For a "Toronto-based collection of art geeks, design wonks, and new-urbanist cheerleaders inspired by the very streets, stations, and structures that make up the urban landscape," newborn local design collective Walloper could not have picked a much better way to debut than by unveiling a small fleet of TTC decals. A week after co-founders Derek Watson and Mike Warning added photos of their prototypes to Flickr and the TRIBE message board, and a few......

Reader Cy Goldsbie sent us this tale of a bus ride to remember: Boarded the southbound Leslie bus at Leslie subway station as usual at 7:30 on a Tuesday morning earlier this month and, as is my habit, continued reading my book. As we're about to pull out of the station, the driver stops, looks around, and casually asks if anyone knows which way he's supposed to turn. The half dozen riders look up,......

WORDS: Torontonian artist Steve Driscoll is launching his new book, Steve Driscoll: Conversations, this afternoon at David Mirvish Books. The book showcases the changes and developments in Driscoll's paintings over the last eight years, and the launch will also include an exhibition of the work presented in Driscoll's book. David Mirvish Books (596 Markham Street), 2 p.m., FREE. FUN: Improv Everywhere is hosting the MP3 Experiment in Toronto today. At 2 p.m. in Riverdale......

The TTC will not subject their employees to random drug testing after all; under a new policy, testing will only be done if there is "reasonable cause" for it—that includes, says Adam Giambrone, tests "pre-employment" and "post-incident." Bob Kinnear, who is somehow still the president of the union representing TTC employees, still isn't totally happy, but that guy never is.......

FESTIVAL: Ladyfest kicks off their highly anticipated music series tonight, as the week-long festival continues. Tonight, come out to the Boat for performances from electronic soul group Lal, alternative crooner Emma McKenna, and experimental pop band Miau Miau. Also starting today is "Ooh-La-La," the female-identifying art exhibit at Beaver Hall Gallery (rescheduled from Sunday), which will run until September 27. The Boat (158 Augusta Avenue), 9 p.m., $5–$10. TRANSIT: This evening, join the TTC......

The TTC installed the first "Next Train Arrival" display at Dundas Station yesterday, with TTC Chair Adam Giambrone unveiling the addition to the OneStop screens. At the southbound platform, the text sat humbly along the bottom of the screen, as if it didn't dare disturb the advertisements above. While Giambrone fully admitted that the TTC is often "one step behind" other transit systems, he said that they make up for it by giving "one......

WORDS: This evening at the Bay-Bloor Indigo, join author James McBride and director Spike Lee for a discussion about the film adaptation of McBride's 2003 novel, Miracle at St. Anna. There will be a book signing after, but attendees are asked not to bring additional memorabilia—sadly, collectors will have to hang out in front of five-star hotels this weekend if they want any autographs they can sell on eBay. Indigo (55 Bloor Street West),......

SPORTS: It's Labour Day weekend, and you know what that means! It's time for the annual three-day soundtrack of the pending apocalypse. In layman's terms, it's the Canadian International Air Show, a celebration of flight and scared looks on tourists' faces as planes fly a little too close to the Toronto skyline. This year's performers include the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team, the Canadian Snowbirds Demonstration Team, and the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Admission to......

The TTC is looking at eliminating the free parking spaces allotted to Metropass holders at the 16 lots they own around the city. TTC Chair Adam Giambrone contended that the free spaces were costing the TTC more money than they brought in, which sounds like a valid argument until you remember that parking spots, like guns, are a God-given right. The Canadian Press is reporting that a new survey shows that these days Canadian......

The Maple Leaf Foods meat recall has been extended to encompass more than 200 products made by the Toronto facility, and is expected to cost upwards of $20 million. In completely unrelated news, millions of Canadians have decided that maybe they're just going to have a salad for lunch today. The Beijing Olympics have finally drawn to a close, and the games have been receiving mixed reviews. Torontoist also has mixed feelings about the......

The TTC management and its workers' union have agreed that the TTC is not an essential service. However, they are saying this not because they are saying, "Yes, we are useless," but because they both want to avoid contract arbitration. However, since management wants to pay workers less than they would receive through contract arbitration, and the union wants workers to get more than they would receive through contract arbitration, one side or the......

Sitting proudly at the intersection of King and York Streets is one of Astral Media's new transit shelters. The only problem is the street name displayed on the shelter is "University Ave"—which is the previous stop, a block west. Photos by Miles Storey/Torontoist. Thanks to John Gemmell for the tip.......

Canada increased its medal count yesterday at the Beijing Olympics with medals in trampoline and triathlon, as well as a silver medal in the Equestrian team jumping event. It was a real team effort, and everyone gets a medal...except for the horses who did all the damn work. Sure, the horses will tell you that they do it for the love of the sport, but a little recognition never hurts, you know? A man......

Impatience is not a virtue Patience is a virtue I don't have What have you got? If you take the TTC regularly, you've probably been stuck at a stop long enough to strike up a conversation with a fellow citizen about how freakishly long the bus is taking to arrive. But what do you do if no one's around to share your frustration? Why, you can strike up a conversation anyway, as two people......

