Author Archives: Greg Burrell
Queen East replacement bus: tips from a daily commuter
This summer the City of Toronto is rebuilding Queen Street between Coxwell and Connaught Avenues, doing badly-needed reconstruction of the road, sidewalks and streetcar tracks. Since streetcars won’t be able to get through with the tracks torn up, the iconic …
The Cyclists Union is dead. Long live the cyclists union.
Tonight, the Toronto Cyclists Union voted to do away with the organization’s name. By a very slim margin, the members decided to scrap the old name and move forward with a new name, Cycle Toronto. I voted against the change, …
What’s in a name?
Last month, members of the Toronto Cyclists Union received an email from the organization’s Board of Directors, introducing the new name they had chosen for the organization. At the upcoming Annual General Meeting, members will vote on accepting the Board’s …
Open letter to Toronto Council’s “left wing”, re: rapid transit
Dear esteemed councillors, In today’s Globe and Mail, I have read that some of you are being asked to vote against Councillor Stintz’s revised proposal for the Eglinton Light Rail. As you likely know, this plan restores the surface light …
Metropass economics: 2012 edition
The Toronto Transit Commission has done a good job of making the Metropass only attractive to people who use transit as their main method of transportation. For the average commuter, tokens are now the better deal.
Threes and sevens
With a new year comes a new transit fare hike in Toronto. In four years that I’ve lived here, it’s almost a guarantee. And with each fare hike comes a new set of fare token sales combos. Last year, a …
Easy service reduction recipe!
For today’s libertarian mayor-on-the-go, I’m posting this recipe for reduced government services, low taxes and reduced spending. It’s similar to the recipe that cooked the budget that Rob Ford will be unveiling in Toronto today, and follows a rich right-wing …
To remember a fallen cyclist
I didn’t know Jenna Morrison. I’ve never biked past the corner where she was killed, and save for Google Maps, I would have never known where Sterling was. But something about her tragic, needless, entirely preventable death strikes a chord …
What to do if your Twitter is hacked
This morning, I woke up to a Twitter direct message (DM) warning me that a bad blog had been posted about me, and urging me to click on the link to check it out. I thought briefly about checking the …
A letter to my City Councillor
I just wrote this letter to my local representative, the “mighty middle” Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon. If you’re angry about what’s happening at City Hall today, I encourage you to write your own letter too. — Dear Councillor McMahon, My name …
