But first… our cross country flight from Vancouver.

After years of decidedly “meh” flights on Air Canada, and recent disappointing flights on WestJet, we booked this trip on Porter Airlines.

Porter began life in 2006 as a short-haul “executive” commuter service, flying Dash 8-400 aircraft out of Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Island, but more recently purchased a fleet of Embraer E195-E2 132-passenger jets that allow them to fly cross-Canada and into select airports in the U.S. and Mexico. After this first flight in their Reserve class (more leg room, meal service, included baggage) we’re certainly impressed. Our seats were roomy – the plane has no centre seats, and all seats are configured in pairs, not trios – with tons of leg room. Our meals were fresh and tasty (even economy fares get premium snacks, beer, and wine), and the on-board staff were professional and friendly.

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Now, on to land transportation !

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We’re “back home” for two weeks in Toronto, with a really full social calendar that includes 13 out of 14 days filled with visits and meals with friends and family based in Ontario, and no plans to rent a car to navigate the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)’s crazy crowded roads.

An interesting bit of trivia for our friends who’ve never lived or driven in Ontario: the part of Highway 401 that passes through Toronto is North America’s busiest highway, in addition to being one of the top ten busiest and widest highways in the world. North America’s Busiest Highway. And yes, that’s busier than the freeways in Los Angeles!

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While there are driving routes that could get us where we need to go without getting on the infamous 401, public transit is a much saner option than renting a car in a city where parking spots are also at a premium, both as far as availability AND cost.

As we do when renting accommodation anywhere in the world, when we booked our rental in Toronto we chose a place within a short walk to transit. This time, we’re a 15 minute (1 km) stroll from the Sheppard West Toronto subway station, which makes connecting to the regional GO Train system a breeze – and if we’re too lazy to walk, the nearest bus stop is 3 doors down from where we’re staying. It definitely takes longer to get where we’re going via public transit than if we were driving, but it’s a fraction of the cost, and – as Ted always reminds me – we’re not in a hurry now that we’re retired.

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The route to reach our Airbnb involved the #952 TTC express bus caught directly at Pearson Terminal 3, a connection to the subway at Lawrence West station, and then that 15 minute stroll through a residential area. It’s much like what we’d do after arriving by plane in a European city. Total cost: $2.25 CAD each.

Whether here in Toronto, or wandering Europe or Mexico, we’ve discovered that Google and Apple maps, with their embedded real-time transit schedules, make finding our way around easy – and with no language barrier!

Back in the Greater Vancouver area we’ve become really used to the gorgeous mountain and river views from the SkyTrain, which is 90% elevated. Here in Toronto we’re mostly underground on the subway, and it’s always a revelation how much more crowded things feel when the only things visible through the windows are dark tunnels interspersed with the tiled station platforms. Of course, most of the time it not only feels but actually is more crowded than Vancouver’s system, which is no surprise given the relative populations of the 2 cities. Toronto proper has about 3 million people; the Greater Toronto Area tops 6 million. By comparison, the city of Vancouver has just under 700 thousand, and its metro area “only” about 2.6 million.

In addition to the subway, we’ll be using connected bus networks to travel to Mississauga and Burlington, and the GO commuter train to reach friends in Ajax. All are incredibly cost effective ways of getting around, especially with our Presto cards – the Toronto equivalent of our Vancouver area Compass cards – loaded with funds and our seniors’ discounts. An average single trip within either city costs only pennies more than a single litre of gas at current fuel prices ($1.69 CAD/ litre in the GTA right now, which would be $4.78USD/US gallon and $1.89 CAD/litre or $5.23 USD/US gal in the GVA).

There are risks to being transit dependent of course. The day before we arrived Toronto had record amounts of rain – enough that tracks at Union Station, the city’s main train and subway hub, were flooded. That interrupted transit for hours. (At the same time, the city’s main north/south highway, the Don Valley Parkway, was also flooded, so having a car would not have created any kind of commuting advantage.)

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We have our fingers crossed that the rain predicted during our stay will be more like showers than deluges.

With that in mind, and Presto cards in hand… we’re off!