suggestions for Oakville to downtown daily commute | GTAMotorcycle.com

suggestions for Oakville to downtown daily commute

Moto Ronto

Moto Ronto

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I am moving back to the GTA this summer after ten years away, and I couldn't be happier about coming home. But it looks like I'll be facing a daily commute from the west end (near Trafalgar Road and the QEW) to downtown.

From my gleanings on this board, it looks like even early 6AM departures will not spare me bottlenecks along the QEW.

Some of my questions:

- what sort of schedule would I have to adopt to avoid the full brunt of rush hour? Will a 5:30AM start and 3PM return, work?

- any particular routes that you like?

- anybody combine riding with a TTC or GO Train ride for commuting?

- is your bike safe at TTC or GO Train parking lots?

I need to commute, but I would also like to get seat time.

Thanks for any input/suggestions.
 
What traffic? We've got our own lanes! Just follow the white lines XD

I hear jumping n and off lakeshore+qew help quite a bit
 
For two years now I have been commuting by car to and from Burlington from Mississauga against the traffic. There have been a lot of fatalities on the QEW in the past two years in both directions during rush hour. I don't consider it a safe highway myself for commuting on a motorcycle, which is why I leave it at home and ride for fun on the weekends. A few times I rode to work it wasn't what I'd call a pleasant ride, the QEW has a bad habit of the traffic flowing at 120 and suddenly slowing to 40 kph without any warning and people like to overtake on the merge lanes. if you decide to commute on the QEW, ride with care.
 
I spent a number of years commuting from Dundas/Appleby to downtown. The only advice I can give you is to skew your day +/- 2 hours to beat the brunt of traffic (or take the train). Not sure if this will work with your job, but that's the only way I stayed sane.
 
You can take Lakeshore ALL the way to downtown Toronto. You'll hit some lights through Port Credit, and then in Etobicoke. In between those 2 locations it's pretty open between the bottlenecks. Although I'm not sure how it is in the mornings as I'm at Lakeshore/Islington and I go straight north to work. From Browns Line to Park Side one lane has streetcar tracks so I basically try and stay out of it. I can tell you that stretch is basically empty around 7-7:30am. The afternoons on the other hand you'll have plenty of reds, and then get bottled up at Cawthra, Hurontario, and near Erin Mills.
Do you have flexible working hours? that would definitely help your commute.
 
Thanks for the input, everyone. I ride a Buell 1125R and want to avoid stop-and-go as much as possible!

At what point does the QEW get really congested and nuts? I was thinking I could take it eastbound from Trafalgar Rd. to about the 427 with good flow (around 7AM-7:30AM) before making the jump to Lakeshore (or possibly going north on the 427 to "ride the rocket" on the TTC's Bloor Line)? Is this reasonable?

I don't know my schedule just yet, but I anticipate some flexibility for at least a few of the days in the week.

Also, once I'm downtown, is the free street parking relatively plentiful during a weekday?
 
I start work at 7AM. If I get on the QEW before 6:10 at 9th line I get downtown at around 6:40. Traffic moves slowly on gardiner but it's fine. If I get on the QEW at 6:20 traffic is already more congested and I sometimes don't make it by 7. For the return trip I leave at around 2:40-2:50. The ramp to gardiner from yonge and spadina is busy but the highway moves fine after I get out of the core.
 
Dresden said:
Unfortunately you picked the worst time to move back:
http://www.globaltoronto.com/extens...er+to+begin+this+summer/6442642403/story.html

A little help from McGuinty
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...f-train-late-starting-in-fall/article2432640/
Click to expand...

It was now or never!

And I'm quite glad to come back. In the States, the great burden of healthcare and education costs on the average citizen puts people in survival mode, and the economic times only heighten this phenomenon. People grudgingly do the right thing.
 
daught said:
I start work at 7AM. If I get on the QEW before 6:10 at 9th line I get downtown at around 6:40. Traffic moves slowly on gardiner but it's fine. If I get on the QEW at 6:20 traffic is already more congested and I sometimes don't make it by 7. For the return trip I leave at around 2:40-2:50. The ramp to gardiner from yonge and spadina is busy but the highway moves fine after I get out of the core.
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same...i get on at trafalgar to spadina , i find if i leave before 6am its a decent 30min drive. the earlier the better. less traffic.but there isnt a car that does less than 120kph. stay on your toes.
 
Wow, interesting how 6:10AM is a sharp cutoff, and yet you still encounter some slowness on the Gardiner. But 30 minutes into downtown is better than I expected.

Merci!
 
GO Train.

There is no way I would want to ride or drive through that corridor. I took early retirement just to avoid having to commute along the 401 / 410 to get from Orangeville to my office at Yonge and Shepard. Traffic in the GTA has gone from bad to worse in the past 25 years or so.
 
Moto Ronto said:
Do you ever ride to a GO Train station? Can't tell from their web sites if they offer free or dedicated motorcycle parking...
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Every GO Station has designated motorcycle Parking (at least on the Lakeshore West line) and there is a Go station right at Traff and QEW/403 Oakville Go, They have Video Surveillance in all their parking lots. I have ridden to Bronte GO and been gone all day 12+ hrs and it has been fine there. there is constant traffic at the stations. Not sure if i would be comfortable leaving my ride there over night (have done that with my car) but during the day is fine.

Cheers,
Geoff
 
Malks said:
GO Train.

There is no way I would want to ride or drive through that corridor. I took early retirement just to avoid having to commute along the 401 / 410 to get from Orangeville to my office at Yonge and Shepard. Traffic in the GTA has gone from bad to worse in the past 25 years or so.
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+1. Relax on the train and spend your time reading or napping and enjoy riding on the weekends.
 
jonpurdy said:
+1. Relax on the train and spend your time reading or napping and enjoy riding on the weekends.
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Yeah, but it's difficult to pull this off with little kids... I'd have to wait about fifteen more years, LOL.

The vast majority of time I log on two wheels is through commuting, and where I currently live, it's a decent way to keep skills sharper (very little traffic essentially all day).

If I just rode on weekends, it would be one-half weekend per month (which I do, preferably at a track day).
 
gjones4487 said:
Every GO Station has designated motorcycle Parking (at least on the Lakeshore West line) and there is a Go station right at Traff and QEW/403 Oakville Go, They have Video Surveillance in all their parking lots. I have ridden to Bronte GO and been gone all day 12+ hrs and it has been fine there. there is constant traffic at the stations. Not sure if i would be comfortable leaving my ride there over night (have done that with my car) but during the day is fine.

Cheers,
Geoff
Click to expand...

Geoff, thanks for these details... I'm glad to see that they have surveillance and dedicated parking. Probably beats parking on the street downtown.
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