Entry FeedTwice a week, Son Two and I head downtown for speech therapy.
We did this last year, and started again a few months ago.
For some reason, I decided that since we are going to U of T, and it is right on the subway line, we should "subway it." We live a few minutes from a subway station, so it is actually rather quick and convenient.
However, taking the subway IS NOT CHEAPER!
Because we are closer to the token entrance, we each use a token to get there, then I use a token to get home and he uses a ticket. The most it has ever cost me to park is $7.
Sometimes Son Two likes riding the subway. It is funny, because this is the same kid who I assumed would move into the bush at 18 so that the could snowmobile and fish. He knows how to navigate both the Bloor Line and the University Line.
A few weeks ago, amid the crush and push of rush hour, Son Two almost ended up on the subway train without me. When I asked him what he would have done, he answered, "I would have just met you at home! Daddy's there."
And though he is only 6, I am sure that he could have made it all the way home by himself. Plus, with the weird subway code of "don't make eye-contact and pretend you don't see anything" I am pretty sure that no one would have stopped him.
Yesterday, we branched out beyond the TTC. We took the GO Train out to Mississauga after speech. Yes, it was clean, fast, efficient (luckily no snow on the tracks in May) but is also cost us $10! Total spent yesterday on transit - $20! Not only that, but we waited 8 minutes for a train, so we were a few minutes late.
I grew up in Toronto, and started riding the subway downtown by myself in grade seven for school everyday. Growing up in the west end, and heading to school downtown, I still haven't really learned to venture beyond Yonge and Egliton to the north, nor Church Street to the east.
Riding the subway is treat for my kids. It is impressive to me that Son Two is to comfortable and confident riding it, and it is part of growing up and being at home in the city. But for a large family to use it for regular travel doesn't make sense if you have a vehicle. It is getting expensive, and convenient only if it isn't over crowded or delayed. Like every other infrastructure in this city, it has been neglected too long and it is need of an upgrade.