The Great TTC Debate!

This past Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, the heat turned up on the discussions surrounding the city of Toronto's vision for the future of public transit in the region. In one corner, Adam Giambrone, former Chair for the TTC and an advocate for public transit and the Transit City plan. In the other corner, Wendell Cox, Principal of Demographia, with a more holistic point-of-view on solving the city's congestion problems.

These opposing transit dynamos met head-on at the "Moving Toronto: Debate on the Future of the TTC" event held at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management. The debate raised many questions: how will Toronto's increasing congestion impact our plan for public transit? What roles do buses, streetcars, and subways play in the mix? Why don't we just build new freeways? Each discussion forced the audience to ponder how we'd handle transit in this city.

Amongst the crowd, of course, was your favourite group of #TransitHubbers - us! - capturing the best parts. Check out the photos, videos, and tweets from the debate below, then get talking...

Adam Giambrone's Opening Remarks

The Legend of #BathurstKing Visits the Drake General Store

TransitHub is happy to bring all of you #TransitHubbers out there the very first #TransitHubbing Adventure from Ted Blanchard, affectionately referred to by us as "The Legend of #BathurstKing". This week, Ted shares his encounter with the Drake Hotel General Store, just a few steps away from this bustling Hub. Enjoy!


On a recent Sunday afternoon while tromping around King & Bathurst I was asking myself if the weather could be any nicer as I walked by Drake General Store and peered through their invitingly open door.

A #TransitHubbing Appearance at Ernst & Young

Five-eighths of the TransitHub Team - Cleaver, John, Arvind, Neil, and Ian, basking in the glory of our table. Go team!

Thanks to our good friends and supporters at MaRS (@MaRSDD), the TransitHub Team was able to attend a Technology, Entertainment, and Media event and panel at Ernst & Yonge (a stone's throw away from the #YongeKing Hub).

At the event, we heard a mix of interesting perspectives on investing and funding technology startups, from both entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists alike. We also met many people from a variety of backgrounds and industries, each interested in learning and sharing knowledge about the startup space. And to cap it all off, we were lucky enough to have our very own TransitHub table set up, where we showcased what we've been up to, handed out our awesome #transit buttons, and generally showed people a good time.

Overall, it was an opportunity to learn, meet great people, and share our passion for TransitHub with anyone who was willing to listen. What more could #TransitHubbers like us ask for??? ;) Enjoy the pics from the event... and keep #TransitHubbing, people!

"What's Your Hub?" Featuring Vipasha and Lucy

It's a double dose of "What's Your Hub?" as #TransitHubbers Vipasha (@PopsugarJunkie) and Lucy share the hidden gems around the #BathurstAdelaide and #SpadinaQueen Hubs...

Sprint Saturday at #StGeorgeBloor

This past Saturday the TransitHub team went #TransitHubbing over to #StGeorgeBloor to hunker down for some power coding and business planning - TransitHub-style.

Although we were a bit sceptical about finding a suitable place to work, what we ended up discovering was a hidden gem on the U of T campus. Inside of Woodsworth College, on the 2nd Floor, we found exactly what we needed - lots of space and chairs to lounge in, walls for us to throw up flip charts and Post-it notes, and free Wi-Fi!! What could be better!

We also had a very special visit from #TransitHubber Vipasha Shaikh (@PopsugarJunkie) and her photographer friend, Lucy, who hung out with us for a bit and even did a "What's Your Hub?" interview for us. Vipasha, who recently shared with us a Transit Tale, will be featuring TransitHub on Impact.org - a website dedicated to entrepreneurship. Looking forward to seeing it, Vipasha!

Enjoy the pics from the Sprint below. Happy #TransitHubbing!

We've got buttons!! :)

Introducing our very limited-edition batch of TransitHub #transit buttons! Featuring the TransitHub logo, the #BayDundas Hub, and the #YongeKing Hub, we'll be giving these buttons away at a very special event later this week.

Want one? Join us on Facebook and let us know that you're an avid #TransitHubber, and they'll be yours the next time we meet! We'll also be tweeting our whereabouts throughout the week, so if you're up for some spontaneous #TransitHubbing and can find us, the buttons will be yours! Rest assured, we'll always be somewhere that's nearby one of Toronto's Transit Hubs!

Which Hubs would you like to see get their own buttons in the future?? Leave us a comment and let us know! Happy #TransitHubbing!!

Freshly Brewed Arvind!

Are you an entrepreneur working out of the Network Orange (@OrangeYYZ) section of the ING Cafe? If you are, you would have spotted TransitHub's very own Arvind Karir in this month's issue of Freshly Brewed News! The article covers Arvind's background and how he got involved with TransitHub - check it out below!

