The Pan Am Games (July 10 to 26) and Parapan Am Games (Aug 7 to 15) are almost here. How will your commuting trips to and from work be affected during the Games? And what can you do to improve your commuting experience? You are going to find out the answers in this post.
First, the Games will take place in more than 30 competition venues across Ontario in the following cities:
- Downtown Toronto
- Scarborough
- Etobicoke
- York University area
- Ajax
- Caledon
- Hamilton
- Innisfil
- Markham
- Milton
- Minden
- Mississauga
- Mono
- Oro-Medonte
- Oshawa
- Catherines
- Welland
- Whitby
When you travel on a 400 series highway in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, or if you live or work near competition venues in these cities, you will likely be affected by lane reductions and Games traffic travelling through the city.
On some routes, you will find new temporary high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV), which means a one lane reduction in each direction. These HOVs will be open to vehicles with 3 or more occupants from June 29 to July 27, and to vehicles with 2 or more occupants from July 28 to August 18. We can expect that the traffic will be busiest during the Games especially after 3:30 pm. To learn more about the lane reduction measures and to download the Pan Am/Para Pan Am Games HOV map, you can click HERE.
You can find the locations of the competition venues by visiting www.TORONTO2015.org/venues. There are four venues in Mississauga where the HMC campus is located, including the following:
- Mississauga Sports Centre (5500 Rose Cherry Place)
- Pan Am Bowling Centre (5555 Eglinton Avenue Ave West)
- Centennial Park Pan Am BMX Centre (256 Centennial Park Road)
- Etobicoke Olympium (590 Rathburn Road)
So what can you do before and during the Games?
You can stay informed on the Games routes and look for alternative routes to commute to work as backup. You may also want to explore different transportation modes. Below are several sites you can check out:
- Plan for your routes around the Games footprint by using Pan Am Games’s Trip Planner. It provides both driving and transit routes.
- Try out Google Map which provides driving, transit and cycling routes. The transit route info includes the current transit schedule.
- When you sign up with Smart Commute’s online tool, in addition to getting the route information for different transportation modes, including walking, cycling, transit and driving, you can find carpool partners at this site. Also, you will learn about the information on GHG emissions, calories, distance and travelling time associated with each route.
- Try out Triplinx, a new tool offered by Metrolinx, which is a route planner for taking the public transit across the borders of different municipalities in the GTA and Hamilton areas.
By exploring alternative transportation routes and modes, you may be able to find a better way of commuting that allows you to save time and money as well as stay healthy. You will also be helping the environment while easing traffic congestion!