Thanks for coming to our trivia night!

Last night we celebrated another year of organizing together for transit justice. Thanks for joining us!   Desmond Cole was our stellar trivia tournament MC. Congrats to the winning trivia team, "Celestial
Transit in the Making"! You can read our trivia questions and answers below.  Over the last year, TTCriders has organized non-stop and it's paid off: we've won 2-hour transfers and the Fair Fare Pass, and we're very close to getting them funded. In the weeks ahead, we'll be pushing John Tory and Toronto City Council to keep their promise to fund 2-hour transfers and the Fair Pass in 2018! And we're going to keep fighting for better TTC service. You can read our take on the 2018 TTC budget here.  Couldn't make it, but want to support our work and get involved? You can become a member or make a donation online. Send a message to [email protected] to get involved in our campaigns.   Thank you to our event supporters and prize donors: Daniel Rotstzain, the Urban Geographer

Desmond Cole

El Pipil Clothing Store

Fermentations

Snug Clothing Store

Toronto Tool Library

Tricia Wood, trivia contributor

The West End Phoenix

TTCriders volunteers

Urbane Cyclist

Special thanks to our trivia MC Desmond Cole and to OSSTF, our Transit Supporter sponsor.

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  Transit & Toronto Trivia Night Easy Round 1. Which public figure has received an award from TTCriders?

TTC Sardine Award, to Kathleen Wynne Transit Troll Award, to John Tory Transit Santa Award for Best Blogger, to Steve Munro Thanks For Nothing Award, to Mike Harris

2. The TTC used to offer which kind of tours?

Tours to public gardens Christmas light tours Tours of Toronto’s ravine system Tours of John Tory’s Toronto properties

3. What do the rapper P-Diddy and former Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman have in common?

Both wear lots of gold chains Both owned a business called Bad Boy [Former Mayor Mel Lastman owns Bad Boy Superstore, a furniture and appliances store, and P-Diddy owned Bad Boy records] Both were born in the United States Both have been invited to one of Drake’s birthday parties

4. What does it mean when an operator speaks over the TTC public address system and says, “506 Kennedy, 506 Kennedy...Please call control”, what does that mean?

The operator is instructing drivers that there are delays at Kennedy station and to call the control centre The operator is referring to the code for maintenance, and a maintenance person from Kennedy is being asked to call the control centre 506 Kennedy is code word for rat or raccoon sightings and drivers are being instructed to keep their cool

5. Which term describes the following phenomenon that happens way too often on the TTC: When a group of two or more transit vehicles (such as buses or streetcars) , which were scheduled to be evenly spaced running along the same route, instead run in the same place at the same time.

Gapping Short-turning Bunching Crashing Follow-the-leader

6. What is the name of the extensive underground passage system that links much of the Financial District of downtown Toronto?

MUTS (the Metro Underground Tunnel System) The Corridor The PATH [it’s over 30km long!] The Underground

7. Located close to the lake in the west end of Toronto is one of Canada's oldest surviving forts. What is the name of this historic landmark?

Fort Knox Fort Worth Fort Erie Fort York [Fort York houses Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 period buildings]

8. Which Canadian public figure was NOT born in Toronto?

John A. Macdonald [Born in Scotland] Drake Lester B. Pearson Samantha Bee Maestro Fresh Wes

9. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince owned a house in Toronto. True or false?

True  False

[Prince’s former home in Toronto’s Bridle Path neighbourhood includes 6 bedrooms, 10 baths, a tennis court, beauty salon, and award-winning pool]

10. When was the idea of building an underground Relief Line formally proposed to Toronto City Council?

8 years ago 50 years ago 94 years ago 107 years ago

  Intermediate Round 1. Which of these “secret” tunnels in Toronto are real and not just rumours?

Lower Queen Lower Bay Underneath the King Edward Hotel All of the above None of the above

2. The term “White Elephant” has recently been used to refer to what?

A new exhibit at the Toronto Zoo The Scarborough Subway Extension  The Gardiner Expressway A new brunch spot in Leslieville

[The Scarborough Subway Extension was named by the Guardian as one of the world’s top ten “Urban White Elephants” — projects that are expensive wastes of public money.]

3. Which local icon was banned from the TTC for continuously doing shirtless pushups in 2006, and also has a graphic novel written about him?

