeshire on google and follow that to yorkmills. left on Old Younge and there is a shortcut to the top of yonge by the supermarket (look it up on google). then down to dundas.

On the way home just take avenue road to 401, hit the express entrance as soon as you hit the 401 and clear sailing to Meadowvale

Looks like my job will be moving downtown in a couple of weeks (give or take),
Right to Yonge & Dundas.
Commuting from Stouffville on the bike, would you take the highway (404/407-DVP) or stay off the highway?

 

[Dresden]

What about from sauga to downtown core?

Queensway?
Lakeshore
QEW + Lakeshore
(as you may have noticed, i didnt mention the Gardiner as it seems to be a clusterfak every single day)

You are better off on the Gardiner for anything past Park Lawn.

Queensway (Queen/King) and Lakeshore are PACKED during rush hour. At least on the Gardiner there aren't any blocked intersections

Pretty much:

 

[LePhillou]

You are better off on the Gardiner for anything past Park Lawn.

Queensway (Queen/King) and Lakeshore are PACKED during rush hour. At least on the Gardiner there aren't any blocked intersections

Pretty much:

And then in two weeks, ill be asking about lane splitting/filtering by starting a new thread (there arent enough of them)

 

[RetroGrouch]

And then in two weeks, ill be asking about lane splitting/filtering by starting a new thread (there arent enough of them)

It's becoming more common and I don't see any cops pulling over riders for doing it.

 

[griff2]

400 series for sure, dvp next .

400 near 401 is about to become construction hell. http://400-401interchange.ca/

 

[Crackberry]

Looks like my job will be moving downtown in a couple of weeks (give or take),
Right to Yonge & Dundas.
Commuting from Stouffville on the bike, would you take the highway (404/407-DVP) or stay off the highway?

Not sure if this is an option you've considered but I also have offices in Downtown Toronto however, mine are @ Bay and Queen. I leave the bike @ the Go Station and take the train in to Union. I wear my jacket and boots to the office and have a pair of shoes I can change into. At the end of the day, my jacket and boots come back on and I am on my way to Union to catch my train home. Of course my advantage is that I use the Lakeshore West line so have a lot more frequent trains available. At the end of the year, I print out my Presto statement and use it in my taxes.

I know this probably defeats the purpose of what you are trying to achieve and there are a lot of people who ride into Toronto however, with the never ending construction and congestion, the upcoming Pan Am games which will lead to further congestion and the distracted mindset of Toronto drivers who are busy talking/texting on their phones or road raging, etc. I find it a more preferable solution than riding in. Of course I do ride in when I need to visit the dealership or on the rare occasion when we are working on a weekend.

You have already received some excellent advice on routes to take, nonetheless I thought I'd throw this in as an alternative.

Cheers!

 

[cbcanada]

I do this once or twice a week.. DVP all the way...don't even think about any other route in the morning rush hour..

Take the dvp and in a matter of days you will know what to look for and all that.. Where as the street is a new treat everyday


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"

 

[borateen]

Good luck. I live at St Clair and Keele and ride to Bloor and Jarvis. I don't know if I can deal with the traffic in the city until school is out. Traffic down Davenport is a mess, Dupont is a mess and Davenport south of Dupont is a cluster. It takes me 15 mins less if I take the subway. I am not feeling good about this.

 

[boooya]

There isn't enough money to make we want to commute into downtown t.o. on a bike.
I don't even feel safe in my cage.

 

[Dresden]

 

[RyanKW]

I live at St. Clair and Dufferin and it takes me 15 mins to get to work at Queen and Ossington.
Not too bad of a commute with the bike.

 

[regder]

Live in Thornhill, used to commute to Richmond and Parliament. Bayview was the best option for me anywhere close to to rush hour. 404/DVP was doable if I was on it around 6:30am, but that was rare. Northbound traffic doesn't start getting better until after 8 at night.

Did it on the bike for most of the riding season for some traffic/fun advantages, but probably would have been better off in the car. A lot more relaxing in the car with a cup of coffee, radio, and a/c.

 

[I82l8]

Thanks for all the input from everybody

Not sure if this is an option you've considered but I also have offices in Downtown Toronto however, mine are @ Bay and Queen. I leave the bike @ the Go Station and take the train in to Union. I wear my jacket and boots to the office and have a pair of shoes I can change into. At the end of the day, my jacket and boots come back on and I am on my way to Union to catch my train home. Of course my advantage is that I use the Lakeshore West line so have a lot more frequent trains available. At the end of the year, I print out my Presto statement and use it in my taxes.

I know this probably defeats the purpose of what you are trying to achieve and there are a lot of people who ride into Toronto however, with the never ending construction and congestion, the upcoming Pan Am games which will lead to further congestion and the distracted mindset of Toronto drivers who are busy talking/texting on their phones or road raging, etc. I find it a more preferable solution than riding in. Of course I do ride in when I need to visit the dealership or on the rare occasion when we are working on a weekend.

You have already received some excellent advice on routes to take, nonetheless I thought I'd throw this in as an alternative.

Cheers!

I will do the GO train in the winter months. I'm five minutes from two GO train stations here...so there's not much point in taking the bike there LOL

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