To view the article on Arvind and TransitHub, click on the image above

To view the Freshly Brewed News newsletter, click on the image above

A #TransitHubbing Workout on the TTC

Great video on Jered Stuffco's transit-based workout routine - just another reason to keep #TransitHubbing! Thanks to Simon for sharing this story:

Source: The Toronto Star

Transit Tales: Chapter 2 - "The Ice Breaker"

In our second chapter of "Transit Tales", a #TransitHubber who goes by the name of Ms. Anonymous shares the story of her return to the world of transit. Enjoy!
- John Krissilas

After a 3 year TTC hiatus (well not completely, but more specifically on a daily commuting basis) I have taken up Riding the Rocket once again. Here are some of my Transit Tales...

"The Ice Breaker" by Ms. Anonymous

My ears are involuntarily acclimatizing to the shrill of Toronto’s trains as they skate into my home station each morning. As a now ‘practiced’ commuter, I can deduce by way of the tunnel wind rushes whether the train is approaching north, east, south or westbound.

A Transit-lover's Ad Campaign at #YongeBloor!

Air Canada's got a new ad campaign that's a transit-lover's dream come true. Inside the #YongeBloor Subway Station, you'll find a gallery of ads featuring TransitHubs from around the world - from Paris to Shanghai to the Big Apple. Ooohh the potential! If only we could go #TransitHubbing across the globe right now!! Check out the pics we nabbed, then take a moment to soak them in the next time you hit #YongeBloor!

#TransitHubbing onto Techvibes.com

Last week, the TransitHub Team was honoured to have had the chance to chat with Andrea Wahbe (@TheRunningStart), a marketing consultant and Techvibes.com contributor, about our #TransitHubbing journey so far.

The piece on TransitHub was featured on Techvibes.com this past weekend and really captured our passion and enthusiasm for what TransitHub is all about: the community and our city. Check it out!

Techvibes.com - TransitHub: a community and discovery tool for local hidden gems

Guest Post: Hidden alleyway near Bathurst & Bloor

TransitHub is pleased that guest blogger Ionatan Waisgluss has contributed today's blog post. This time around his contribution is about the "extraordinary graffiti" in an off-the-beaten track area near the Bathurst & Bloor Hub. Enjoy!
- Neil Jain

Hidden alleyway near Bathurst & Bloor

Since moving to Borden Street at the start of September, I’ve been continuously exploring the Bathurst & Bloor area, always on the lookout for interesting shops, venues, places to practice parkour, and, of course, street art!

Bathurst & Bloor is a fantastic intersection. Most people know it for the iconic Honest Ed’s, which now incorporates Sonic Boom, Hero Burgers,and The Wine Rack; it’s worth visiting for its sheer size, if not for its fantastic deals. For additional awesomeness near this intersection, check out Midoco’s incredible selection of arts & crafts novelties, have a drink at a bar named after a disorder of your choice (Insomnia or Amnesia), or see what’s playing at the Bloor Cinema.

Transit Tales: Chapter 1 - "Aurora"

"Transit Tales" is a brand new series focused on your #TransitHubbing adventures and encounters on the subway or streetcar. In our very first chapter, Vipasha Shaikh (@PopsugarJunkie) shares the story of her very first ride on the subway, and her chance encounter with a girl called "Aurora". Enjoy!
- John Krissilas

"Aurora" by Vipasha Shaikh

This story’s old. It’s really old. It’s from when I was in Grade 9, almost four years ago. I had finished my first grade of high school, and I was gearing up for a summer of epic volunteering. I decided to volunteer Downtown, because I hadn’t really gone there before. So I applied to be a volunteer at Fringe, and I got in! I was happy - thank god for that 100% acceptance rate.

Within two days, I had my first shift, and I had to ride the subway all the way to Bathurst Street for it. This was my first subway ride, so I was excited and I didn’t want to screw up. That meant that when I got to Kennedy Station from the RT line, I asked this to an auburn-haired chick who was sitting beside me:

‘Hi, this subway goes down all the way to Kipling right?’

#TransitHubbing through a chilly Nuit Blanche in Toronto

Saturday night was Nuit Blanche (#snbTO) night in Toronto, a sunset-to-sunrise event that celebrates art through exhibits and installations spread throughout the city. Picture this: crowds of excited people, mesmerizing pieces of strange and compelling art around every corner, and TTC street cars filled to the brim. Of course, what better way was there for people to zip from Zone to Zone than the transit system?

With that it mind, we grabbed our October metropasses, wrapped ourselves in our warmest coats, and rushed out to join the hordes of insatiable art-goers. What we found was sometimes shocking, sometimes intriguing, sometimes hilarious, even, but always fun enough to make us want to keep going. And after such an invigorating night of walking and #TransitHubbing through the city, even a 20 minute wait time for the northbound subway train (yeeep!) didn't spoil our mood.

Below are the highlights from our Twitterific evening, for all you #TransitHubbers out there. Just remember that the next time Nuit Blanche hits Toronto, you'll have TransitHub to keep you company! Happy #TransitHubbing, people!