As a lifelong TTC rider, I’ve learned to maximize trips on a single Presto tap. , I can squeeze in multiple errands or grab a meal. Of course, your mileage will vary — especially if you’re stuck waiting for say, the 169 bus going from Don Mills station to Scarborough Town Centre or crawling along the King streetcar at 5 p.m. on a Thursday. But the subway — when it’s not rush hour or plagued by service shutdowns — can get you from one end of the city to another with time to spare for side excursions.
On a recent Monday I started off at my home subway station, Don Mills, with the goal of heading to Dufferin Mall to get something I’ve been pining for more than a year: a bottle of the Gap’s very ‘90s-smelling perfumeÌýthat’s now only sold at its outlets (remember the names like Dream, Om and Grass?). I challenged myself to see how many side excursions I could make between point A and B, and whether I could tap back into Dufferin station to head home before the two hours were up. Everyone’s trips are going to be different (you’ll get more trips going back and forth on Line 2, for example, since the stations are closer to each other), but this is one way to get the most out of your $3.30.
12:01 p.m., Already a minute late at Don Mills station
For the sake of time keeping, I tried to tap on right at noon at Don Mills Station but oh well (, a paper Presto ticket, credit or debit card, or the Presto card in a Google Wallet). It was a four-minute wait for the subway and it departed at 12:07 p.m. Not bad. If I were at a station where the gates were right on the platform, such as Dundas and Queen stations, I would have waited to tap on when the train pulled up to save a few extra minutes.
12:18 p.m., Late breakfast at Sheppard-Yonge station
Ten minutes is the typical time it takes to get across Line 4. I head to the Line 1 platform on the lower level of Sheppard stationÌýbut exit to the Yonge-Sheppard Centre to grab a ham and egg bun at Kin-Kin bakery, which is located just at the subway entrance. The receipt says I got my bun at 12:23 p.m. I’m back on the southbound platform in two minutes as the train arrives shortly after.
First stop is a very late breakfast at Kiin-Kiin Bakery just outside from the lower level entrance to the Yonge-Sheppard subway station.
Karon Liu/pc28¹ÙÍøStar12:37 p.m., Eglinton station app-y hour!
in which you get a free order of pork or veggie gyoza if you show your Presto card (or your card in the Presto app) upon ordering at any Kinton Ramen in Ontario ( for local attractions and restaurants). I head to the Kinton Ramen just on the northeast side of Yonge and Eglinton.Ìý
1:01 p.m., A one-man eating competition
My $14.99 bowl of veggie ramen topped with bamboo shoots, fried bean curd, corn, scallions and wood ear mushrooms in a simple salt broth arrives along with a plate of four veggie gyozas stuffed with cabbage (a $6.99 value). A better bang for my buck than the food court. I realized that half of my transfer time is already gone and Dufferin station is still 12 stops and one subway transfer away, so I’m scarfing down my noodles at a Kobayashi pace for the sake of this self-imposed challenge. The bill says I paid at 1:08 p.m.
1:11 p.m., A look in the book nook
Around the corner from Kinton Ramen, just north of the EglintonÌýsubway station on Yonge, is an outpost of used bookÌýand music store BMV. Out of their four locations in the city, this has the best selection of vintage mystery paperbacks, which I collect. I score a $3 Agatha Christie paperback from the rare/unique shelf and head to the subway before I spend any more money there.
Karon often stops at the Yonge-Eglinton location of BMV books to max out his two-hour transfer window.
Karon Liu/pc28¹ÙÍøStar1:34 p.m., Weaving between crowds at Yonge-Bloor
It’s usually a crapshoot when transferring trains at this station, trying to go against the sea of people paying more attention to their phones than what’s ahead of them. Luckily the two guys ahead of me on the stairs were also in a hurry to take the incoming westbound Line 2 train, so I caught the train in time. This is a good spot to remind people that it’s much faster to transfer to north and southbound trains from St. George Station than Spadina, where there’s the long connecting hallway.
1:41 p.m., Bathurst station patty break
Popped out of the train to get an obligatory Fahmee spicy beef patty from Bakery on the Go, which appears just as you go up the stairs from the subway platform. While it’s true that the city is spoiled with multiple Jamaican patty purveyors, I always associate the trapezoid-shaped Fahmee patty with the underground; its golden crust given a bluish hue under the harsh fluorescent subway lighting.Ìý
When at Bathurst, a patty from Bakery on the Go is a must.
Karon Liu/pc28¹ÙÍøStar1:45 p.m., Smelling like the ‘90s at Dufferin Mall
I have 15 minutes to run from Dufferin Station, down to the mall a few hundred metres away, buy a bottle of my youth and tap back into the station. According to Google Maps, it’s a 1.6 km round trip. It’s not exactly feasible if you’re travelling with kids or use mobility devices, but on this trip my desire to save $3.30 on an second TTC fare has given me Run Lola Run energy.ÌýÌý
For more than a year I’ve been debating whether to indulgeÌýmy nostalgia and buy one of the Gap perfumes from the ‘90s that evoke the Y2K era. Surprisingly they’re still being sold, but only at the Gap’s outlet stores. As per the transfer rules, I have to tap back into the subway by 2:01 p.m. before my transfer is up. I’m speed-walking through Dufferin Mall to get to the Gap Factory faster. They were out of Dream (the best scent), but I settled for what the label describes as a “masculine”-scented bottle of Deep. One customer ahead of me is counting her change to pay for a shirt and the other is doing a return.
Karon meant to get Grass but didn’t realize he accidentally bought Deep instead because he was in such a rush to get back into the subway.
Karon Liu/pc28¹ÙÍøStar1:55Ìýp.m., The final mad dashÌý
I paid for a bottle of my adolescence at 1:55 p.m., giving me less than six minutes to head back to Dufferin subway. According to Google maps, the subway is 800 metres away from the cash register I’m standing at. I rush out the mall and start sprinting through the parking lot and back into the subway station, down the stairs, and hope the Presto gate reads “Free Transfer” as I tap one last time.
1:59 p.m. Success!
Karon taps his Presto card for one last time with less than two minutes before his transfer expires.
Karon Liu/pc28¹ÙÍøStarI can enjoy the ride back to where I started. Technically if I wanted a second patty I could duck out at Bathurst again without breaking the TTC’s rules. While this was a white-knuckling two hours for me, this experiment is a good reminder that a city with fast and reliable transit makes it easier to get things knocked off a to-do list. My fingers are crossed that the Ontario Line and the LRTs will bear future excursions like this one, whenever I can ride them.
Maximizing the two-hour transfer is one of my personal pc28¹ÙÍøhacks. The Star wants to hear about yours. Write to us about how you make pc28¹ÙÍøwork for you. together@thestar.ca
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