Overheard by reader Kate Bowen on the 501 Queen streetcar. Little Girl, looking out the window: Is a giraffe taller than that tree? Mom: Yes. Little Girl: Is a giraffe taller than you? Mom: Yes. Little Girl: Is a giraffe taller than the CN Tower? Mom: No. Little Girl: Is a baby giraffe taller than you? (No response.) Little Girl: Are all frogs girls? Mom: What? Who told you that? Hear something? Send it to......

As the R Month Rule suggests, July is a bad month for at least one type of oyster. "Oyster" is the name of the smartcard for public transit in London, England. Passengers pre-load cards on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis, and enjoy substantial discounts (generally 50-75%) over cash or paper tickets. Last Friday, the system failed for reasons unknown, letting millions of passengers travel for free, as reported on Londonist. Last Monday, a Dutch court......

The TTC has a new website: MyTTC.ca! It's got a functional trip planner, a stats section with the neat map/video above ("each burst represents a bus departing from the stop in that location"), pages for each route that can be edited by the site's users, more features like SMS/IM integration and an interface designed for smart phones and PDAs coming soon, and is—surprise—not affiliated with the transit organization in any way, shape, or form.......

Federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion hints that Canadians may be ready for a federal election this fall. Still, Dion is hoping to receive a signed, notarized affidavit from every single Canadian of voting age assuring him that they are absolutely, 100 percent cool with having an election; otherwise it's off. The European Union's environment commissioner has put forward a proposal to ban seal products from countries that "practice cruel hunting methods," a move that......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. * BY CL-S......

These photos, of a garden constructed atop a bus shelter on Greenwood Avenue between Gerrard and Dundas, were recently uploaded to one of the Facebook groups of the Toronto Public Space Committee's Guerrilla Gardeners. More after the fold.......

The TTC has "cancelled the Request for Proposal process to purchase 204 new low-floor streetcars." Says their release: "The TTC received two submissions for the $1.25 billion project. TRAM Power Ltd. and Bombardier Transportation submitted bids, but upon review TRAM Power failed to pass step one of the bid review process as it was not commercially compliant. Bombardier Transportation failed on step two—a technical evaluation that required a pass/fail on key criteria related to negotiating......

Impending implosion of both economy and environment notwithstanding, tourists are still flocking to Toronto. Toronto Tourism reports that 2008 is shaping up to be another record year for visitors to the town also called Hollywood North, New York Run By The Swiss, Montreal Without The Culture, Seriousville, and the City Most Likely To Be Praised By American Celebrities. TTC fuel costs are set to jump next year when a contract guaranteeing fuel at 87¢/litre......

Longtime Canadian Autoworkers Union head Buzz Hargrove will join other famous Buzzes, including Aldrin and Lightyear, in retirement this year. Reportedly Hargrove feels that his legacy has been cemented with this year's twin triumphs of the Order of Canada and the collapse of the Canadian automotive industry. The number of criminal charges laid in relation to incidents on the TTC was up substantially from 2006 to 2007, with TTC officials citing increased ridership and......

It's really hot outside! One of the best ways to tell if it is really hot outside is to check on any elephants who live near you. If it's too hot for them, it's too hot for you. Madonna House, a Catholic organization whose founder won the Order of Canada, is returning their medal in protest of Henry Morgentaler's appointment to the Order. One of the House's directors told the Globe that: "We value......

Looks like Toronto's next batch of streetcars will be made by Bombardier. The Canadian company is a shoo-in to win the $1.25 billion contract after German manufacturer Siemens pulled out of the bidding, leaving only a small British company and that guy down the street with the junked car on his lawn as competition. The TSX dropped a dramatic 433 points yesterday on fears that recession will reduce demand for commodities like the oil......

The third annual Toronto Independent Game Development Jam ran from the 9th to the 11th of May this year with over 125 developers managing to produce 34 different games across the intense three day period, and their pain is now our pleasure as all of the successfully completed games have been released online. As if trying to produce a full game in three days wasn't hard enough, developers were asked that their game relate......

...and it's rather unfortunate. Spacing reports that the TTC has begun to update its subway route map in subway cars—with a much uglier font, slightly more clutter, and a messy new treatment of addresses. To wit on the latter point:...visual clutter is increased by the new addresses on the maps. The TTC did away with just displaying the approximate address numbers along Yonge, Bloor, Danforth and Sheppard (only printing the street name where the subway......

From Ryan Feeley comes a neat timelapse video of a three-kilometre westbound trip on the 501 Queen streetcar in the east end of the city condensed into fifty-five seconds. Now, we just need someone who can do the same thing with the whole length of the route. [Tip from Joe Clark, who, incidentally, has some things to say about Christian Lander and Hockey Night in Canada.]......

It took them two days and thirteen hours, but Nancy Situ and her friends have joined the Every Station Club in style—with brilliant photos of themselves posing on the platforms of every one of the city's sixty-nine subway stations. The project, Situ wrote when she posted the entire set of shots to the Toronto LiveJournal Community last night, was done "out of curiosity and sheer boredom." On September 1 last year, Situ, Marcela Slinin,......

Residents near the Broadview subway station are used to inconvenience in the name of progress. The station reconstruction project that added elevators, a second streetcar platform, more room for buses, and extra subway exits dragged on for five long years before finally wrapping up in the closing weeks of 2007. For most of that time, the parkette on the north side of the station had been surrounded by construction hoarding and used by crews......