Alexander Brovedani a.k.a. Toronto Batman Zanta Russell Oliver Jesus Guy from Dundas Square Don Cherry

4. The name “Toronto” [Tkaronto] comes from the Mohawk word for:

The Rivers Raccoon Trees Standing in the Water Meeting Place The Centre of the Universe

5. Which group of cities all have subway systems that run 24 hours a day?

Berlin, London, Paris New York, Copenhagen, Stockholm [Must be nice!] New York, Chicago, Los Angeles New York, Berlin, Amsterdam London, Dublin, Edinburgh

6. In which of the following places in Toronto have there been widely reported ghost sightings or paranormal activity?:

The Old Don Jail TTC’s Lower Bay Station Casa Loma All of the above [But which station will Andy Byford come back to haunt?]

7. Torontonians elected Canada’s first politician of African descent

True False

[William Peyton Hubbard was a City of Toronto alderman from 1894 to 1914. He was the first politician of African descent elected to office in Canada.]

8. Which of these technologies and products were invented in Toronto?:

The electron microscope Antigravity suits Canada Dry Ginger Ale All of the above None of the above

9. When did Toronto get its name?

In 1793, after John Graves Simcoe made it the capital of Upper Canada In 1834, after residents petitioned to change the name In 1814, after the war with the United States had ended

[In classic colonial fashion, Simcoe changed Toronto’s name to York—an English name—but residents later petitioned to change it back to Toronto]

10. What TTC surface route (meaning bus or streetcar) had the highest daily ridership in 2016?

35 Jane 29 Dufferin 504 King [On any given day, this streetcar has approximately 65,000 riders] 7 Bathurst 510 Spadina

  Difficult Round 1. New York City has the most stations of any subway system in the world. How many stations does it have (not double-counting for transfers)?

75 144 425 970

2. When John Tory ran for mayor in 2014 how many new stops were going to be built in Toronto as part of his SmartTrack transit plan?

3 12 22 45

3. As of December 2017, how many new stops are planned to be built in Toronto as part of John Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan?

2 6 7 12

4. Which Canadian celebrity was once a resident of Cabbagetown?

Avril Lavigne [she could be seen sk8ing down Parliament] Justin Bieber Rick Mercer Russell Peters Peter Mansbridge

5. Which of the following singers or bands is not from Toronto?

Billy Talent [They’re from Mississauga] Neil Young Deborah Cox The Weeknd

6. Which of the following is NOT a term used to describe Fred G. Gardiner, after whom the Gardiner Expressway is named?

Big Daddy Municipal Churchill Concrete Man Towering Giant

7. Which TTC bus or streetcar route had the least amount of riders in 2016?

501 Queen 353 Steeles 127 Davenport 117 Alness 168 Symington

8. What were the end points of the first GO Transit train line when it opened?

Hamilton to Pickering Oakville to Toronto Toronto to Barrie Long Branch to Guildwood

9. Which of the following movies were shot in Toronto or featured at least one scene in Toronto?

A Christmas Story (1983) Police Academy (1984) Chicago (2002) All of the above None of the above

10. Which subway system has the highest ridership in the world?

Beijing New York London Tokyo Seoul

[Beijing’s subway system has the highest ridership in the world, with 3.66 billion trips delivered in 2016 and averaging almost 10 million trips per day. If all of the recommendations from the TTC’s much-delayed Ridership Growth Strategy were implemented and funded, Toronto still wouldn’t come close.]

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Letter & Survey: TTC must exchange expired tokens and tickets

Do you still have TTC tokens or paper senior/student tickets or day passes? The TTC has announced that they will stop accepting TTC tokens and paper tickets after December 31, 2024. But the TTC will not be issuing exchanges. This is unfair to people who have saved up tokens and tickets, especially low-income seniors. Gift cards and permanent stamps never expire --  why are transit fares any different?

“Rally to Fix the TTC” calls for investment in repairing subway slow zones during National Transit Week

(Toronto, ON) – Transit advocacy organization TTCriders will hold a rally today at 5:00pm outside Bathurst Subway Station to call on federal Members of Parliament to invest in TTC repairs and new subway trains on Line 2 by accelerating implementation of the Canada Public Transit Fund. The rally is part of a national “Transit Action Week” being organized in 5 Canadian cities. (Cantonese, Mandarin, French spokespeople available.)

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Add your name for Fare Capping!
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Keep and Expand Free TTC Wi-Fi!

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