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Paper transit schedules in the GTA?


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Hello. I'm a transit fan/schedule collector from the USA (New York City, to be exact), and I will be doing a train trip from Halifax to Toronto aboard the Ocean/Corridor in mid-May.

I have not been to Toronto in over half a decade, but from what I can recall, I do not remember the TTC having paper timetables (only the system map, and yes, I do collect system maps as well), while GO Transit had schedules in abundance at Union Station. I'm not sure about the other operators (Brampton Transit, YRT, MiWay, DRT, etc...). Could someone give me a quick rundown on who still prints timetables or maps, as well as where I can get them.

If you can, that would be most appreciated.

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2 hours ago, MrBeardedBread said:

Hello. I'm a transit fan/schedule collector from the USA (New York City, to be exact), and I will be doing a train trip from Halifax to Toronto aboard the Ocean/Corridor in mid-May.

I have not been to Toronto in over half a decade, but from what I can recall, I do not remember the TTC having paper timetables (only the system map, and yes, I do collect system maps as well), while GO Transit had schedules in abundance at Union Station. I'm not sure about the other operators (Brampton Transit, YRT, MiWay, DRT, etc...). Could someone give me a quick rundown on who still prints timetables or maps, as well as where I can get them.

If you can, that would be most appreciated.

Brampton does have timetables available over the counter or you can get them on buses. 

YRT has their full route maps on their buses

MiWay you can purchase a route map for $2 at City Centre

Oakville there is a schedule and map in one still available I think

DRT has route timetables as well I believe

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18 hours ago, noahrp24 said:

Brampton does have timetables available over the counter or you can get them on buses. 

YRT has their full route maps on their buses

MiWay you can purchase a route map for $2 at City Centre

Oakville there is a schedule and map in one still available I think

DRT has route timetables as well I believe

Oakville has their map and schedule (all in one) at each Oakville-based GO Station (Bronte and Oakville; unsure of Clarkson GO.

Brampton Transit does have them with individual route schedules with the maps of them included. They're on the clock though as Brampton did announce (not exactly sure when) but in September of this year, paper route schedules will be discontinued as well as PDF individual route schedule-s on their website, too.

Burlington Transit at one point had a full Ride Guide which had all routes' schedules and route maps. Ride Guides have been discontinued as of March or earlier. Individual route schedules are now available at the Downtown Terminal. Haven't seen them on buses.

 

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51 minutes ago, 38 Highland Creek said:

Toronto Transit  Commission doesn't print booklets for individual routes anymore.  It stopped doing them since 1993, but it gives out Ride Guides for all routes, including some from other neighbouring systems.

TTC changes route schedules so often, it made little sense to do so. Plus most routes are frequent and usually off schedule, schedules are just useless for their intended purposes. The maps on the website are full of errors with outdated route connections and discontinued branches still showing on the updated maps since whoever is updating them is obviously not a transit fan and doesn't remember all the routes plus branches in the system.

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DRT's maps and schedules are also available at their head office on Rossland Rd. in Whitby; YRT also has printouts of their online "navigators" available at their head office on High Tech Rd in Richmond Hill if that interests you - they aren't anything fancy, but they are printed timetables.

No one mentioned HSR in Hamilton as having paper timetables if you're going to be travelling that far west. Milton Transit also has a community map and schedule book - the books are usually on their buses, but you may have to Town Hall on Mary St. to get the map.

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GO transit still has paper schedules. Union Station has most (I believe with the exception of routes that don't go into downtown) of them available.

The TTC has extensively redesigned their system map since 2013 so it's worth getting a new one.

I do believe that all GO transit routes are available at Union Station. They are located in both the Union Station Bus Terminal and the York Concourse. 

 

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DRT doesn't seem to list customer service locations on the website, but by browsing through the Internet Archive, I assume you mean the building on Westney Road, south of Ajax GO?

Also, it's interesting to me that some of your networks (MiWay, YRT, and soon Brampton Transit) have gotten rid of (or are in the process of getting rid of) paper and PDF schedules, because some of those routes have odd frequencies, may run rush hours only, do not run often, etc.. From my experiences, those are the times where a trip planner may be hard to decipher and an actual schedule is preferable.

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On 4/16/2017 at 1:00 PM, MrBeardedBread said:

DRT doesn't seem to list customer service locations on the website, but by browsing through the Internet Archive, I assume you mean the building on Westney Road, south of Ajax GO?

Also, it's interesting to me that some of your networks (MiWay, YRT, and soon Brampton Transit) have gotten rid of (or are in the process of getting rid of) paper and PDF schedules, because some of those routes have odd frequencies, may run rush hours only, do not run often, etc.. From my experiences, those are the times where a trip planner may be hard to decipher and an actual schedule is preferable.

 
 
 

Well, DRT has its schedules, and they're available online. The only thing is that depending on how much patronage the route has and the traffic conditions, your bus might arrive ahead of schedule, or behind it. Always a good option to be at your stop early. (Discovered this while riding the 103, when I noticed the bus keeps reaching the designated time-points on the PDF schedule I got from the web a minute early and not waiting there, ending up reaching Rouge Hill GO five minutes ahead of schedule.)

Unfortunately, Triplinx doesn't yet show real-time data for DRT, nor does its SMS feature. You only get the next scheduled time of arrival, and not how many minutes till the bus actually comes, as the Init system detects. Say, you are at a stop and DRT text tells you the next scheduled bus is due (e.g. your bus arrives at 6:24 and it's currently 6:24). So you'd expect to see your bus pull up any minute now. In fact, if the bus timing was early, you'd have missed it, while if it was late, you'd have time to spare. In either case, you'd have to wait for a while, which is misleading.

Compare all of tthat to YRT. Not sure about its SMS feature, but its website (https://tripplanner.yrt.ca/hiwire) actually tells you both when the bus is scheduled and when it is actually arriving (and whether it is actually early, late, or on time, and by how much - all the guesswork gone!) Clearly DRT and GO Transit have the necessary technology to do the same.

P.S. You're right when you mention the building near Ajax GO. To be more specific, you leave the station, head down to the intersection where the buses turn left, but turn right instead. Walk down towards the parking lot and near the end, you'll see this building to your left:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8456229,-79.041518,3a,75y,158.8h,84.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWtKFk1p5nBO09gA1P40ggg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

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  • 6 years later...

Sorry for necrobumping this thread, but what is the current status on this topic in the GTA? I'm travelling to visit family in Toronto for the first time since COVID and would not be surprised to hear that nothing is printed anymore.

That being said, I would like to be proven wrong if possible.

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1 hour ago, Collector said:

Sorry for necrobumping this thread, but what is the current status on this topic in the GTA? I'm travelling to visit family in Toronto for the first time since COVID and would not be surprised to hear that nothing is printed anymore.

That being said, I would like to be proven wrong if possible.

From my knowledge:

The TTC still has ride guides on their buses, however not all buses are going to have them.

Barrie Transit seems to still have maps and schedules available at their downtown terminal if their website is correct (I got a map from there in June).

Milton Transit might have ride guides on their buses, but I can't say for sure if they actually do.

Durham Region Transit and Peterborough Transit don't offer paper maps anymore. And I believe Grand River Transit doesn't anymore either, however last time I was in Kitchener I believe they still have schedules available on request.

Other transit agencies in the area might still have maps available, but again I don't know.

Hope that was helpful for you!

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